Blandford Weekly News. — 1889-05-04 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

GENERAL BOULANGER.  -------- A correspondent of the Sfoichied reports the sub. stance of an interview he has had with General Boulanger at the latter's rooms at the Bristol Hotel, Burlington-gardens. The General energetically denied that there was any truth whatever in the statetnents current in Paris, and said to have been made before the High Court, respecting the receipt by him of various Sums of money which, practically, were to be used for the subversion of the existing form of Government in France. All these allegations, he declared, were absolute falsehoods, and he had that morning sent letters to the Paris Press so stigmatising them. It was not, however, surprising that they should obtain currency, because there would always be gossip of that kind when so-called judicial proceedings were being conducted as they were by the High Court— s body which was so thoroughly ashamed of its own action that it took the utmost pains to keep everything that it did absolutely secret. The Court were obviously afraid of letting anything it was doing be known, lest to the ridicule already incurred should be added an indignation which the members dared not face. It had been proved conclusively that by remaining in Paris and courting arrest at the instance of such a tribunal he would have been committing an act of suicide. He would have been under arrest from the first, precluded absolutely from communicating with his friends or his party; the proceedings before the Court would have been pushed ffirward with the utmost speed • and probably by this time he should either have been executed or commencing a term of incarceration in a fortress. It would have been simple madness, and gross disloyalty to his party, moreover, thus to leave himself willingly in the hands of his enemies. He did not in the least anticipate any diminution in the popularity of the cause he represented because of his absence from France. Beyond doubt, the minds of the great majority of the people were far too well made up for that. There were certainly some minor difficulties in the way of his conducting the affairs of the party from London, one being, as he had mentioned before, the absenceof telephonic communication with France. Many of his letters were sent by couriers, who had not been interfered with, perhaps because they were not known. He had sent few messages from London by telegraph, but one of them seemed to have been stopped. It was a message to a cousin in Paris, slaking for news of the condition of an uncle who was dangerously ill, and was couched in the plainest language. The French postal authorities, however, preminably thought that it WAS a cipher telegram, and had stopped it, so that he had received no answer. It was pointed out to General Boulanger that since the new submarine cable Convention between England and Francecame into operation some two months ago, he was entitled to go to St. Martini-le-Grand, and ask why his message had not been delivered, whereupon inquiries would be made. This the General did not know, and expressed his intention of acting upon the suggestion immediately. The General has hired stables in the vicinity of Burlington-gaMenaand intends to send for his horses. including the famous black charger Tunis. It is not his present intention to issue any manifesto, but he Will be engaged for the next few weeks in the work of preparing for the October elections.