L’Écho d’Alger
- Council of Ministers
- The Gemersheim Incidents
- After the Livorno Meeting
This Algiers daily carried Paris news of a council of ministers at the Élysée where Poincaré, as finance minister, presented economy decrees under the Law of August 3, 1926, abolishing 92 mortgage registries and another 1,700 posts in the finance administration, while Herriot's decrees gave Sèvres, the Gobelins, Beauvais and other institutions legal personality and financial autonomy. From Germersheim, the page relayed the Wolff Agency's account of the German victim's funeral, the orderly departure of the French 311th Artillery and a French report calling the attack on Lieutenant Rouzier premeditated. A press review quoted Le Temps insisting that the Chamberlain–Mussolini talk at Livorno was no counterweight to the Briand–Stresemann meeting at Thoiry, then opened L'Humanité's charge that British imperialism was backing Italian ambitions.
Translation
Council of Ministers
[…] MINISTRY OF FINANCE
Paris, October 1. – The ministers met in council this morning at the Élysée, under the chairmanship of M. Doumergue. M. Poincaré, Minister of Finance, submitted for M. Doumergue's signature various decrees issued in application of the Law of August 3, 1926.
Abolition of various posts
The first is intended to abolish [?], as a consequence of the judicial reform, 92 mortgage registries; the second to reduce from 24 to [?] the number of regional directorates of the State Domains; the third to simplify a certain number of formalities and consequently to abolish, in addition to the 500 posts already eliminated in the draft budget for 1927, 1,700 further posts in the finance administration.
MM. Poincaré, Painlevé and Leygues had a decree signed merging the purchasing services of the two military ministries.
MINISTRY OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
The Minister of Public Instruction submitted to the President of the Republic for signature 13 decrees concerning the reorganization of his services.
The Manufactories and Museums
Four of these decrees grant legal personality and financial autonomy to the national manufactories of Sèvres, the Gobelins and Beauvais, to the Académie de France in Rome, and to the Museum of Comparative Sculpture. Two other decrees order the merging of the national museums of the palaces of Compiègne, Fontainebleau, Malmaison and Pau.
The particular aim of these measures is to give greater flexibility to the regime of our manufactories and to lead to [?] certain budgetary savings by giving these establishments an industrial and commercial regime.
Higher education, which suffers from insufficient resources and in particular lacks funds for organizing its laboratories, could not bear major savings. Nevertheless, by two decrees, M. Herriot, Minister of Pub–
The Gemersheim Incidents
The incidents of G–
THE FUNERAL OF THE VICTIM
Berlin, October 1. – The Wolff Agency last evening published an account of the funeral of the victim of the regrettable Gemersheim incident, which took place, the Wolff Agency says, in the presence of the entire [?] population, the burgomaster and the local authorities. As a sign of mourning, the shops had closed during the ceremony. After the blessing of the mortal remains, M. Régirungs, president of the Palatinate, delivered an address on behalf of the Bavarian government. Then the burgomaster of Gemersheim declared that [?] had died on the field of honor and for Germany. A deputy of the Landtag expressed the hope that this incident would help free the Palatinate from foreign occupation.
THE 311th ARTILLERY LEAVES GEMERSHEIM
Wissembourg, October 1. – The 311th Artillery left Gemersheim this morning at 6 o'clock. It arrived at nine o'clock in Wissembourg, where it was received with sympathy by the population. This departure, which is unrelated to the bloody incidents that took place on the night of Sunday to Monday near the Louis Gate and the post office, gave rise to no new difficulty. The families of the officers of the 311th Artillery have remained in Gemersheim, where the French gendarmerie has been reinforced. The French garrison of Gemersheim still consists of the 171st Infantry and a group of engineers and artillery. The regiment will arrive in Verdun on Sunday, after being quartered at Sarreguemines and Metz. Our soldiers are delighted to be returning to France.
THE ATTACK ON LIEUTENANT ROUZIER WAS PREMEDITATED
Wissembourg, October 1. – Concerning the incidents, which are a distant consequence of the demonstration by the na–
After the Livorno Meeting
… After the meeting o–
In the French press
From LE TEMPS
The Livorno conversation should give us no cause for concern
The closeness of Anglo-Italian relations is an established fact that is to be welcomed from a general point of view, and the concordance of the line followed by the two governments in solving the most important European problems is in the logical order of things, in the aftermath of the overall policy inaugurated at Locarno, with which Italy associated itself. This concordance is no less certain between the policy of London and the policy of Paris than between that of the British cabinet and that of the Italian cabinet. It is worth noting that M. Mussolini's semi-official organ, the [?] Popolo d'Italia, stresses in a much-remarked article that the Livorno conversation can be viewed with confidence, since, after the conversation between MM. Briand and Stresemann at Thoiry, the one that Sir Austen Chamberlain and M. Mussolini have just held will make a new contribution to the reorganization and consolidation of Europe. There is therefore no question whatsoever of setting Livorno against Thoiry or of presenting the Chamberlain–Mussolini understanding as a counterweight to the Briand–Stresemann meeting. The English press, for its part, dismisses any supposition of this kind and insists that the Livorno conversation consists of a general examination of the new situation of Europe as it stands after Locarno. As for the suppositions made by certain newspapers about the possibility of a concerted Anglo-Italian policy, not only in the Mediterranean but also in the Balkans, they rest on no serious indication. The tightening of the traditional Anglo-Italian friendship is in the logical order of things and in no way implies, as we have already said, any modification of the situation about which other powers would have cause for concern.
From L'HUMANITÉ (M. G. Péri)
British imperialism wants to favor Italian ambitions
Facing the Franco-German bloc, British imperialism wants to secure–
Context
Why was Poincaré cutting posts by decree in autumn 1926?
The paper reports that Poincaré, sitting as finance minister, brought President Doumergue a batch of decrees issued under the Law of August 3, 1926, which abolished 92 mortgage registries, reduced the number of regional Domaines directorates and cut 1,700 finance posts, while Herriot's education ministry turned the Sèvres, Gobelins and Beauvais manufactories into autonomous bodies with an “industrial and commercial regime” expected to yield savings. The decrees came from a new government: Poincaré's fourth cabinet had been formed on 23 July 1926. After the Radicals rallied to the former Bloc national, it had a large majority in the Chamber, known as the Union nationale, and it used that majority to carry out a deflationary economic program. Administrative cuts by decree had already begun: a decree-law of 10 September 1926 had abolished 106 sub-prefectures. The October measures belong to the same wave of retrenchment. The article's own reasoning shows the trade-off: in its account, autonomy for cultural establishments was a way to save money, while higher education, starved of laboratory funds, was said to be unable to bear deep cuts.
What happened at Germersheim, and how did each side tell it?
Behind the dispatches (the paper spells the town “Gemersheim”) lies what became known as the Rouzier case: a killing in Germersheim on 27 September 1926 in which the townsman Emil Müller was shot by the French sub-lieutenant Pierre Charles Alexandre Auguste Rouzier. From the outset the two national presses told the story differently. German newspapers treated Rouzier's guilt as established early on, while French media reported that he had been attacked and had acted in self-defense. This page shows both framings side by side. The Wolff Agency report shows the German version: the burgomaster said the victim died “for Germany,” and a Landtag deputy hoped the affair would help free the Palatinate from occupation. The French dispatch from Wissembourg is headed “the attack on Lieutenant Rouzier was premeditated,” which follows the self-defense line. Müller was buried on 30 September 1926, which fits the Berlin dispatch of October 1 reporting that the Wolff Agency had published its account of the funeral “last evening.”
Was the 311th Artillery's departure really routine, and how did the affair end?
The paper insists that the 311th Artillery's departure was “unrelated” to the shooting. Later research supports this in substance: Rouzier was transferred to Verdun with his 311th Artillery Regiment as scheduled, dated 30 September 1926. The Wissembourg dispatch places the departure on the morning of October 1, so the dates differ by a day. The affair did not end with the transfer. A French military court at Landau acquitted Rouzier in December 1926, while the German defendants received prison terms of three months to two years. After German diplomatic pressure, President Doumergue pardoned the convicted Germans on 25 December 1926. The Landtag deputy's hope, printed here, that the incident would serve the cause against occupation found a darker echo: a local NSDAP group was founded in Germersheim on 26 October 1926 as a result of the Rouzier affair.
Why did Le Temps insist Livorno was no rival to Thoiry?
The Livorno item appeared just after the Locarno settlement took effect. The Locarno Treaty came into force on 10 September 1926 with Germany's admission to the League of Nations. The press review frames everything against that event. As the paper presents it, Briand and Stresemann had recently talked at Thoiry, and Austen Chamberlain had now met Mussolini at Livorno. Le Temps worked to head off any reading of the Anglo-Italian meeting as a counterweight to Franco-German rapprochement, citing Mussolini's Popolo d'Italia and the British press, and dismissing talk of joint Anglo-Italian policy in the Mediterranean and the Balkans. L'Humanité, in the piece by G. Péri that begins at the foot of the excerpt, read the same meeting quite differently: as British imperialism seeking to favor Italian ambitions in the face of a “Franco-German bloc.” The Germersheim reports on the same page are a reminder of how uneven this détente was: Locarno eased the general situation, yet in Germersheim that easing was scarcely felt.
Original
CONSEIL DES MINISTRES
d'impor MINISTERE DES FINANCES Paris, 1er octobre. - Les ministres se sont réunis en conseil ce matin, à l'Elysée, sous la présidence de M. Doumergue. M. Poincaré, ministre des finances, a soumis à la signature de M. Doumergue divers décrets pris en application de la Loi du 3 août 1926. Suppressions de divers emplois Le premier a pour objet de supprimer [?] en conséquence de la réforme judiciaire, 92 conservations d'hypothèques; le second de ramener de 24 à [?] le nombre des directions régionales des Domaines; le troisième de simplifier un certain nombre de formalités et de supprimer par suite, en outre des 500 emplois déjà supprimés dans le projet de budget de 1927, 1. 700 autres emplois dans l'administration des finances. MM. Poincaré, Painlevé, Leygues ont fait signer un décret ayant pour objet la fusion des services des achats des deux ministères militaires. MINISTERE DE L'INSTRUCTION PUBLIQUE Le Ministre de l'Instruction publique a soumis à la signature du Président de la République 13 décrets relatifs à la réorganisation de ses services. Les Manufactures et Musées Quatre de ces décrets ont pour objet d'accorder la personnalité civile et l'autonomie financière aux manufactures nationales de Sèvres, des Gobelins et de Beauvais, à l'Académie de France à Rome, au Musée de sculpture comparée. Deux autres décrets prescrivent la réunion des musées nationaux des palais de Compiègne, de Fontainebleau, de la Malmaison et de Pau. Ces mesures ont pour objet particulier de donner plus de souplesse au régime de nos manufactures et de conduire à des [?] économies budgétaires certaines en conférant à ces établissements un régime industriel et commercial. L'enseignement supérieur qui souffre d'une insuffisance de moyens et qui notamment manque de crédits pour l'organisation de ses laboratoires, ne saurait supporter d'importantes économies. Cependant, par deux décrets, M. Herriot, ministre de l'ins -
Les incidents de Gemersheim
Les incidents de G LES OBSEQUES DE LA VICTIME Berlin, 1er octobre. - L'Agence Wolff a publié, hier soir, un compte rendu des obsèques de la victime du regrettable incident de Gemersheim, qui eurent lieu en présence, dit l'Agence Wolff, de toute la population [?], du bourgmestre et des autorités locales. En signe de deuil, les magasins avaient fermé durant la cérémonie. Après la bénédiction de la dépouille mortelle, M. Régirungs, président du Palatinat, prononça une allocution au nom du gouvernement bavarois. Ensuite, le bourgmestre de Gemersheim déclara que [?] était mort au champ d'honneur et pour l'Allemagne. Un député du Landtag a exprimé l'espoir que cet incident contribuera à libérer le Palatinat de l'occupation étrangère. LE 311e D'ARTILLERIE QUITTE GEMERSHEIM Wissembourg, 1er octobre. - Le 311e d'artillerie a quitté Gemersheim, ce matin, à 6 heures. Il est arrivé à neuf heures à Wissembourg, où il a été reçu avec sympathie par la population. Ce départ, indépendant des incidents sanglants qui se sont déroulés dans la nuit de dimanche à lundi, près de la porte Louis et de la poste, n'a donné lieu à aucune nouvelle difficulté. Les familles des officiers du 311e d'artillerie sont restées à Gemersheim où la gendarmerie française a été renforcée. La garnison française de Gemersheim se compose encore du 171e d'infanterie et d'un groupe du génie et de l'artillerie. Le régiment arrivera dimanche à Verdun, après avoir cantonné à Sarreguemines et à Metz. Nos soldats sont enchantés de rentrer en France. L'AGRESSION CONTRE LE LIEUTENANT ROUZIER ETAIT PREMEDITEE Wissembourg, 1er octobre. - Au sujet des incidents qui sont une suite lointaine à la manifestation des na -
Après l'entrevue de Livourne
et Après l'entrevue d Dans la presse française Du TEMPS L'entretien de Livourne ne saurait nous inquiéter L'intimité des relations anglo-italiennes est un fait acquis dont il y a lieu de se réjouir au point de vue général, et la concordance de ligne suivie par les deux gouvernements pour la solution des plus importants problèmes européens est dans l'ordre logique des choses, au lendemain de la politique d'ensemble inaugurée, à Locarno et à laquelle l'Italie s'est associée. Cette concordance n'est pas moins certaine entre la politique de Londres et la politique de Paris qu'entre celle du cabinet britannique et celle du cabinet italien. Il est à noter que l'organe officieux de M. Mussolini, le [?] Popolo d'Italia, souligne, dans un article très remarqué, que l'entretien de Livourne peut être considéré avec confiance, puisqu'après l'entretien de MM. Briand et Stresemann à Thoiry, celui que viennent d'avoir Sir Austen Chamberlain et M. Mussolini apportera une nouvelle contribution à la réorganisation et à la consolidation de l'Europe. Il ne s'agit donc nullement d'opposer Livourne à Thoiry et de présenter l'entente Chamberlain-Mussolini comme une contrepartie de l'entrevue BriandStresemann. La presse anglaise écarte, de son côté, tout supposition de ce genre et insiste sur le fait que l'entretien de Livourne consiste dans l'examen général de la nouvelle situation de l'Europe telle qu'elle se présente après Locarno. Quant aux suppositions que font certains journaux au sujet de l'éventualité d'une politique concertée angloitalienne, non seulement dans la Méditerranée, mais également dans les Balkans, elle ne découle d'aucune indication sérieuse. Le serrement de l'amitié traditionnelle anglo-italienne est dans l'ordre logique des choses et n'implique nullement, comme nous l'avons dit déjà, une modification quelconque de la situation dont d'autres puissances auraient à s'inquiéter. De l'HUMANITE (M. G. Péri) L'impérialisme britannique veut favoriser les ambitions italiennes Face au bloc franco-allemand, l'impérialisme britannique veut s'assurer