Jan. 6.
Ovr Paris correspondent draws attention to- to a recent action on the py the French Government which is worth considering, He points out that just in the midst of the wtign in Russia, found tim to legislate for the Comedie I So the present Government lih turned aside from the obsessions of war to deliberate as to who shall look after that famous theatre. One is tempted, in order the more fully to bring out the significance of this care for intangible things, to go into the history of the Comédic Francaise w ith a view to shows ing its importa French life. That, however, interesting the research would be, would, in the space at our command, keep us too long from the main object of this article, w show whit we—believe be the—winning factor 10 the war. The shortest way to ido this, oddly, is by a by saying that a nation ally reveals its chief inby doing something apremote from that interest as it possibly I The chief interest of the nation at the present time is to beat the Germans yet here is the Government devoting time and attention to an institution entirely unconnected with military things. There is, unfortunately, no such institution as the Comédie Francaise in England, but supposing the British Government were to turn aside from the conduct of the war to discuss, say, the present and future posi-of the Albert Hall, it is very atin that a number of people would immediately accuse it of wasting time. hey would say "the Albert Hall is all very well, but it is not going to help us to Win, which is all you should be thinking about. Get on with the work in hand and leave the Albert Hall alone until peace has been declared."
That, there can be little doubt, would be the attitude of a great many people, perhaps of the majority. It is not, apparently, the attitude of anybody in France, partly because the Comé- die Francaise has a history behind it of a kind which neither the Albert Hall nor any s institution in England possesses, partly because in relation to art ithe French are much more clear-Original from
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.