The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1915-01-07
FRANCE IN THE WAR.
Politics Played Part Until the In
yasion Fused Whole Country.


now pathetic picture of France res
cuing Alsace, says Golfers Weekly.
Lieut. France, mid smoke and shell,
now embraces beautiful Miss Alsace,
while gallant soldiers tear down the
boundary post of the frontier. This
allegorical picture haunts every news
stand with its ironic promise. For,
alas. that rescue, so long, so ardent
ly hoped for. has FOR the moment
failed. Mulhouse has been entered
and evacuated; it has been recap
tured and again deserted. So, IN the
Place de la Concorde, the statue OF
Strasbourg, this August, has been al
ternately bedecked with flowers and
Grape. Back, back, back our little
pin flags crept over the map-over
the vosges, scurrying into France.
Again Paris demanded: What the
devil is wrong now" Only one pa
per was bold enough to explain. 1t
was the 18th army corps that was
rotten this time. And mex day,
Lord, how the fishwives and vege-
table women in the great market of
Paris, les Halles, were screaming
from one to another: "Ah, those
cowardly Marseillaise! The Marseil-
la;se never were Frenchmen, and nev-
er will be. Shot in the back!'
Furious were the military censors
that morning, for never before had
the name of regiment or division
been mentioned. The indiscreet pa
per was sharply rebuked and the
corps from Provence was Whitewash-
ed-praised for their bravery the day
afterward, for holding their own al
ter having been "surprised.
Surprised, yes, that was it, sur
prised so much that they turned tail
and ran for ten miles, as all Paris
knows today. Why weren't the first
of these panic-stricken troops shot
down in their tracks by their own
officers before they had stampeded
an army? Only the captains and
majors know and they will never tell.
What is the answer? Politics, French
politics-the only thing France has
TO fear in this war. The military
clique-every man helping his friend
and every one helping himself. Roy
alist against Republican, clerlca!
against Socialist. Above all, favorit-
ism-a strongly intrenched bureau
cracy which. until almost too late
not even Frances desperate need
could overthrow.
Messimy, the pacific, the blunder'
er, was retired with the rest OF the
cabinet. Retired? He was fairly
kicked out; for, of all that ministry
he was the only one who was not
thanked for his services. Millerano
became minister of war and Joffre
general in chief. Michel, the blum
derer, who has been denoted from
general in chief to military COVER
| nor OF Paris. and from that Still
lower, handed over the city to Gal
leni. Oh, there was a great scurry'
ing TO and fro of generals in Paris
that week. You. saw their splendid
uniforms in taxicabs here, there anc
| everywhere. Pau came up from the
south. Joffre came down from the
north; the English came, and Gen
French entered Paris, cheered like
a victor.
After that there was popular &C
ceptance of Joffre's Fabian policy
and Paris was satisfied. We knew
now, he was trying to gain time. Fol
us the stone-wall defence, while Rus
sia drove the steam roller at the at
tack. A change now came into th'
| tenor OF the OlllCldl Colll oAIS1'NoAA'
also. No more figures of speech, ne
talk about the "Barzares," no mor'
Gallo "haut-le-coeur' and famboy
ant chauvin-jingoism. The genera
staff confined itself to statement o
the geographical positions of the en-
emy. Now we could at last stick II
our pin flags on the map with some
accuracy, though the situations were
doubtless a week or so behind th'
time.
Bombast and braggadocio still were
the official communicates of the wa
office. There came day soon, how
ever, when the best they could sa!
was that there was not a German
soldier on French soil. Then, pres
to, the Uhlans were over the border
and refugees from Brittany wer'