The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-09-15
FRENCH MILITARY
 SCANDAL FOUND Almost Equals the Famous
 Dreyfus Case PLAN BIG WARSHIPS
New French Dreadnaughts Will Be Gigantic War Machines-Teach- ers' Unions Getting Into
 Trouble With Government

geria for military service. Besides the
 Twentieth army corps, stationed in north
 ern Algeria, there are the tragic Com pagnies de Discipline" in which even the l most militaristic papers admit atrocious l horrors take place every year.
 | The "Affaire Rousset" has it's inception ] in cold blooded and revoting murder. | Tn Algeria military culprits are punished l by being compelled to march beneath the burning sun, carrying on their backs heavily loaded knapsacks. It was one day the turn of a private named Aernoult, whose crime was peaceful picketing for Paris trade union. He was utterly exhausted in spirit as well as in body and he staggered and dropped on the sand from thirst and fatigue A lieutenant and two sergeants were highly amused You want something to drink?' they said. Then here you are"-and they filled the mouth of the fainting soldier with handfuls of burning sand. That night he died in terrible agony.
 Rousset was one of file of soldiers who witnessed this barbarism. He alone
 of all the little troops dared tell of what
 he saw, and to press the murderers pun ishment. It was then that the promise was made to this brave private which has today revealed the ignominy of the French army to the eyes of the world. If you overlook what happens in the army" it ran, ''the army will overlook your own misdemeanors" Rousset stuck to his charges-and found himself in the Douera prison.
 But the matter had by this time become too scandalous to stop here. The Com ite de Defense Socials, founded by the | revolutionary workers of France, inves- tigated the charges of Rousset against the three officers and indorsed them. Their committee was prosecuted by the Jingoists, but the civil court dissolved them, and by so doing proved beyond
 doubt the moral culpability of Aernoul's assa ssins. That was in the summer of 1911. The murder occurred on July g. 1909, and despite official sympathy. the mur- derers were still at large, while Rousset was a prisoner.
 It was then that the affair took a hope l full turn. General Rabier. sent into All | geria by the war department, reported | that Aernoult met violent and not an accidental death. The three culplits- | Lieutenant Sabatier and Sergeants Veign- | fer and Casanova-were at once taken l into custody. Rousset was released and 1 sent to complete his military service at | Meden. Then, qiute suddenly, the blow
 fell. Three days before the three cul- | prits were to appear before the military | court at Oran, Rousset was accused of murdering one of his comrades, Private | Braucoli. The murderers were set free, a new inquiry was instituted and com pieted and Rousset was sentenced to 20 years penal servitude. Thus the case stands today except that the popular in- | dignation has forced the court of vassa- ton to set aside the military tribunals decree and order a new and final inquiry, which is to commence on Monday. Rous- | sets friends have been able to get full retracti9n from six of the witnesses. whose Evidence was inspired by official threatsl Striking Inconsistencies have also been revealed. which rival even the
 most shocking disclosures of the Dreyfus affair.
 The plans for the new French super dreadnaughts are now so far advanced that the ships could be laid down imme- diately. should the necessity arise. These vessels will mark a considerable advance In speed. tonnage, thickness of almor, betting. and weight of broadside over all their predecessors. Their speed will be l 211a knots, as against the 201a knots of vessels of the Bretagne type. Their total displacement will be slightly over 25,000 tons, as against the 2400 tons of their immediate predecessors. As for their belting, it was at first intended that the | l type-an 11-inch belting in the center of | the ship and inches at the extremities- | should be followed, but owing to the in | crease in the penetrating power of naval artillery since 1900, when the Patrie was l land down. it was finally decided that the new vessels should be completely armored with betting 13-7 inches thick. They will carry 12 l3.4-nch guns, instead of the 10 of the Bretagne type. and the weight of their broadside will be over seven tons. 1 On the Cote d'Azur, in October, the Whitehead company intends to begin building on the land 1t has acquired be- tween Saint Proper and Saint Maxine, not far from Frejus. The building complet- ed, 500 workmen will be drafted to the
 coast and in three years their numbers will have increased to 5000 Thus a new city, another le Creusot. is being formed on the Cote q dAzur. The reason for it's foundation is this. France far has received her torpedoes mainly from the factories of the Whitehead company in Fiume, where she maintains perma- nent commission composed of naval off | cer an engineer and another official, to receive and test the torpedoes ordered. 1 This arrangement would, of course. have | had dangerous disadvantages in time of war With the foundation of this new factory on French soil the danger will | cease to exist.
 The teacers who have their unions like other workers in France have been a l great deal in the public eye lately. They have been discussing singular subjects at their congress at Chambery, so singu- I lar that the government has stepped in | and dissolved their unions. The creation ] of a fund called the Soldiers Sou.'
 which is meant to help young men who | though fulfilling their military duties, | hold anti-miltarist opinions. the anarch- | fist and non Malthusian declarations of a I delegate the utilization of the unions
 with the General Federation of Labor these were matters which caused surprise ! throughout the country
 No one was more surprised than M Messimy. the minister. He translated his | surprise into action. The government Is | with him. and at a recent meeting of min 1 isters it was decided to dissolve the un- ions. The law of 1884 does not recognize schoolmasters unions. but in 1906 the chamber decided that until vote was | taken on the subject the status of the ex- | isting unions might be tolerated.
 l Since 1906 the unions have not been con | tent with tre existing state of things 1 They have started unions throughout the l country. and carried on propaganda of l9os prea ching revolutionarv doctrines, | anti-miitarism and neo-Malthusianism Sucr a state of things could not be all lowed to exist and so NJ. Guisthau. the minister of education. has sent circular
 to the prefects explaining why the gov- ernment had decided to suppress the un- l. Xii T 1fv,.r xx.ffG