OCR Text |
Show FRANCE D LIKING THE WAR. The comuiissiou appointed by the National Assembly of Fiance to inquire in-quire mto the state of the national de-iuuees de-iuuees of that country ai the time wbeu be armistice of Versailles was con-eluded con-eluded between Frauce and Prussia, has brought in a report which creates general surprise. It seems that, the French Government had, at tbe conclusion con-clusion of the armistice, only two uuudredand twenty thousand men at i heir disposal tbat could be opposed to luo hostile ibrces. The rest of ihe number consisted of undrilled recruits and levieo that existed only ou paper, these two hundred and twenty thousand thou-sand meu were scattered over all parts of tbe country, and at no particular point, au army of one hundred tliuusaud men could be assembled L'lie armumeut was alaO vastly irjr.u2i oieut. Only about lour hundred thousand thous-and 0 reech -loaders were iu the oouu-iry, oouu-iry, while in limes of war at least two cuus ought to be held for every soldier iu tbe ruuks. This shows that lurther rebiaianct? ou the part of Franco was utterly out uf ihe question. Tbe many liunuieds of thou.-ands of German -oidiers would have swept ihe discouraged discour-aged and badlj-armed Kreoob forces oetore llietu, and it Was the duty of the French government to put an end to a lui lller useless efiusiou of blood at at y price. This report fully exoueraUB ihe members of (hat government from all blame of having been too anxious lor peace, and iht-y ore only to tiluuie ibr persisting so lonn in a struggle which they knew to be hopeless, and which only iuereaoil the misfortunes of their country. Courier-Journal. |