CLEMENCEAU'S APPEAL TO FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 124, 12 February 1918, Page 10

CLEMENCEAU'S APPEAL TO FRANCE

"NOTHING BUT THE WAR" STRONG MEASURES WITH CRIME Paris, November '20. The following Ministerial statement was read this afternoon by 51. Cleraenceau in tho Chamber of Deputies, which was crowded both in the galleries and on the floor: AVe have accepted the task of formi!;L>; t!i<? Government in older lo conduct the war with redoubled efl'ort, with a view to obtaining a better resoli from all energies. We present ourselves before you with tho. single thought of a war one and indivisible. We should like the confidence which we ask you to show us to be an act of trust in yourselves and an appeal to the historic virtues, which have made us Frenchmen. Never did France fee) so dearly the need to live and grow in tin , ideal of a force put at the service of the human conscience and in the determination still more to fix justice between citizens and between peoples -capable of freeing themselves and of conquering in order to be just. That has been the watchword of all our Governments since the beginning of the war. AVc shall maintain this frank and open programme. We have great soldiers with a great' history under leaders tried in the fire, spurred to the highest acts of devotion which made the fair renown of their forbears. By them, and by all of us, the immortal Motherland of Men. Mistress of Pride and of Victories, will pursue in her noble innbitions for peace the course of her destinies.

Tlinse Frenchmen whom wp. were forced to throw into the battle have rights over u.;. They desire that none of our thoughts should be turned from ; them, and that none of our acts should j be turned from thorn, and that none of our acts should be foreign to them. ! We owe them all without any reserve i —all for France bleeding in her glory, ! all for t!ip apotheosis of Right trium- ! pliant. We have one plain duty and I one only—to remain with the soldier, i to live, suffer, and fight with him, and ! to renounce all that is iiot for the counI try. The hour has come for us to be ! only French, and to say to ourselves I with pride I hat that is enough for us. J The rights of the front and the duties ! of the rear —all to-day must be blendI eel in one. Let the whole zone be the i .Army zone, and if there are men today who can find in their souls old seeds of hate, let us away with them. I All civilised nations are engaged in i the same battln against modern forms of old barbarities. With all our good Allies we are an unshakable rock, a harrier which will not be passed. At the Allied front, at all times and overyI where, there is nothing but fraternal I Folidaritv, the surest foundation of tho world of the future. In the tourney of ideals our France has suffered for all. tliat belongs ,to the soul. Firm in the hopes drawn from the purest sources of humanity, she is willing t<\ suffer on for the defence of the soul of. her great ancestors, in the hope of opening ever wider for men and peoples all the doors of l>f>\ There lies the force of the French soul. This is what urges our people on ta work a.s on to battle; those silent soldiers of the workshops who are deaf to evil suggestions; those old peasants, bent over their fields; those robust labouring women; and those children who come" to help them, weak as they are —they are also our poilus, who later on, reflecting upon the groat work they accomplished, will be able to say, like those in the treifches.: "1 did my share." / With them, too, we must abide and so act for our country, casting on one side our own sorrows, that one day' we can say that we loved each other. To love one another means not to say so, but to prove it. Wo went to try to give this proof, and we ask you to help us to give it. No More. Pacifists , Campaigns. Can there be a finer Government programme? There have been mistakes; let us think no more of them except to correct them in the future. There have unfortunately been also crimes— crimes against France calling for swift punishment. Before you and beforo the country, which is crying out for justice, we pledge ourselves that justice shall bo carried out to the utmost rigour of the law. Neither consideration of persons nor the sway of political passions shall turn us aside from that duty or tempt us to exceed it. There have already 'been too many crimes paid for on our battle front by the outpouring of French blood. Weakness would be tantamount to complicity ; we shall act without weakness, but without violence, towards all those inculpated in revelations or incitements by which the enemy might benefit. A censorship will be maintained over diplomatic and military news, and also ever any matter which might be liable to disturb the peace of-the'country: this to be within the limits of a, proper respect for public opinion. A Press Bureau will supply information, and nothing but information, to all who apply for it. In times of war, as in times of peace, liberty is exercised under personal responsibility. In _ the court-martial the soldier in tho judgment seat will be working at ono with the soldier at the front. No ( morn pacifists' campaigns, no more German intrigues, no treason or semi-treason— the War, and nothing but the War! Our armies will not be trapped between two fires. Let justice be done and the country will know that it is protected— and that in France, as ever free. We have paid too great a price for our liberties to give up anything beyond taking steps to warn the writer. Beyond this rule there is only arbitrariness and anarchy.

Wo have not considered it necessary to say more in the present circumstances to indicate the character of this Government. Days will follow days; problems will be succeeded by others. We will go forward step by'step with you to the accomplishment of those things whicli necessity has imposed upon us. We aro under your control. The question of confidence in the Government will always be open. We are going to adopt food restrictions the same as England, Italy and America, which is admirable in its enthusiasm. We shall nsk each individual citizen to take his share in the common defence; to give more and to be satisfied with receiving less. The Armies are practising selfdenial; let the whole country do the same. We shall not forge a greater France without putting some of our life into it. And now is the time, when some portion.of our savings is required of us in addition. If the vote which will close this sitting is favourable to us we expect it to he sealed by the complete success of our War Loan, tho supreme proof of that confidence which France owes to herself when she is asked, in order to obtain victory, to sacrifico not only her blood but her money by which victory will be guaranteed. 'May it be granted us at this hour to lire this victory by anticipation in the communion of our hearts, as we more and more derive therefrom an inexhaustible unselfishness which is bound to end in a sublime flight of the French Foul to the highest of its highest hopes. One day, from Paris to the most lowly village,' storms of cheers will welcome eur victorious standards, wrung in Wood and tears, torn with shell—splendid vision of our Great Dead! That day, the most beautiful of our race after so many other days of beauty, it is within •<»r nowcr to attain. To a determina-

tion with no turning back.we ask you to set tlio seal of your will. The statement was read in the Senate by M. Nail, Minister of Justice. When" questioned several Senators declared that in the memory of tho oldest Parliamentarian no statement had ever made a stronger impression. A Vote of Confidence. After the readini; of tho statement iu the Chamber, M. Descliancl, (ho President, read the interpellation notices. M.Clemeticeau agreed to an immediate discussion. On the conclusion of the debate on the interpellations an Order of tlio Day expressing confidence in the Government was adopted by 418 votes against 65.