body of troops in order to crush it at once.

General Blanco, however, decided not to remain in Havana, but to go east and take charge of the campaign against the insurgents.

On the other hand, it is reported that many of the troops left Havana a few days after the riots, and that the only signs of the disturbance were the squads of soldiers left to guard two of the newspaper offices that had been attacked.

Some of these troops, it is reported, have been sent to Santiago de Cuba, where the insurgents have been very active of late.

It was rumored recently that the seat of the Cuban Government, near Cubitas, had fallen into the hands of the Spanish.

This rumor, however, is believed to be false. Still, the Spaniards have probably been doing some good fighting in this neighborhood.

The Cuban President and his Cabinet are not likely to be molested, as they are concealed in remote and inaccessible mountain-passes.

A good deal of newspaper talk has been created by the acceptance of General Blanco's Government by Gen. Juan Massó, cousin of President Bartolomé Massó, and his brigade, and by the surrender of five private soldiers belonging to the command of Gen. Maximo Gomez, the insurgent commander-in-chief.

These soldiers declare that General Gomez ordered Captain Nestor Alvarez to be shot for attempting to persuade insurgent soldiers to accept autonomy. They have asked permission to form a guerilla force to avenge the captain's death.

In various parts of the island the Cubans have been doing a great deal of damage to property, but it is impossible to know accurately just what they are gaining by their devastations. The news sent from the Cuban and the Spanish camps does not agree by any means.

Both sides declare that they are making progress.

There is no doubt, however, that though the Cubans had lost hope of receiving help from the United States this winter, they have not lost courage.

At present they are busily engaged in transporting supplies into the centre of the island, and they propose to continue the campaign through the wet season.

The Spaniards maintain that the insurgents are at the end of their resources, that very misleading reports of the war are sent to this country, and that the Cuban Junta in New York gives information that cannot be relied upon to the papers.

The Spanish minister has gone so far as to defy Tomas Estrada Palma, who is at the head of the Junta, to mention five Cuban generals who are now in good standing.

He evidently hopes in this way to discredit the information sent out by the Junta.

On the other hand, the Junta discredits the reports sent out by the Spaniards. In the case of Gen. Juan Massó, for example, it says that several months before his surrender Massó had been degraded from the command, and that his so-called "brigade" consisted only of a few personal followers; so his acceptance of autonomy did not by any means indicate that the insurgents were giving up the cause of Free Cuba.

The excitement in France over the case of Captain Dreyfus, instead of subsiding, has grown even more serious.

For several days the students have paraded the streets in small groups, uttering cries against Zola and the Jews, and have been dispersed by the police.

It is said also that cries of "Long live the Emperor" have been heard.

This suggests that the excitement may affect the Government, after all, in spite of its apparent security in recent years.

In Paris this seems to be a very easy thing to do. More than once the Government has been overturned by the mob.

In spite of their bitter experiences, the French people of to-day are very like the French people of a little more than a hundred years ago.

But the French people of a hundred years ago were very badly governed and had terrible grievances.

At present, the French are well governed by rulers of their own choosing.

It is very likely that those who cried out for the Emperor were either jokers, or people eager to add to the excitement, or else paid agents of the Imperial party, which still hopes to restore the descendants of the first Napoleon to the throne of France.

So far, the mob has accomplished nothing, and the Government has stood firm.

In the Chamber of Deputies, however, the discussion of the Dreyfus case has led to very serious complications.

One of the members, ex-Minister Cavaignac, declared that a report existed, written by Captain Lebrun-Renaud, of the French army, which gave an account of a confession of guilt made by Captain Dreyfus. Monsieur Cavaignac blamed the Government for keeping silent about this confession, on the ground that by its silence it had practically led to a reopening of the case. If the Government would declare, he said, that the publication of the confession would involve some foreign Power, this would end further discussion of the matter. Otherwise, the whole case ought to be made public.

Premier Meline replied that such a confession existed, but the Government had decided not to publish it, as it would change the character of a case that had already been settled by competent judges. There was, besides, he acknowledged, another cause for keeping silence, the very cause that had made the trial secret. This was not "excessively great," but it was customary to conduct all such trials in secrecy, and the custom was not to be violated in this instance.

The Premier then criticised the newspapers that had taken sides with Dreyfus, and added that the Government had done right in calling Zola to account for insulting the army.

The President of the Chamber, Monsieur Brisson, then leaped to his feet and implored the legislators not to make a sensation while the streets outside were in a turmoil.

Premier Meline replied that the Government would quell the turmoil in the streets, and that those men should be blamed for the scandal who had started it. Then he condemned the socialistic newspapers for their attacks on the Government.

The socialistic newspapers are those papers that advocate the doctrine of Socialism, which may be said to have grown out of the French Revolution.

Socialism is founded on the theory that all rights and privileges and benefits should be shared equally by all the members of the community, and that the wealth of the world should be in the hands of the Government, which should have the power of distributing it. The citizens, instead of competing with one another, as they do now, should work together for the general good and be paid alike.

Many people believe that though this doctrine sounds very Christian-like, it would not work. The industrious would get no more for their labor than the idle. So the idle would become more idle, and the industrious would lose all incentive to do their best.

At any rate, Socialism has made great progress in France, and it is greatly feared there by its enemies. Its friends, on the contrary, think that it is going to make the world very much better than it is at present.

The friends of Socialism in the Chamber of Deputies became greatly excited by Premier Meline's censure of their papers. The excitement reached a climax when one member accused another of being a scoundrel and a coward, and several fights took place. Even the people in the galleries fought among themselves, and hurled abuse down at the members.

The scene was not unlike one of those disgraceful scenes that took place in the Reichsrath of Austria a few weeks ago.

The