The Prefect of Seine-Inférieure is placed on leave

This measure was taken by the Minister of the Interior following the vote by the General Council of a motion requesting the retention of the Prefect. The Ministry of the Interior communicates the following note to us:

As the rumor having circulated in Rouen of the possible departure of the Prefect of Seine-Inférieure, Mr. Lallemand, the latter believed he could let a General Councilor propose to the vote of the Departmental Assembly a motion tending to his retention in office.

The government, considering that it would be a deplorable example for the discipline it requires, to let a senior civil servant accept from the benevolence of an assembly a vote that could appear intended to cover him against a possible decision of his superiors, has decided to place Mr. Lallemand on leave.

The Minister of the Interior immediately notified this decision by telegram to the Prefect of Seine-Inférieure.

The General Council of Seine-Inférieure was notified of the wish referred to in this note by Mr. Bouctot. This text was worded as follows:

The General Council, in anticipation of the next administrative movement, considering that the instability of civil servants is contrary to the general interest, that it is particularly harmful in a large department like ours; that for six years, by his constantly alert spirit of initiative, by his tireless activity, by his informed experience of men and things, by his dedication to social works, Mr. Prefect Lallemand has constantly succeeded in maintaining the working conditions, courtesy and generosity dear to the Norman populations; that we are pleased to recognize in him all the qualities of an impartial senior civil servant at the same time as a perfect man; expresses the wish that in a feeling of good understanding and sympathy, Mr. Lallemand be maintained in his post by the government of the Republic.

Unanimous applause having greeted the reading of this text, the chairman of the session, Mr. Acher, underlined this unanimity and added: Our chairman, Mr. Bignon, will, in execution of this mission, make the necessary steps with the public authorities.

The prefect, Mr. Lallemand, who attended the session, then took the floor to make the following statement: I am, he said, deeply touched by the unanimous gesture of the assembly with which I have collaborated in full agreement for six years. As a disciplined civil servant, I naturally remain outside this demonstration and the effects that it may have. I leave it to the government of the Republic and to all the very numerous friends that I count in the department of Seine-Inférieure.

The adoption of the wish by the general council followed this statement.