THE SCARLET EPIDEMIC " IT USED TO BE THAT HALF THE PASSENGERS 
ON THE METRO WORE THE LEGION OF HONOR, " CRACK PARISIANS 
. " NOW THE ONLY ONES WHO STILL BOTHER TO WEAR 
IT ARE THE CONDUCTORS . " TODAY, SOME 300,000 FRENCHMEN AND 
SEVERAL THOUSAND FOREIGNERS ARE ENTITLED TO THE LEGION'S LAPEL EMBLEM, ! 
AND CHARLES DE GAULLE, WHO AS PRESIDENT OF FRANCE IS GRAND 
MASTER OF THE LEGION, IS ANXIOUS TO MAKE THE LIST MORE 
EXCLUSIVE . DE GAULLE HAS RECENTLY APPROVED A DECREE REDUCING THE 
NUMBER OF ANNUAL AWARDS BY 20 PER CENT . THROUGH NORMAL 
ATTRITION, THE GOVERNMENT HOPES THE LEGION WILL HAVE DWINDLED TO 125,000 
IN TEN YEARS . EVERYONE BITES . THE ORDER WAS FOUNDED 
BY NAPOLEON IN 1802 TO REWARD THOSE WHO " BY THEIR 
KNOWLEDGE, THEIR VIRTUE, THEIR TALENT " UPHELD THE GLORY OF THE 
REPUBLIC, IN WHICH ALL TITLES AND HONORS HAD BEEN ABOLISHED . 
" PEOPLE CALL THEM BAUBLES, / SAID NAPOLEON . " VERY 
WELL, IT IS WITH BAUBLES THAT YOU LEAD MEN . THERE 
MUST BE DISTINCTION BUT THE LEGION SOON LOST ITS DISTINCTIVENESS MINERS 
AND POSTMEN, SHOPKEEPERS, POLICEMEN, AND EVEN THE OFFICIAL ELYSEE PALACE SILVER 
POLISHER WERE GARLANDED ALONG WITH POETS, GENERALS, INDUSTRIALISTS AND DIPLOMATS IN 
1887 THE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE WAS FORCED TO RESIGN BECAUSE HIS 
SON-IN-LAW WAS SELLING LEGION APPOINTMENTS FOR $3,000 APIECE . ONE PREMIER 
OF THE THIRD REPUBLIC, PIERRE-MAURICE ROUVIER, CASUALLY MADE HIS MISTRESS' HUSBAND 
A LEGIONNAIRE BECAUSE " OF THE SPECIAL SERVICES RENDERED TO ME 
BY HIS WIFE . " ONCE WHEN HE WAS HAVING BAD 
LUCK FISHING, LEGEND HAS IT, AUTHOR HENRI MURGER (LA VIE DE 
BOHEME) BAITED HIS HOOK WITH HIS SCARLET RIBBON AND SAID : 
" NOW THEY ARE SURE TO BITE . THIS IS SOMETHING 
EVERYONE LIKES . " MONEY IS BETTER . AS THE " 
SCARLET EPIDEMIC " SPREAD, IT BECAME MORE DISTINGUISHED TO REJECT THAN 
TO ACCEPT THE AWARD . DEGAS, DE MAUPASSANT, CLEMENCEAU, GIDE, SARTRE 
AND CAMUS ALL ALLEGEDLY TURNED THE LEGION DOWN . OFFERED THE 
MEDAL IN LIEU OF PAYMENT FOR HIS FAMED REQUIEM COMMISSIONED BY 
THE GOVERNMENT, COMPOSER HECTOR BERLIOZ SNORTED : " TO HELL WITH 
YOUR LEGION OF HONOR . I WANT MY MONEY . " 
BUT A REFUSAL CANNOT BE WORN IN A BUTTONHOLE, AND THOUSANDS 
OF OTHER FRENCHMEN STILL OPENLY COURT THE AWARD . TO RESTORE 
TO OUR FIRST NATIONAL ORDER THE PRESTIGE IT SHOULD HAVE, " 
DE GAULLE'S GOVERNMENT LAST WEEK FORMALLY ESTABLISHED A SECOND-RANKING DECORATION KNOWN 
AS THE ORDER OF MERIT . HENCEFORTH, THE LEGION OF HONOR 
WILL BE AWARDED ONLY FOR " EMINENT SERVICE . " MERELY 
/ DISTINGUISHED SERVICE " WILL BE REWARDED WITH THE NEW ORDER 
OF MERIT, WHOSE LAPEL RIBBONS AND ROSETTES WILL LOOK LIKE THE 
LEGION'S, EXCEPT THAT THE COLOR WILL BE BLUE . AN INCONSPICUOUS 
SCARLET RIBBON FOR CHEVALIERS OF THE LEGION (BY FAR THE MAJORITY), 
A ROSETTE FOR OFFICERS, ROSETTE ON SILVER RIBBON FOR COMMANDERS, ROSETTE 
ON GOLD AND SILVER RIBBON FOR GRAND OFFICERS, ROSETTE ON GOLD 
RIBBON FOR THOSE AWARDED THE GRAND-CROIX . 