The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1915-08-17
SACRED UNION"
SURVIVES FIRST
YEAR OF BATTLE

Paris; Aug. 1.-THE Sacred Union"
of parties, after resisting the tribula-
tions of a year of war, and after sur
viving the efforts of some factions to
disrupt it, has just weathered another
storm.
The parties of the left in the Cham
Der of Deputies, including the Social
lists, Radicals, Radical-Socialists and
a faction of the Republican Socialist
party, repeated their attack in the
form of a demand for a more compre-
'hensive supervision of the administra-
ton of the affairs of the War De-
partnent. They asked for powers
similar to those held by the Commit
tee Of Public Safety during the Revo-
luti or--ths right to send commissions
or delegations into the zone of the
operations to exercise a direct and
permanent supervisor over the mill
tary operations.
This desired authority, though not
SO extended as the individual powers
given to the coTnrnissio ners sent by the
Committee of Public Safety to mod
crate and conservative members to
amount to the same thing. Some saw
In it SIMPLY another manoeeuvre in tn e
Icompaign that has been waged for
months in the Hobbies Of the cham
Der, against the Minister of War, and
some other members of the ca binet.
The object was supposed to be to put
the government into the position of
refusing Parliament the right of SUI
Fpervision and, thus, apparently exer-
cising a sort of a ministerial dictation.
The campaign started with criti-
/ cisns of the censorship of attacks of
a political nature, and it developed
later into an assault upon the sanitary
service and upon the general staff of
the army. The Socialist organ, La
Guerrey SociaIe, edited by Gustav
Herve, the former anti-rri Ii tarist who
/ had adhered to the sacred Union" at
the beginning of the war, published
several articles in which it spoke
plainly of the great losses sustained
by the French army at scissors, in
Champagne, in the Vosges and north
of Arras while at, the same lime
minimizing the value of the results
obtained. In these articles he plain
" intimated that a change in the gem
eraI staff was desired, that younger
generals were required to make the
necessary effort, and that by reason
of the apathy of the sanitary depart
ment Paris was threatened with slof-
era, Most of the papers containing
these articles were seized by the police
negligible AT the same time, no Sc
cret was made in Parliamentary cir
c1es of the desire of the Radicals and
Socialists to get rid of Mllerand. and
| Jonre The chances Of dtffsrent can
didates to succeed them were even
| discussed, the name mentioned most
often for Minister of War being that
of Paul Doumer, former president of
the Chamber of Deputies, while Gem
eraI Sarrail, already 3. candidate for
the chief command of the army before
the war, was put forward for Joffre's
place.
This campaign had no press support
further than L'Homrns Enchaine, of
tformer Premier Georges Ciemenceau,
1.-The Bonnet Rouge edited by Miguel
l.AImerayda, formerly connected with
Nerves organ in the days Of the Anar-
chistic campaigns, and the. Radicale.
the organ of the Radical and Radical
Socialist parties
The different groups of the left met
separately and discussed the form of
resolution, amounting practically to AN
| Interpretation to the government on
this question, with the unexpected re-
suit that the Radical party. in which
the proposition originated. was shown
to be far from united IN its opposition
| to- the government. The result was
that instead of the demand for the
right of Parliament to exercise imme-
date supervision and control Of the
| different services of the army. the
groups. decided upon a modified and far
milder proposition for supervision OF
1.-The sanitary department alone under
such constitutional restrictions as
made the proposition entirely accepta-
bic to the Minister of War.