Evening star., 1923-06-15
DOES FRANCE
FACE RETURN
TO MONARCHY?
BY DOLORES BOIsFEUILLET
COLQVTIT"T


in ignorance OF the political move
ment and increasing sentiment since
the war for the restoration of the
King of France. That country today
is In state of political evolution and
the royalist party will prove a great
factor in the next general election
slated for May, 1924. when. the Ruhr
policy will be a great issue.
Our American newspapers often
carry Paris dispatches in which Leon
Daudet figures conspiciously as roy
alist leader. and he and his party.
though vigorous in the defense of
france, are sometimes made to ap-
pear ridiculous. yet, although they
have been charged with plotting to
restore the king. they have never been
accused Of pro- -Germanism." says re-
cent authority. I'm fact, hatred of
Germany is an essential element in
rigorous campaigns of the Action
Francaise, the official newspaper of
the party. edited by Leon Daudet.
many traitors and pseudo traitors to
France have been exposed"
This newspaper. Paris daily,
claims to have more than doubled it's
circulation since the war, and it is
generally conceded TO be the best
edited of the French papers, which
can readily be understood, as Leon
Daudet, member of the chamber of
deputies, is distinguished in the lit
erary world as belonging to the
Academic Goncourt.
The royalists are completely or
ganized into a league. with head
quarters at Paris and branches in the
| larger cities Of the provinces. Each
department has a STAFF of officers who
receive orders from Paris. Each ar
rondissement at Paris is similarly or
ganized, 50 that at word from the
head Of the organization the whole
force might be set in motion.
The younger royalists are formed
! into the auxiliary organization of the
| Camelots du Roi and the Etudiants
dc faction Franchise. Even the wom-
! en- are organized in like manner and
/ are quite active. They have bazaars
and like entertainments for raising
money. All members pay dues OF
/ ; francs year TO the organization.
! In order that the activities may be
! intelligently carried on. they maintain
! besides their organ, the Action Fran
are given upon the problems which the
monachy will have to solve. 1t is a
unique feature of French politics. and
Leon Daudet himself says "L'Action
! Francaise is not only d daily paper, but
| is a league and organ Of action"
They propose to change the republic
| of France into monarchy. not by rev
oiutlon. but peaceahly by evolution,
and this has become their slogan. All
their activities throughout the coun-
F, try, with time. place OF meeting and
! orators, are published in the Action
F'rancaise, which. with its wide circu-
| latiOn. keeps each part Of France in
/ formed on league affairs.
! The chief adherent to the royalist
| party is naturally the old nobility, but
there are also many recruits from other
classes who are convinced, as their
J leader, Daudet, that before ten years,
| have to be monachy. or she will no
| longer exist: for France is of fami-
! lial temperament, and family and
democracy are as antinomic as mother
| country and democracy"
| writer who is antagonistic to
! Daudet says, though, that the pub
| lie whose opinion weighs something
| is distinctly indifferent to the royal
/ iSt theory. Tho word indifferent is
/ used on purpose. They do not fight it..
! because they feel there is no need of
J fighting. Should some day the king
actually come back To France he
, would be constitutional king like
! that of ngland-mostly a figure
! head. seldom a really active power"
! But the situation has caused alarm
! in the socialist group Of the cham
her of deputies. Then. following the
| royalists insistance on backing the
| year George Taupin, a French COM
munist. was arrested in the offices of
| the Action Francaise after firing a
/ revolver when he was refused per-
| mission to see Charles Murras.
| This was generally stated TO be the
/ cause OF the notorious reprisal week
! before last by the Camelot du Roi.
! when they waylaid some royalist enc
/ mics and dosed them with castor oil
and bespattered ink. This led to the
! machine in France.
! The socialists and dyed-in- the-wool
! republican groups in the chamber of
! deputies show anxiety over the roy
the Action Franchise On June 2. at
! Nantes. the capital city of the de-
! partment he represents in the cham
| ber of deputies. Ex-Premier BRAND
| delivered speech. calling for big
! rally around the republican flag. He
declared that in the present chamber
| there never had been a real repub-
! lican majority conscious of its duties
! to the republic, and that while he
was in power he never had a real re-
l
! At the beginning of this year an
| attack was intended upon the life of
| Leon Daudet when he. instead of
! Marius Plateau, was to have been the
| victim of the assassinatress. Ger
! maine Berthon, a militant commu-
! mist, who proved to have played a
! leading part in the attempt last fall
: on the life of Mr.. Herrick, United
| States minister to France.
/, This murder was precipitated by a
hn sFl,D NtNaa. .IaYk
! uties when Leon Daudet vigorously
! defended France in denouncing the
| socialists attack on the Ruhr policy
and the communist propaganda which
! has been carried on in France since
! the war. Following the aSsa Ssina :
| tion of Plateau in the editorial rooms
! of the Action Franchise. the royal
! lists in reprisal wrecked the Offices
+! ard printing rooms of three radical
| newspapers
! founded the Action F'rancaise, and
Leon Daudet became his disciple. In
! his memory q marble bust now occu-
| pies a place of honor in the luxuri-
! Gus salon at the Action FRANCHISE
headquarters at IA Rue de Rome, just
! across from the Care St Lazare.
| Icon Daudet inherited his love OF
politics from his grandfather and his
literary tastes from his father. the
great Alphonse Daudet. literary 'im
! der the name of Karl Steen, and his
! wife is also a writer and interested
in politics.
Leon Daudet is the author of nu-
nnero9s hoolss His Latest st 4. is, is 80 .-Thf he
French letters. He is an interesting
| character, stout and ruddy complex
| ioned, jovial. quick In manner and
| with an explosive temperament, ex-
| presses himself in a most emphatic
| manner.
! During his childhood Flaubert, Zola
and Goncourt were intimate friends
| of his father and often dined at his
home Gnncourt died thara and In