19 NOVEMBER 1904, Page 17

General Andre, the Republican Minister of War, has fallen: He

has evidently been told by his colleagues that after the vote of the Chamber, which acquitted him of the charge of espionage by a majority of only 2, he has become a source of weakness to the Cabinet ; and on Tuesday he resigned in a letter to M. Combas, in which he declares that while he is not dismayed by those who " besiege " the Government, he cannot "acquiesce for a moment in the possibility that he might be the cause of disunion in the Republican majority." General Andre has been a most energetic Minister of War, and has succeeded in restoring discipline in the French Army, im- perilled by the bitter antagonism of Clerical and Monarchical officers to the Republic ; but there is little doubt that in his zeal for reform he accepted the services of " delators " too readily, and purged the district commands with too little attention to non-political claims. He is succeeded by a civilian, M. Berteaux, the able leader of the Liberal-Socialist group.