5 JANUARY 1918, Page 10

M. Pichon, the Foreign Minister in M , Clemenceau's Cabinet, told

the French Chamber on Thursday week that he could not recognize the Petrograd Anarchists as a Russian Government They had negotiated with the enemy, before consulting the Allies, and they had plunged Russia into civil war. France would keep in touch with the healthy elements in Russia, and would trust to the good sense of the Russian people to restore the old alliance. France would persevere in maintaining her engagements with Rumania, despite the armistice which Rumania was forced to conclude. The French war aims, only to be obtained by victory, were " the deliverance of territory, the restitution of territories torn away by force, and consequently of Alsace-Lorraine to France, just reparation and damages, no idea of the enslavement of foreign populations, and the guarantee of a lasting peace by general agree- ments." France was also fighting to free Belgium, Serbia, Poland, and the oppressed nationalities in Turkey. But A lsace-Lorraine was a symbol of right Only if the provinces were restored could there be a lasting peace. The Chamber, by 411 votes to 99, approved of M. Pichon's stirring speech.