FRANCE. 



359 



engineer in charge, named "Watrin, had for a 

 year or two past rendered himself obnoxious 

 to the miners. The strike hegan on Jan. 26, 

 when the mining inspector of the department 

 was visiting the mines. The same day a crowd 

 of workmen, led by a former employ^, named 

 Bedel, went to Watrin's office, and demanded 

 that he should go with them to the mayor's 

 office and receive the notification of their con- 

 ditions. Surrounded by four hundred of the 

 laborers, who shouted threats and abuse, and 

 pelted him with inud, he went before the 

 mayor. They demanded that Watrin should 

 resign, and that the wages should be five francs 

 for eight hours' work, and should be paid 

 every two weeks. Some of the mines, they 

 complained, were dangerous. While Watrin 

 was conducting the inspecting engineer to the 

 works, a crowd of over one thousand persons 

 gathered threateningly about him, and the 

 party took refuge in a building, whither the 

 mayor and sub-prefect came to their assistance. 

 But the rioters broke in, dragged Watrin away 

 from his defenders, and threw him out into 

 the street, where he was trampled to death. 

 The directors of the company, among whom 

 was L6on Say, said that they would never ac- 

 cede to the men's demands, and appealed to 

 the,Government to guard their property, while 

 the political advocates of the rights of labor 

 warmly espoused the cause of the striking 

 miners. The deputies, Basly and Camelinat, 

 went to Decazeville about the 1st of March, 

 as well as the editors of Radical Parisian sheets, 

 and encouraged the strikers to stand firm. The 

 mine-owners declared that, rather than yield, 

 they would close their works, which would 

 throw three thousand men out of employment. 

 When the strikers were reduced to the last 

 extremity the Municipal Council of Paris voted 

 ten thousand francs, and this example was fol- 

 lowed by other cities. Three laborers, who 

 were arrested for intimidation, were con- 

 demned on March 8, one to three months' and 

 the others to two weeks' imprisonment. After 

 months of inaction the Government posted 

 troops in the threatened district. The jour- 

 nalists, Roche and Duc-Quercy, were placed 

 under arrest. In May the laborers proposed 

 arbitration, but the Aveyron company rejected 

 the proposition. At length, on June 10, a 

 compromise proposed by the company, though 

 far from meeting the desires of the strikers, 

 was accepted upon the advice of Basly, be- 

 cause the men had not the means to hold out 

 longer. The ringleaders in the murder of Wat- 

 rin were condemned at Rodez on June 20, 

 Bedel to eight years, and three others to long 

 terms of imprisonment, while six other prison- 

 ers were acquitted. Roche and Duc-Quercy 

 were condemned to prison for fifteen months 

 on the charge of inciting disorder in the dis- 

 trict. His conviction gained Roche the nomi- 

 nation for the vacancy in the House of Depu- 

 ties, caused by the resignation of Rochefort. 

 He received 100,000 votes, and Gaulois, a fol- 



lower of C16menceau, 145,000, while the Mod- 

 erates set up no candidate, and the majority of 

 the electors of Paris abstained from voting. 



Labor Disturbances in Paris. In August the 

 waiters, cooks, and butchers' assistants in 

 Paris carried on a series of demonstrations 

 against the intelligence bureaus, which ex- 

 acted high fees for procuring places, and 

 often kept them long waiting for employ- 

 ment, without informing them that there 

 was no request for their labor. There were 

 a number of struggles with the police, and the 

 prominent socialistic agitators delivered vio- 

 lent speeches. The coffee-house waiters set 

 up intelligence bureaus of their own. Louise 

 Michel, Dr. Susini, Guesde, and Paul Lafarge 

 were arraigned for seditious speeches in Mont- 

 martre. The three latter were absent, and 

 were condemned in eontumaciam. 



Strike of Laborers in Vierzon. In the early part 

 of October serious labor disturbances occurred 

 in Vierzon. A strike took place in some of the 

 factories, and when a part of the laborers re- 

 turned to work they were molested by those 

 who continued on strike. The gendarmerie 

 dispersed the disturbers, and arrested among 

 others the Socialist Baudin, a member of the 

 Council-General of the department, who was 

 the leader of the strikers. The Government 

 sent troops to preserve order and to protect 

 the men that wished to work. When the 

 workmen were returning from work on Oct. 

 5, they were jeered by the strikers, and men 

 and women from other factories, to the num- 

 ber of 4,000. The gendarmes, who interfered, 

 were attacked, and the mob was not subdued 

 until a squadron of dragoons charged upon 

 them and wounded many. The Government 

 was assailed in the Chamber in strong lan- 

 guage for its attitude toward the strikers, and, 

 when Minister Sarrien demanded a resolution 

 of approval, it was refused by the combined 

 votes of Radicals and Monarchists. There- 

 upon he and Dem61e, Baihaut, and Develle, 

 sent in their resignations, and were joined 

 afterward by Sadi-Carnot and Lockroy. The 

 Cabinet crisis was ended on Oct. 19 by a decla- 

 ration of the Radicals, who said that the situ- 

 ation arose out of a misunderstanding. Con- 

 sequently the ministers retained their port- 

 folios. 



The Trade-Union Congress. In the international 

 congress of delegates from trade unions, the 

 principal question debated was international 

 legislation for the protection of laborers. The 

 Swiss Government has at different times made 

 overtures to other governments for uniform 

 laws on labor questions. The Congress adopted 

 on the subject the following resolution : 



The Congress decides that the workmen of the dif- 

 ferent countries represented will urge their respective 

 governments to open negotiations for the purpose of 

 concluding international conventions and treaties con- 

 cerning the conditions of labor. The Congress urges 

 that the following demands should be the first taken 

 into discussion: (1), interdiction of work by children 

 under fourteen years of age ; (2), special measures for 



