If civilians have any doubts as significance in belli ent countries while a great war is in progress, the revelations as to what preceded the disastrous explosion in s munition factory in Paris, las October, would be quite sufficient to undeceive them. In their haste to supply the urgent needs of the army for band grenades, the War Office made contract with a mechanic named Billart, who had a small workshop in the Rue de Tolbiac, to make some of these engines of warfare. Billant obtained financial support on the strength of this contract and proceeded to extend his workshop and also to put up temporary buildings on an adjoining piece of waste ground. Before long, he had a bomb factory, in which he employed about 300 people, chiefly wo-in two shifts, so as to keep the inery running day and night Instead of applying to the police Yor permission, he simply notified them that he had installed the factory. The police sent inspectors, who found that the factory was in the middle of a thickly populated district and was arranged with very small regard to safety. They complained to Billart, who merely referred them to the military authorities and went on making bombs as fast as possible. As a compromise, the police asked that the army should take away finished bombs twice a day, so that there should never be more than 5,000 on the premises at a time, this number representing about half a day's output This was agreed to, but' the army suddenly ran short of motor lorries, the bombs were left uncollected for four days, and then came an explosion, which killed 47 people and injured 100. Either the military authorities or Billert himself ought to have bad the accumulation of bombs removed, but apparently they did not consider that the risk of death and jury to, great numbers of civilians was worth taking any trouble. The Under-Secretary for Munitions refuses to admit that any of his subordinates were to blame, and there is no remedy against Billars. The Btate also declines legal respon sibility for what it regards as an accident of war, but the Govei ment will nevertheless ask Parlia-) ment to vote a special indemnity to the injured and to the dependents of the victims. Thus the public, as usual, pays for the mistakes of ite own servants.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.