L’Écho annamite
- THE AGRICULTURAL SYNDICATES
- To the Annamese Voters of the 1st Constituency (EASTERN COCHINCHINA)
- Spectator or Manoeuvre Participant?
This partial reading of L'Écho annamite for 4 October 1926 covers three items. An editorial on agricultural syndicates argued that direct sales would let buyers bypass Chinese intermediaries. It proposed a market sheet, published more or less often depending on the growing season, paid for by subscribers and by a fee in proportion to each trader's business. It then began to take up the lack of selection in 'our rice'. Doctors Nguyen Van Thinh and Tran Van Don wrote an election manifesto to the Annamese voters of Eastern Cochinchina. It promised work on education, medical assistance and economic development, loyal Franco-Annamese collaboration, and calm acceptance of whatever the voters decided. A short news item reported that the Reichswehr denied Prince Wilhelm had done more than watch its manoeuvres, and that the Berliner Tageblatt disputed this. It was followed by the start of a relief subscription for flood victims in Tonkin.
This is a partial reading. Small print, clipped column edges and low-resolution type make it impossible to transcribe the whole page reliably, so only three legible passages are translated. The agricultural-syndicates editorial and the Prince Wilhelm item were read with low confidence. All three passages begin in mid-text (the election manifesto opens with the fragment 'chinoise:'), and [?] marks words that could not be read. The Colonial Council's powers and the syndicates' actual financing schemes could not be checked against sources, so the commentary does not discuss them.
Translation
THE AGRICULTURAL SYNDICATES
having borne the overhead costs of transport and waiting. Buyers will thus find it to their advantage in this direct sale, without going through the Chinese intermediaries. It should be noted that this system could be improved by publishing a sheet whose frequency of publication would vary with the seasons of cultivation. The costs would then be borne partly by the subscribers and partly by the buyers and sellers, who would pay a fee proportional to the size of their transactions. 2° I also spoke of the lack of selection of our rice. I know very well that the Administration and — close your eyes, O anti-patriots — M. Fontaine (who owns [?] [?] [?] [?]
To the Annamese Voters of the 1st Constituency (EASTERN COCHINCHINA)
chinoise: Since our past is known to most of you, we intend not to depart from our line of conduct. In carrying out the heavy task that you may be pleased to entrust to us, we wish to fulfil our duty in all conscience and to be guided above all by the general interest of the population. In a spirit of justice and moderation, and with the desire to achieve tangible results, we will take up the study of the questions that may arise in the exercise of our mandate. We propose, in particular, to concern ourselves with questions of education, medical assistance and economic development, which to so great an extent determine the future of our beautiful country. We will do so with the sincere desire to bring about a loyal and trusting Franco-Annamese collaboration for the greater well-being of all. Taking part for the first time in an electoral contest, which we hope will be courteous and fair, we owe it to you, dear compatriots, to set out our ideas and our line of conduct: it is for you to tell us whether they meet your expectations. Whatever your verdict, we will accept it in advance with calm and serenity; no interest and no ambition guides us, only a deep love for this maternal and generous land. Long live Cochinchina!! [?]
Doctor NGUYEN-VAN-THINH.
Doctor TRAN-VAN-DON.
Spectator or Manoeuvre Participant?
[?] in Indochina. (Communiqué from the Government General.) Spectator or manoeuvre participant? The Infantry Commander of the Reichswehr has denied that Prince Wilhelm, eldest son of the former Crown Prince, took part in the recent Reichswehr manoeuvres or performed service with the troops; he asserted that the prince attended the manoeuvres only as a spectator. The Berliner Tageblatt declares that this assertion is inaccurate and demands official clarification. Our subscription for the flood victims of Tonkin. A group of inhabitants of [?]
Context
Who was the prince 'eldest son of the former Crown Prince'?
The item concerns Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, born in 1906, the eldest child of Crown Prince Wilhelm and Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His grandfather was Emperor Wilhelm II. At his birth the prince stood second in line to the throne. The monarchy was abolished in 1918, when he was twelve; the former Emperor went into exile in the Netherlands, but the prince and his parents remained in Germany. The old Kaiser still believed a Hohenzollern restoration was possible and regarded this grandson as heir apparent, later refusing to approve his marriage to a woman of the minor nobility. The paper's description of him as the eldest son of the former Kronprinz is accurate, and that position explains the question in the headline. A young Hohenzollern watching the army from the sidelines was one thing; the family's heir taking part in manoeuvres or serving with the troops of the republic's army would have carried a very different political meaning.
How did the manoeuvre episode become a crisis for the Reichswehr's chief?
The item catches the affair at an early stage: the Reichswehr's infantry commander said the prince had only watched, while the Berliner Tageblatt called that statement inaccurate and demanded an official explanation. A later account describes what caused the stir: the prince attended army manoeuvres in the uniform of the old Imperial First Foot Guards without first seeking government approval, and the episode became a public scandal. It fell on Hans von Seeckt, chief of the army command since 1920. Seeckt was a monarchist who had encouraged the retention of traditional links with the old Imperial Army, even designating individual companies and squadrons of the new Reichswehr as direct successors of particular regiments of Wilhelm II's army; the Reichswehr under him has been described as a 'state within the state', operating largely outside the control of politicians. A Hohenzollern prince appearing at manoeuvres in an imperial guards uniform touched exactly that nerve. Seeckt was forced to resign as a result, leaving office on 9 October 1926, five days after the date of this issue. The paper therefore records the dispute over the army's denial, not its outcome.
Who was Dr. Nguyen Van Thinh, co-signer of the election manifesto?
The manifesto's first signatory, Dr. Nguyen Van Thinh (1888–1946), was born into an aristocratic family in southern Vietnam and had an unusually distinguished medical training. He was the first valedictorian of the Indochina School of Medicine in 1907, one of the first Vietnamese medical students to pass the examination for Interne des Hôpitaux de Paris, and he finished his thesis while working at the Pasteur Institute in Paris. He was a French citizen, and in 1926, the year of this manifesto, he joined the Constitutionalist Party; his political career as a Constitutionalist began when he organised the funeral ceremony of Phan Chu Trinh. That profile fits the text: the signatories say this is their first electoral contest, give medical assistance and education a central place, and speak of 'loyal and trusting Franco-Annamese collaboration.' Thinh went on to found the Cochinchinese Democratic Party in 1937. In 1946 he became chief of Cochinchina's provisional government on 26 March and provisional president on 1 June. He felt humiliated when the French negotiated with the Viet Minh while ignoring his government, and he died in office in November 1946, in an apparent suicide. His co-signer, Dr. Tran Van Don, is identified here only by the paper's byline.
Original
LES SYNDICATS AGRICOLES
avoir souffert les frais généraux de transport et d'attente. Les acheteurs trouveront ainsi leur compte dans cette vente directe sans passer par les intermédiaires chinois. A noter que ce système pourrait être amélioré par la publication d'une feuille dont la fréquence de parution sera variable avec les époques de culture. Les frais seraient alors supportés d'une part par les abonnés, d'autre part par les acheteurs et vendeurs qui payeront une taxe proportionnelle à l'importance de leurs opérations. 2 ° J'ai parlé aussi du manque de sélection de nos riz. Je sais bien que l'Administration et - fermez les yeux, ô antipatriotes, M. Fontaine (qui possède [?] [?] [?] [?]
Aux électeurs annamites de la 1ère circonscription (EST COCHINCHINOIS)
chinoise: Notre passé étant connu de la plupart d'entre vous, nous entendons ne pas dévier de notre ligne de conduite. Dans l'accomplissement de la lourde tâche qu'il vous plaira de nous confier, nous désirons remplir notre devoir en toute conscience et nous inspirer avant tout de l'intérêt général de la population. Nous aborderons, dans un esprit de justice et de modération, avec le désir d'aboutir à des réalisations tangibles, l'étude des questions qui pourront se poser dans l'exercice de notre mandat. Nous nous proposons, en particulier, de nous intéresser aux questions d'enseignement, d'assistance médicale et de développement économique, qui conditionnent dans une si large mesure l'avenir de notre beau pays. Nous le ferons avec le sincère désir de réaliser une loyale et confiante collaboration franco-annamite pour le mieux être de tous. En prenant part pour la première fois à une lutte électorale, que nous souhaitons courtoise et loyale, nous nous devons, chers compatriotes, de vous exposer nos idées et notre ligne de conduite: à vous de nous dire si elles répondent à votre attente. D'avance et quel que soit votre verdict, nous l'accueillerons avec calme et sérénité; aucun intérêt, aucune ambition ne nous guident, si ce n'est un amour profond pour cette terre maternelle et généreuse. Vive la Cochinchine!! [?]
Spectateur ou manœuvrier ?
[?] en Indochine. (Communiqué du Gouvernement Général). Spectateur ou manœuvrier? Le Commandant d'Infanterie de la Reichswehr a démenti que le Prince Guillaume, fils aîné de l'ancien Kronprinz, ait participé aux manœuvres récentes de la Reichswehr ou ait accompli du service dans la troupe; il a assuré qu'il a assisté aux manœuvres seulement en spectateur. Le Berliner Tageblatt déclare que cette affirmation est inexacte et exige des éclaircissements officiels. Notre souscription en faveur des inondés du Tonkin Un groupe d'habitants de [?]