Bisbee daily review., 1916-01-23
LEGION OF HONOR
 IS MORE POPULAR
Imperial Institution Has Un- dergone Vicissitudes; His
 tory of Decoration.


 jackets, and the frequent appeals to
 popular imagination by the military
 parades behind the war zone incidental
 to the decoration of heroes from the
 front, have given a remarkable in
 crease in popularity to the Legion ol
 Honor. This imperial institution,
 handed down through the Restoration,
 the Second Republic and the Second
 Empire, was not accepted without re-
 serve by the more democratic Third
 Republis and has gone through some
 vieissitudes since.
 NapOleon's first idea was to reward
 military devotion and gallant services
 on the field of battle. It was only later
 when he realized the importance of
 making war on Great Britain's com
 merce as well as upon her fleet and
 army that he used the decoration to
 incite civilian effort. Warnings were
 given at the time that abuses would
 result There was no scandal, how
 ever, during the Empire and the first known traffic in the decoration came to light in 1922, when an agency en- gagged in the selling of false decora- tions was unearthed. The scandal of 1887 was more serious. In that case it was a question of the sale of real decorations, involving a son-in-law of the president of the republic, Jules | Grevy, and finally bringing about the ! latters resignation.
 At it's origin the Legion of Honor comprised a Grand Council or direc- tory, composed of grand officers and i 16 cohorts, each hohort counting 7 grand officers, 20 commandants, 30 of ficers and $50 legionaries named for life by the grand council. The grand | council and the cohorts were sup pressed by a law reorganizing. the or der in 1916, and the dispositions of that law were mostly incorporated in to the present charter of the order, which dates from March 16, 1852. The president of the republic is the Grand Master of the Legion of Honor, whose affairs are now administered by a Grand Chancellor named by the chief executive of the republic, and a coun- cil of the order comprising a General Secretary, Vice President and ten members. The corps of legionaries is composed of Chevaliers, Officers, Com mandants, Grand Officers and Grand Crosses. The membership is limited to 20 Grand Crosses, 50 Grand Officers 25O Commandants, 1000 Officers and 12,O0O Chevaliers or Knights. Foreign CTS on whom the decoration is con ferred do not figure in this limited membership, according to- the rules.
 In time of peace, to be admitted to the Legion of Honor one must have exercised civilian or military functions during 20 years with honor and distinc- tion. To be promoted to any rank su- perior to that of Knight it is indispen- sible to have passed through the grade immediately inferior, th eperi- cd of four years as a Knight, two years as an Officer, three years as a Com five years as a Grand Officer. For exceptional cases of gallantry or services in time of war ; or peace these periods may be redused but in no case may a Knight be ad- vaneed to the grade of Commander without having first been promoted to { the rank of officer. !:
 The decoration of the Legion of Hon. ! or is a five double-pointed star, with { a medallion in the center with the l head of the republic in relief. and the | words, French Republic, 1S7O," in $ circular border. On the other side the { medallion bears two tricolor flags with the device, "Honneur ct Patrie." The ( star which is enamelled in white is of , silver for the Knights, and gold for the Officers. The only distinction { made in the form of the decoration it. self for the different ranks, is that of I size, being 1-2 inches in diameter for ' the Knights and Officers, and ? 1-2 z inches in diameter for the Command { CTS. The Knights wear the decoration I on the left side of the chest, attached s to a red moire ribbon, the Officers 6 wear fl the same place and with the ( same ribbon, but with a red rosette l Commanders wear the dec | oration around their neck, attached to { a red moire ribbon wider than that of ( Inicers and Knights. Grand Officers in addition to the cross wear on the f left side of the breast a five double pointed star set with diamonds. The ( Grand Crosses wear the decoration at ] tached to a red sash passing over the { right shoulder and also nthe left ' side of the chest another double point ' ed star similar to that of the Grand ( Officers. h
 It is not generally known that mem f bership in the Legion of Honor car ries with fl pension to soldiers or q who have lost a member or ( have lost the use of a member as the /