A remarkable illustration of the low standard of honour prevailing in French politics has just come to light. During the election contest at Narbonne, in which M. Turrel, Minister of Public Works in the Méline Cabinet, was the Government candidate, a local newspaper published an article making some very severe reflections on the character of M. de Berlioz, the Minister's antagonist. M. de Berlioz was formerly an officer in the army, and the writer of the article asserted that the candidate had resigned his commission when there was a prospect of his regiment being sent to the war in Indo-China.. It subsequently transpired that this statement—an entirely untrue one—had been unearthed from a secret dossier in the War Office. M. Turrel had asked his colleague, the War Minister, for confidential information about M. de Berlioz' military career, and General Billot had obligingly complied. M. Turrel at first denied that he wrote or inspired the article, but when a draft of it in his own handwriting, on Ministerial letter paper, ber ered his election null and void. was produced, he collapsed, and the Cham-It will be interesting to see whether Narbonne will again return M. Turrel. Probably he was no worse than many of his fellows, but he has unfortunately broken the Eleventh Commandment, Thou shalt not be found out."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.