The Morris County chronicle., 1907-06-25
MUT|NEERS SURRENDER
TO FRENCH ARTILLERY
Whole Army Poured Into Disaf.
fected WinegrOwing District
PREMIER cLEMENcEAU UPHELD
Chamber Cheers as Civil War Cloud
Blows Over-BattaIion Marched
Into Beziers, Where the Inhab.
itants Gave Them Food.

Into Beziers, Where the Inhab-
itants Gave Them Food.
Paris, France. Six hundred and
seven men of the Seventeenth In
fantry Regiment deserted with arms
and ammunition near Beziers, in the
Department of Herault and joined
the insurgent winegrowers.
On receipt of the news General
Bailloud entrained for Beziers with
artillery and other troops.
This display of force cowed the
mutineers and the battalion agreed
to return to the regiment
After the terroristic events of the
day before the aspect of Narbonne
next day was comparatively calm.
Soldiers were everywhere in such
great force that the inhabitants were
at least temporarily coerced into in
activity. The wreckage resulting
from the riots still Iitters the streets
and all the stores and banks are
closed and barred.
Two additional regiments of infan-
try and two of cavalry arrived at
Narbonne during the morning and
detachments of artillery are on their
way there
The authorities of Narbonne have
issued orders that specific routes
must be followed by those attending
the funerals of the riot victims in the
afternoon. The routes will be en-
tirely isolated by troops in the hope
of thus preventing dangerous demon
strations.
The grave view the French capital
takes of the revolutionary events in
the south of France and the tragic
outcome was evidenced by the scene
in the Chamber of Deputies when the
Government was interpellated on the
measures it proposed to take to re-
establish order
Premier Clemenceau lost no time
in imparting to the Deputies the news
from Narbonne, adding to the in
formation already published the fact
that over a hundred soldiers were
wounded in the fighting with the
rioters. The peasants from the sur
rounding villages, terrified at the
shooting, took the first trains for
their homes
Then, amid impressive silence, the
Premier gave the official version of
the mutiny of the battalion of the
Seventeenth Infantry and it's march
to Beziers, and concluded by demand
ing vote of confidence in the Gov
ernment, so that the Ministers could
carry out the work of repression on
which in the future so much de-
pended
The Opposition Deputies fiercely
attacked the Government, accusing
the Ministers of sending agents to
stir up the populace in the South,
asserting that the Cuirassiers acted
like Cossacks, that the troops fired
without provocation and without no.
tification, and that women and chill
dren had been slaughtered, and in
sisted that the release of M. Fer
roul, ex-Mayor of Narbonne, would
alone restore calm.
Otherwise, one of the speakers as
serted, ''the bloody rioting of to-day
will be the revolution of tomorrow"
Ex-Minister of Commerce Miller
and's denunciation of M. Clemenceau
was particularly violent, but fell fiat,
as he is strongly suspected of de-
sire to succeed to the Premiership.
After six hours debate the Cham
Der decided by 327 to 223 votes to
support the Cabinet.
Details of the mutiny in Herault
show that a battalion of the Seven
teenth Infantry Regiment sent from
Beziers to Agde on account Of the
soldiers sympathy with the local
winegrowers, mutinied there, raided
the magazine, filed their pouches
with cartridges, and with fixed bayo-
nets and flags flying marched out of
Agde and entered Beziers. When
notified of the nautiny General Croi-
sade, commanding the Sixty-first Bril-
gade, met the mutineers at Villeneuve
and attempted to persuade them to
return to duty.
Soldiers" he commanded, "kill
me or obey mel"
The soldiers replied that they had
no desire to kill the General, but
were determined to return to Be-
ziers.
A detachment of gendarmes tried
to bar the road, but after the mutt
neers had fred a volley in the air
they were permitted to pass.
The mutineers, although without
officers, marched into Beziers in per-
feet order at 6 o'clock a. m, the
cheers of the local crowds mingling
with the rolling of the drums and
the strains of the bugles. The peo-
Pile gave the mutineers the warmest
welcome and furnished them with
ample provisions and supplies of
straw, upon which the tired soldiers
threw themselves, after stationing
pickets and proclaiming their deter
mination to defend their lives in the
event of being attacked.