M. Meline, the French Protectionist leader who finds brains for
the different fractions of the " Nationalist" Opposition, delivered on Monday at Remiremont a furious tirade against the Administration. Its members, he said, treated every critic, indeed every man, who refused to obey perinde ac cadaver, as an enemy. Every official is subjected to espionage, and dele- tion is the order of the day. Lista of Prefects, Sub-Prefects, and Magistrates, and, " above all, military officers," are for- warded to Paris, and those who fill them are denounced, Strikes incessantly occur, and have for their object a revolu- tionary end, the abolition of private property in favour of Collectivism. The responsibility for this ruin, this social war, this industrial anarchy, belongs to " the Government which has entrusted the economic direction of the Ministry to the very head of Collectivism." That Government, by dividing classes, is facilitating the victory of jealous neighbours over France—" we who live near the frontier" know it. The audience applauded, though the speech lasted two hours, but we suspect it consisted of men who did not require conversion. That is the mischief of meetings as tests of opinion. Few attend except those who agree, and no census is ever taken of those who stay away.
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