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Show MARKS AN EPOCH. The French celebrated the anniversary anniver-sary of the fall of the Bastile with an extraordinary amount of enthusiasm this year, and well they might, considering consid-ering the changes that have taken place since the 14th of July, 191S, when the Germans were still within a short distance of Paris and the great issue of battle was yet to be decided. Today To-day Germany lies prone in the dust. Her shattered armies have been demobilized de-mobilized and her fleet sunk. The autocrats auto-crats who have long ruled the country coun-try and forced Europe to remain armed have been shorn of their power and a republic has been established. France, associated with the strongest' nations of the world, is now free to work out its destiny without being compelled to spend the greater part of its revenue in maintaining a huge army for defensive purposes. The French people may now enjoy the fruits of the revolution of more than a century ago without fear of invasion, for the German Ger-man menace no longer exists. To mako assurance' doubly sure the French government desires that tho United States and Great Britain guarantee guar-antee freedom from invasion until the league of nations is an accomplished fact and the nerves off the people of Europe become stronger. "We have no means of knowing how the senate will view the matter or whether it will, ratify an agreement to this effect. Most people are of the opinion that it would be an utter impossibility for Germany Ger-many to invade France with the slightest slight-est chance of success, and they also believe that the Germans, now that they are at peace once more, will never again set any army in motion against France or any other nation. All their dreams of glory and domination have vanished into thin air, and their existence exis-tence as a nation now depends upon their ability to settle down to work and find a. market for their wares. This being true, it would cost us nothing noth-ing to give the guarantee asked by France. The French, however, will be in no danger if the agreement is not ratified. The Americans took part in the "Bastile day" celebration this year, as they did twelve months ago, when the issue of the -war was still in doubt, and it must have filled their hearts with joy to realize that they were instrumental in-strumental in turning back the invaders invad-ers and bringing lasting peace to the land of Lafayette. General Pershing and a number of other American officers of-ficers followed Joffre and Foch under the Arc d'Triomphe, and there were forty American organizations, soldiers and marines, in the line. It was a great day for France, a great day for America Amer-ica and a great day for the whole world, for it now marks the fall of Babylon as well as the fall of the Bastile. |