Page:Scott Nearing - Stopping a War (1926).pdf/19



After a period of disorder Doriot was again given the floor to make his position clear.

"—Permit me then, so that there may be no misunderstanding. …

"—The Government should jail you!

"—M. Doriot, I ask you, have you invited our soldiers to desert?

"—I said: Tomorrow, when they learn that in the interior of this country workers and peasants like them desire immediate peace with the Riff, and believe that it is possible to obtain this peace, and that the governors of France refuse to take the least step, they will consider themselves no longer bound to you. They will seek the means of stopping the war that you wish to continue. (Interruptions from various benches.)

"Let me read to the end, gentlemen.

"They will remember that, under other circumstances the marines on the Black Sea refused to fire on the revolutionary workers of Russia … that the soldiers of the Ruhr fraternized with the Germans. (Protests. Tumult.)

"—It is not true!

"—I say that the soldiers in the Ruhr fraternized with the German workers; that the Spanish soldiers on the same Riff front were not afraid to talk with the Riffians and I add: they will hold out a hand of friendship to those that you now call enemies. They will impose peace on you. That is my conviction and my belief. (Applause on the extreme left. Protests from other benches. Tumult.)

"—Censure!