16 MAY 1908, Page 1

The second polling in the French municipal elections took place

on Sunday last, and in Paris it was remarkable for the crushing of the Socialist Party. "It would be no use con- cealing the fact," says L'Humanite, " that the Socialists suffered a notable defeat." At Toulouse on the preceding Saturday, as the Paris correspondent of the Times tells us, M. Jaures himself had been unable to obtain a hearing. The Times correspondent attributes the check of Collectivist Socialism to its alliance with the abortive anti-militarist movement. Herveism has dragged down Jauresism. However that may be, we are sure that Collectivist Socialism is less dangerous in France than in almost any other country. Nowhere is the pride of private ownership more real.