The Washington herald., 1915-05-02

trasted with the old transports of Paris
in the summer of 1870. when the boule
wards rang with the confident cry Of
"a Berlin.' "a Berlin" Hardly fort
night had passed when that eXultant
shout sank to grOwl of discomfort and
Paris stood on the brink of revolution
In seven weeks the Emperor was
prisoner of the Germans and the En-
press Regent was in flight to England.
In less than two months the enemy was
at the gates of the capital.
a republic was declared and an cleo
ton called. But at the threshold of its
existence the new government was driven
from the capital out to Versailles. the
Commune of Paris having rebelled
against the conservative Assembly which
the country had elected. The Germans.
who had besieged Paris for nearly four
months before bringing to terms the val
liant city. now stood by while the French
government itself laid siege to its walls.
above which the red flag of the revo-
lutionists waved.
The Commune.
The civil war ragged furiously through
out the spring of ISL When in May
its way through the gates. the Com
munists disputed its progress street by
street for seven bloody days. As they
saw the city slipping from their control
the revolutioniSts devoted il to deStruc-
tion rather than yield IL to their foes.
The Nendome Column was thrown down.
The Tuileries. that home Of Kings and
Emperors. was destroyed The Hotel de-
Vile. Notre Dame. the Palais Royal and
other great buildings associated with the
history of church and State We're as
sailed with torch and powder.
Horrible reprisals were taken on both
sides. The Communists shot their hos
tagcs. who included the aged Archbishop
of Paris. But the government was no
more sparing Of the lives of insurrec-
tionists. Hundreds were shot down where
they had taken refuge in churches. and
long after the uprising had been crushed
the prosecutions continued by the whole
sale. Many were summarily put to death
and thousands were banished to penal
colonies in the tropics.
RansominE a Nation.
The Third Republic began. therefore.
by dethroning Paris and subjectins her
OF the Commune. Paris was France no
more. nor has she ever regained her
old-time ascendancy.
While the republic was battling with
the Communists at the gates of Paris.
IL was ransoming France from the con-
quering Germans. BY treaty made at
Frankfort in May. the government stood
pledged not only to cede Alsace-Lorraine.
but also to raise and pay within three
years money indemnity Of 1900. 900. 0o0.
and a German army was to remain in oc-
cupation and he supported by the coun-
try until the money should be paid.
n hidden hoard that amazed the world.
The first call for Sloo.0oo.ooo brought Of
fers of two and half times that total.
and the second call for the remainder
OF the indemnity was oversubscribed
nearly fifteen times. AS early as July.
1871. 800. 00O.oO0 in coin was carted into
Germany. payment which ransomed
Normandy from the possession OF the
foreign soldiers Before October In the
same year another payment of more
than 500. ooo. 900 freed other large tracts
of the country. When only a little moro
than two years had passed. the last cent
of the billion was delivered and the last
German soldier retired from French soil.
That was a time OF stern reckoning
for the people of France and bravely
they met 1t None of the gilded disni-
taries of the empire had stayed to set
tie the account they had so light-heart-
eddy opened. None but the toiling. thrifty
people Of the soil. who for centuries
had been pouring out their blood on the
leaden altar of war and their hard earn
ings to support the glory and magnii-
to ransom their captive motherland.
Without treasury and without credit
abroad. the republic had gathered and
paid the heaviest indemnify In history
and liberated the country from the con-
queror. And the French democracy en-
tered upon a reign that was long out
lasted any dynasty since the collapse
of the Bourbons in the Revolution.
are watching. sadder but wiser than the
France that gaily tripped into a Sedan.
She not only has had occasion to count
the terrible cost Of war. but she Is the
tunity to learn the full value OF peace.
the only France in all the centuries that
has been permitted to SOW and reap for
ten years without interruption.
Copyright. lol5 BY James Morsanl