A FRENCH SOCIALIST.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1758, 25 May 1906, Page 4

A FRENCH SOCIALIST.

'I hero ia working in Frnn o n woman whoso en leuvora to hotter tho

lot of tlrnso working for hor havoiut brought hor inuoli satisfaction. Mad amo Sorgues, or ‘‘Citi/.-iicis Sorguos,” as she culls herself, is a very loiimrkablo character, t’ho HVV(l ’° on her father’s gravo to boltor tiro lot of hor workers. Finding' that work on tier ostuto was earriod on for sorno

LG or 17 hours a day, sho reduced tho Liuio and groatly improved tho men's food. Tho result was that at. tho Oiul of tho so&sou sho found olio lutd in hied ox [looses, and more than swallowed up all tho profits, Still hc~ having in her ideas, sho reduced tho hours to eight, giving tho men the sumo pay as they rccoivol when they worked twice as long. Tho result was such a groat loss that sho expected a | couple of months ago to have tho I bailiffs in shoitly. Aro tho laborers grateful V “Not a bit of it, nor do I ask them to bo grateful. One day I wanted a lew sticks cut for tho fire. But tho mou pointed to tho clock. They wero at tho end of their oight hours’ day aud went off lhoy tec that I havo betterod their lot at my own cost. Their couclusion is that 1 am mad, or sold to tho devil. X am au object of derision aud pity. iho} -think I deserve to e mo to ruiD, but they will stick now to what They have gained through mo. Aud that is wlra, I admire. I have started an o ght horns mov- montin tho country around. | Tire id> a is sown ; it must grow. When Madame Sorgues is not trjrug to make both ends meet on the farm alio is organising and leading strikor?, her campaign being socialistic, yet opposed to tho propaganda of too pooiuli t party- In the course ot Lpp agitation campaigns sho has mot with more adventures than a war correspondent. At Lens one night sho had a narrow escape Having boon telephoned for to a meeting in au outlying house she was met on arrival by three mon, who looked threatening, and tiied to entice her into a room full of opponents, who appeared prepared fo lynch her. Three friends ;uith her wanted to fight, but sho persuaded them to withdraw, aud they started walking back along tho road in tho pitch black darkness. Suddenly a woman ran out from a farm, and whispered, “ Eollow mo, then led Mine. Sorgues and her rompauionß iuto the house, lockod tho door, put out tho lights, and said, “ There is a gang up the road waiting to fall upon you when you pass;- They havo sworn to kill you.” The woman got tho party out by a hack door, and Muao. Sorgues, loaded rcvolvor in hand, with her friends, also armed, cut across Counliy back to Lens. At Belfort, during a strike iu December, sho camped out in tho fields during hitter cold nights with tho strikers and with au English governess, who refused to leave her, and insisted on seeing her through tho adventure. The town was in a state of s oge, suirouuded by an army. Mmo. Sorgues and tho Euglibh governess tried to creep back into Belfort for shelter, but at tho gato a sentry challenged ihom, and pointed his ritlo at them. Thoy fell fiat on their faces and crawled away to the hold again. Sho has ouo cousolat.ou. No ouo is likely to accuso her, as a i uinal did once, of proaebiog socialism, and at tho same time thriving on a fat ireomo from big estates.