s who thus insult us do? They indulge
in orgies in the fashionable restaurants. The Zoological Gardens have
been shut. Why? Because the elephants, the tigers, and other rare
animals have been sold in order to enable wretches who laugh at the
public misery to gorge themselves. What can we, the indigent, as they
call us, do with 30 sous, when a few potatoes cost 30fr., and a piece of
celery 2fr. And they talk now of capitulating, because they have grown
rich on the war. Every one knows that it was made in order that
speculators should make fortunes. As long as they had goods to sell at
ten times their value they were for resistance to the death. Now that
they have nothing more to sell, they talk of capitulating. Ah! when one
thinks of these scandals one is almost inclined to blow one's brains
out. (Laughter and applause.) A fourth citizen takes up the same theme
with the same energy and conviction. He knows, he says, a restaurant
which is frequented by bank clerks, and where last week there were eaten
two cows and a calf, whilst the ambulance opposite was without fresh
meat. (Violent murmurs.) This is a part of the system, of Trochu and his
colleagues. They starve us and they betray us. Trochu, it is true, has
said that he would not capitulate, but we know what that means. When we
are worn out and demoralised he will demand a fresh plebiscite on the
question of a capitulation, and then he will say that the people, and
not he, capitulated. ("True, he is a Jesuit.") We must make an end of
these speculators and traitors. ("Yes, yes, it is time,") We must have
the Commune. We have not more than eighteen days of provisions, and we
want fifteen of them, to revictual. If the Commune is not proclaimed in
three days we are lost ("True. La Commune! La Commune!") The orator
explains how the Commune will save Paris. It will establish domiciliary
visits not only among the shopkeepers, but among private persons who
have stores of provisions. Besides, he adds, when all the dogs are eaten
we will eat the traitors. (Laughter and applause.) The Commune will
organise at the same time a sortie _en masse_, the success of which is
infallible. From statistics furnished by Gambetta it results that at
this moment there are not above 75,000 Prussians round Paris. And shall
our army of 500,000 men remain stationary before this handful of
Germans? Absurd. The Commune will burst through this pretended circle of
iron. It will put an end to treason. It w