The Washington herald., 1915-05-16
ZzE Lls2naEe a. EazzzH5

settling down upon the broad shoulders
of the people until Paris no longer can
| overthrow it with shrug.
Black trOusered. frock coated bour-
geosc from the law offices and the fac
tories OF the provincial towns reign al
the Elysee and in the chamber of depu-
ties: but the PEASANT rules. Those mid
dle-cIass politicians are 10 him what the
| mobiles were to Louis XVI. his more or
less Maynard courtiers and tools They
may he indeed quite as selfish a class
as tho aristocracy which they displaced
at tho downfall of the Rourbons, but
they are only invested with little brief
authority.
Loans. Allies. Colonies.
In the last resort. the national pow
err is rot lodged in the tribune of the
Chamber of Deputies any more than il
is in the old palace At Versailles or In
the salons and the boulevard of Paris.
1t abides in the little stone cottages
of the mighty in the third republic.
There we must look for the France
which dug down into the old. blue
,hn ar stocking in ISIS and sent
boarded savings There is the France
that soberly lifted the nation out of
the wreck to which monarchs and
on it's feet. bound up its wounds and
brought back the smile to it's face
Pillow and COW" have regained what
was losl ny GU" SWORD ana
won for France more enviable place
among the nations than she held
under Louis XIV or Napoleon l. The
monarchies of Europe have had to GO
a borrowing to the French democracy
and they had pawned their crowns in
Paris for loans running into the bill
lions.
No longer. in fear of revolution or
n Partisan coup d'etat. do the peas
antly hide their gains in the old woof-
en- stocking. AS their faith in the re-
The savings banks have increased five
fold in forty years. The plain people
have invested more than $4,000. 900. 900
in the stocks and 6onds of the rail-
the securities of the nation.
The monarchies have not only be-
come the borrowers: but the allies as
ors and kings coming to seal the at
lance with fraternal kiss on the
cheeks of peasant presidents. The en-
among the nations. The republic has
summoned to her side Russia ana
England. the two greatest empires
in the world. And reconciling them to
each other after long estrangemenr.
II united them in the Triple Entente.
Next the republic drew Russia and
Japan together and made friends with
All the while France has moved for
ward in the development of a colonial
empire which now is second only to
III extent ana resources. The
French colonies in Northern Africa are
superior to any in their closeness to
the shores of the motherland. Lying
as they do at the very door of France,
they are a satire on the shortsighted-
ness of Napoleon. who sailed by them
on his bootless expedition to Egypt at
the other end of the Mediterranean
No other nation has colonies so for
tunate1y placed, so convenient to her
borders. as France already has in Tu-
mis- .and Algiers. and as she is gaining
in Morocco. The city of Algiers really
is nearer the port of Marseilles than
across the Mediterranean. the territory
of France stretches continuously from
the English Channel to the farther
bounds of the Sahara. A Frenchman
may journey In an aeroplane from,
Calais to Timbuctoo without passing
over foreign soil.
The Real Rulers at Home.
Go out to Versailles and you may
see where the old France died. Go ou.
to st. Denis and you may see the
tombs of her dead rulers. But you
must go into the French country to
and where and how her rulers live.
1t may not be as picturesque as rural
England or rural Italy. but in all out
doors there Is no other land so well
combed. SO well tended.
For In the revolution the little peo-
pie became the proprietors of their lit
tie farms and they are working for
themselves. The skeptics said the liz
the people did not know enough to
hold on to the land once they got II
and that soon the big people would