New-York tribune., 1908-03-22
DEBATE OVER Z0LA.
REAL ISSUE HIDDEN.
Hostility Betueen Parliament and
French academy True Cause.
fspecial by French Cable to The Ir1nuhe-I

lCopyright. 1903 by The Tribune -Assoe'a'io"I .
Paris. March 21-Politics and literature IN
their influence upon each other nave tnls "eeh
supplied the chief topic of interest and one un-
usually noisy in the Chamber me oa''ie
n. the books in which NJ Maurice Barres Ma
tiona,ist Deputy and Academician, ana NJ
Jaures the Socialist leader, were champions OF
the opposing sides was waged around the ques-
ton of whether the body of Emile Zoia shooio oe
transferred to the Pantheon. The la" enac'ns
this Pantheonization, as 1t is caileo' oi ti'o
famous novelist had already been voted IN prili-
cipe so the debate arose as TO credit OF SI,Ou
to pay for the ceremony. NJ. Barress views as 10
Zola's merits a writer, being personal nave
no general interest. and. was TO De eSpecoeo'
the Chamber voted the credit by large ma
iortv. But the significance of the debate lay in
the fact that for the first time the hostl1ty
which has been growing for long while be-
tween the government and the French Academy
has found violent expression in parliament
The Academy. although an official institution
exercising very real influence on the lntei-
lectual life of the country cherishes reactlon-
airy and chauvnistic spirit, and is thus out OF
touch with the political tendencies OF ma
jorty of the French people. Its election OF the
insignificant Maurice Barres. who is knd OF
literary clown. was reply to the comforting by
the government of a generals rank on tolonel
Picauart and his subsequent selection ny
Premier Clenenceau for the portfolio Of War
Admission to the Academy was six times re-
fused Zola who had always professed repub-
iican principles. and It Is chiefly to give his
fame the official conservation which the French
Academy refused him when he alive that
the government has determined that he shall be
buried in the Pantheon. Thus between parlia-
ment and the Academy there is an open breach.
which is further accentuated by the quarrel
which has arisen between Jules Claretie, man.
ager of the Theatre Francais, and Octave Mir
beau, the dramatic author. whose play lie
Foyer" Claretie accepted but now refuses to
produce.
Claretie's reason is that the villain of Mir
beau's play Is an Academcian. and that as he
(Claretie) Is an Academician he cannot permit
his colleagu to be SO shockingly caricatured
on his stage the author Of lie Foyer
had arranged for. Mirbeau has sued CIaretie
for $4,000 damages, and he will force
him to quit the dictatorship of the Theatre
Francas. Clarete has weathered many such
storms before. and is persona grata with the
present government. But so is Mirbeau, both
having been among the most enthusiastic cham
pions of the cause Of Dreyfus, as was Zola:
and the Chamber is, after Thursdays debate
in no mood to be tender toward the reputation
of the Academy. whether treated typicaIly on the
stage otherwise, Clareties fate is trembling
in the balance
The question on the subject will be raised in
the Chamber by the Radical Socialist Deputy
next week. and there pessimists who pre-
dict that this will be the beginning of cam
paign to abolish the Academy altogether and
take possession of its vast wealth in the same
way IN which the property of ecclesiastical con-
sregations has been confiscated. c. l. E.