"THE RED CAP."

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1918, Page 3

"THE RED CAP."

HISTORY OF THE CASE. The action taken by the French authorities in the "Bonnet Rouge - ' ease has led to the destruction of one of the enemy's strongest sources of help in Franc.?. A perusal of the files of that sordid sheet (says "The Times") shows that ever since 1915 it had been busied, not only directly in the enemy interest by the advocacy of peace and through the encouragement of seditions pessimism, but also indirectly by espousing tins cause of the sorry band of embusques, of fraudulent Army doctors, of men such as Casement, of the liquor trade. The di*gui?3d German was its special protege and (Treat Britain was its special enemy- It seems incredible, on reading through the articles it published—and 1400 were obliterated by the censor—that the clearance was not effected sooner. The "Bonnet Rouge," though it wa3 not one of the leviathans of the Paris Press, was nevertheless a Par'.s evening newspaper to be found on every kiosk of the boulevard, and, what is perhaps more significant, it acquired its customers in the trenches. Connected with it, either through the editorial staff, the management, or by similarity of inspiration, were the "Tranchec Republicaine" and "Les Nations," the "Primo" and the "Republicaine" news agencies. Through these channels, and through the milder medium of the "Carnet de la Semaine" and "Le Pays," the philosophy of defeat, or at the least of Sovietism, was preached steadily. Reacting to the spur of M. Clemenceau, the Government took action. They arrested V'go, alias Almeyreda, editor-in-chief of the "Bonnet Rouge," since mysteriously dead in prison; Duval and Marion, managers of the same newspaper; and Jouce, an employee of the concern; and the military authorities suspended until further orders the publication of the "Bonnet Rouge" and "Trauchee Republicaine" and "Les Nations." The Minister of the Interior, M. Malvy, whose duty it was to protect the country and the Army against the poison of his gang, resigned. He could not well do otherwise.. He was acquainted with Vigo, and addressed him in the familiar second person singular. He had, moreover, given him moneys from the Secret Service Fund, and of Vigo's life the most definite record is that contained in the "Gazette des Tribunaux," which is as follows: "Vigo was sentenced to two months' imprisonment in 1900 for theft: in 1901 to a year's imprisonment for the manufacture of explosives, to three years for incitement to murder: and in 1908 to three years for insulting the Army: and in 1910 he was arrested for and convicted of attempted sabotage." Vigo in all this German campaign was but a puppet. He was entirely without education, and it is more than doubtful whether he was able to write the aricles he signed. He went the way of all puppets, and lies in his grave. The articles he signed. He went the way of diabolically and ironically clever, and very German. M. Badin, at any rate at Bome moments of his career, had his pen guided by Duval, the manager of the "Bonnet Rouge," who now awaits his trial on the charge of having maintained "intelligence avec l'ennemi," together with his associates.