Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-28
FAMOUS TRIALS
TRIAL OF FRENCH COMMUNISTS

The system of French communism
 dates back to feudal times. but when
 the term is used without qualification
 it usually has reference to the Com
 mune of Paris of 1871, and represents
 the insurrectionary body, or organ ized mob, which was in control of
 Paris from March IS to May 27 of
 that year.
 When the German army of occu- patton left Paris in March there were almost immediately signs of revolt. and the Reds. or Communists"
 rose against the French regular troops and. supported by the National Guard, l took possession of the city. Gen. Le- comte and Clement Thomas, were | shot, and the National Assembly was declared void.
 The administration of the Commune was noteriously incompetent and the new National government exteFted every effort to dispossess it of the
 reins of government On May 24 the Communists set fire to the public buildings, the palace of the Tuileries being destroyed, and a large number
 of eminent Frenchmen were massa-
 struggle on May 27 and the Com munists were overthrown.
 Then followed many arrests, the leaders of the revolutionistS were put to death or imprisoned or banished. Most of those banished were pardoned
 
 capped prosecution through having
 been killed in the final contest of the
 eventful 27th, but fully 30,000 Com
 munists were taken prisoners Many
 were executed without mercy, while others were distributed to various l prisons to await. trial among whom were Rossel, Asst, Grousset and others. who were captured after the resistance was at an end.
 The trial of the Communist pris- VUa as m
 the reading of the indictments. Some of the prisoners treated the proceed
 ings with levity, especially F'erre and Asst. Witnesses testified that they saw the former release convicts from prisons and give them arms. Asst boastfully admitted the share he had taken in the execution of captives and | justified it by the laws of retaliation,
 resorted to by all civilized nations in ! time of war.
 The extraordinary statements of the witnesses and the audacity of the &C., | cuSed frequently caused such scenes | of excitement in the courtroom that l the President of the Court was obliged 1 to call on officers to enforce order. The examination of witnesses was l concluded on August the 18th and on l the following Monday, the Fist, the | argument for the prosecution was be- gun. The prosecution was conclud- | ed on Aug. 23, and the counsel for l the prisoners commenced to sum up. The case was finally disposed of l on Sept. with the following result as to the leaders: F'erre, Lullier and | Brimsey were condemned to death; | Urbain and Prinquet to imprisonment
 for life with hard labor; seven others, | including Asst, to deportation and con- | finement in a fortress, with various l other sentences for those who were | less active as leaders.
 l Then the cases of Rochefort, Ros- | sel and Marroteau were taken up, | as we'll as the female incendiaries. l It required only two days to convict l the women, four of whom were sem l tenced to death, one to imprisonment ! in a fortress, and one to 10 years sol itary confinement. The trial of Rossel was concluded on Sept. s when he was | sentenced to military desTadation and death.
 Sept. q, when he was sentenced to | transportation to a penal colony for 1 life. Much sympathy was felt for Rossel especially and both his father and mother made piteous appeals to President Thiers, begging that his life | might be spared. Much as Thiers was affected by this interview he refused I to interfere and at S o'clock on Nov. l 2S. 1871, the prisoners, Rossel, Ferre, and Bourgeois, were taken from their cells to the camp of Sartary, and | thence they were escorted by a large force to the place fixed upon for exe- cution in the outskirts of the camp. On arriving there a hollow square was formed by the troops. The be- haYior of the three men was most | COURTEOUS. When all the prepara- | tions were completed the company | leyeled their muskets at the word of command and fired. Rossel fell at the first discharge, instantly killed. The | others were not so fortunate and it
 was necessary for the soldiers to use their pistols to put them out of their agony There were 5000 troops of | the line present to witness the execu- | tion.
 The assassins of Archbishop Dar- l boy were tried later and one was sentenced to death on Jan. 23. On ] May 25 three more Communists were | shot and there were a number of l other executions from time to time throughout the year.
 Phonograph records imported into