The Paris correspondent of the Times, writing in last Saturday's
issue, deplores the recrudescence of a blind un- reasonableness in French party strife. He notes as the worst feature of the present situation the deliberate resolve of the Nationalists to promote discontent with the Republic in the Army. During the period which culminated in the Dreyfus case the reactionary element was predominant in the Army. The Government then set to work to render the military spirit loyal to the Republic, and for a long time persevered in the task, but of late have shown a disposition to conciliate the Nationalists, first by sacrificing General Andre, and now by removing a Professor from the Lycee Condorcet. In this context we may note the remarkable disclosures made in the Gazette de Lausanne by Colonel Picquart with regard to the organisation of the system of delation, and commented on by M. Clemenceau in the Aurore of Monday. From these revelations it appears that the collection of fiches, or secret memoranda, incriminating a number of prominent politicians and public men, so far from having been inaugurated by General Andre, was an evil legacy from his anti-Republican predecessors, and was a special feature of the campaign of calumny and defamation carried on in the years 1897-98-99 against the defenders of Captain Dreyfus and those connected with them.
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