Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-10-23
FRANCE DARK ARMY
With New Military Force Negro
Peril Arrives.
Public Opinion Undereoes Change
Danger in the Project Of Inereas-
ing African Legion to Hun
dred thousand Men.

Paris.-Is France destined to be
overrun with blacks, as is certain
parts Of the United States? There are
z number OF thinking men here who
see such q thing happening If what ap-
pears to be the republics ultimate
military policy be carried out.
BLACK France" That is the latest
/ Gaelic phrase used to denote Frances
black colonies in Africa and her own
/ negro soldiers there. The average
! FrenChman thinks Of it with thrill Of
/ pride, but there are those who fear
/ that the country is brewing for itself a
I pot Of trouble, without realizing it,
J through the fast increasing native Al
/ rican soldiery and the proposed i'm
/ portation OF them into France.
The falling birth rate has made
/ drastic action necessary. No attempt
was made to conceal the fact that this
was the cause for returning to the
/ thTee-year military service law just
/ passed by both the chamber of depu-
| ties and the senate But even with that
addition, Frances standing army is
AiOL B4S CllCC@G, SOI1ClLlllS CIs9C LlIA
/ to be done That thing seems to be
/ the formation Of the mightiest negro
| legion the world has ever seen. Sensa-
/ tor GerYais is fighting for 100000 black
! men, but others say that eventually
/ there will be under the tricolor of
France an army of native Africans
/ 100000 strong.
The black soldier was sanctioned by
law in 1910. There are 10000 of him
already.
The argument for the innovation is
simple. France, being at a standstill,
or worse, so far as population is con
| cerned; and Germany, its mortal enc
my, being on the rapid increase, it is
pointed out that no other alternative
presented itself. Manifestly France,
with its 100000 people. cannot pro-
vide a white army as big as can Ger
many with its more than 60,00O,000.
| Germany's new army law gives it
/ about 900, 600 soldiers on a peace foot
! ing; Frances new law gives it $4,000
! In France every youth must serve
/ three years, in Germany he serves two,
/ Suppose Germany likewise should take
| the notion 10 adopt a three-year sery-
| ice. Germany would have far more
| than a million men ready to take the
field at an instant's notice and France,
having already gone its limit, would
be helpless to meet the increase.
The only remedy for the situation, it
is argued, is to introduce the negro
/ into the military scheme. There are
millions Of negroes in Frances Afri-
can dependencies, and Colonel Man
! gin and Colonel Marchand, heroic
/ French leaders in Morocco. give them
a good character. The thing to do is
to use them, they say.
And there, in the opinion of many
! is where the trouble would begin, for
it has been found that in actual prac-
| tice the Senegalian "a generic term
! applied to all Frances black troops
whether Senegalians or not), is not
worth much more as a soldier unless
he has his family with him. He must
carry his wife-or wives-along to act
as cook. porter and clothes member
and without her he is utterly lost
! Therefore, if the Senegalian be
brought to France, Mrs. Senegalian
will have to come, too, with the thou
sands upon thousands of little Sene-
galians trailing at her abbreviated
/ skirt
| That, say those who have studied
/ United States history, is where the
/ trouble thickens
The first appearance of blacks upon
! the battlefields of Europe came during
| the Franco-Prussian war. France using
! its "TurcOs," as the Algerian troops
were called against the Germans,
! evoking the bitterest criticism on the
other side of the Rhine. France was
/ charged with using "savages' against
civilized people
| If the negro is to be employed in
/ Europe considerable preparation has
/ to be done. The question of proper
/ food, clothing and general living con
/ ditiOns viii have to be studied. The
white plague is frequent among ne
grOes nowadays, and he is particularly
( susceptible to the disease. The moral
confusion resulting from a new code
/ Of manners would have to be fore
/ stalled. However, it is apparent that
/ the French are pursuing 3 wise course
In gradually habituating the black man
to the new conditions and. what is
/ equally important, habitUating public
/ opinion to the notion that it has in
these ebony soldiers a magnificent
/ fighting force capable of rendering the
/ highest services TO the mother coun-
] ~.