The daily Alaskan., 1911-07-14
LEGION OF HONOR.
The Order That Was Founded by
 the Great Napoleon.
THRWED DESPITE RIDlCULE.

The Dsspotle corsleau Proved by Che
 Inauguration sf ths 0seorstisn That
 Re Wac e Keen Student Of French
 Human Nature.
 France owes the Legion Of Honor to Napoleon All orders Of chiyairy had been abolished by tbe revolution and had left a gap which lt was not easy to 6ll. "They are mere geeEaws, said Monge. the chemist. who hnd tnught the revolutIonlsts bow to make gun powder out of plaster of paris "Gee gaws 1T you will" the first consul m swered, "but people like them Let us tpproach the question frankly. All men are enamured Of decora lions. the French more than any They posi- lively hunger for them. and they have always done so.-
 Thls wos at Malmnison in 1892 lu May the conseil detat was Invited Co consider the project of the institution Of the Legion Of Honor It was rjdi. culed by many, notably by Moreau. who as victor of Hobenllnden was bit terly jealous of the victor Of Marengo .Ata diuuer. party he sent for his cook and said Go him In the presence of his guests. "Micbel nm pleased with TOUT dinner You have indeed dislin ruished yourself Vill award you saucepan of honor" Aime dc Stael was also satiricll upon the subject "Ah, one of tbe dccoratedT she used to ask each guest who wus shown into her salon
 But Napoleon had Eauged human na- ture correctly His Legion of Honor did meet a fcll want. md li was def nitely inaururtrd on July e. 1894 Among thc eminent men Of science and men of irttprs on whom it was then bestowed were included Laplace, the mathematician: LaIande the as .tronoUer: Cucirr the naturalist, and LeCouve. Che puol The most notable name omitted WIS that Of Bernardiu de St Pierre, Just then In disgrace for championing Mme de StHcl whom Na poleou had banshcd. but he got the decoration later on the entreaty Of Queen Hortcnse
 After Nanoleon's downfall the ques ton of suppressinc the Legion of Hon or arose. Chateaubriand whom Napo leon had not decorated. strongly urged Its abolition. So dld ruzzo di BorEo Narshals victor. Marmont and Mac donald opposed After debate it was decided 10 recognize and retain the or der. not on any high moral or patriotic grounds. but because Louis XVIII. could not afford to make himself more unpopular than he was already by stripping people of their decoru tons Chateaubrinnd and LamnrtiT,e consent ed to accept the red ribbon. but lt was also conferred upon a great number of worthless personaees and SO brought into contempt
 There have been many Legion of Honor scandals since those days. but one Of them surpasses all the others in magnitude. This Is, Of course. the Wilson scandal. the history Of which. fhounh intricate, Is worth recalling.
 The trouble may be said to have be- gun on the day on which Mile. Alice Grew fell In love with an opera singer who need not be mentioned here. He wanted Co marry her, and she wanted to marry him. and the papers were be ginning to couple the two names In a manner most embarrassing to the pres Ident of the republic. The president however. sent the opera singer about his business and found his daughter another husband, not a very good hus- band. but Che best husband he could procure on the spur of the moment His choice fell upon M. Daniel Wilson, who had tong been one Of Ai. Grevy' 8 political supporters and was a anancier of some mark.
 No sooner was M. Wilson establish ed at the Elysee than he proceeded to enrich himself by various means. Among other things he founded a pa per called Le Moniteur de rExposition UuIverscHe. which really covered a traffic in decorations. Tbe whole story came out in stato trial toward the end or 1887. It was proved that Wi- son had made a regular practice of selling the Legion or Honor, or, rather. of inviting people who wanted it Co bribe him Co use his influence Co obtain it for them. His overtures were pre- sented through his jackals, Generals dAudlan and CanereI and Mines. IT. mousin and Ratazzi. and the whole party had to stand in the dock to- gether.
 Wilson was sentenced to two years Imprisonment a 6ne of 5000 francs and five years deprivation of civil rights Re appealed, and the court Of cessation annuned the judgment The accused, said the judges, wus obvious ly guilty of everything that he was charged with. but as his odenses were not anticipated by any punitive law be could not be punished So he re- tired to the country and tried Co Eve down his bad name. As be ultimately