THE FRENCH CRISIS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 153, 29 June 1911, Page 4

THE FRENCH CRISIS.

It is- aofc^en-that an accident, Itowtrope, "ptiiduces far-reaching polibut the- disaster which |cost thie French War Sliigirter Ms- life a few »« tsxmplkn C.« the rote. Tlia French, Premiiet' _hnself» though, Ms °_7Jj__i was able and filling. ion carry on the country's basiAess. ; ' But. iS-" colleagues and. his party were <ifsj_teartened by the. loss' of Mi, Berteaux, who was. popularly re. garded as the. strong man of the Minisf *ry»;aod' was certainly, throne member of. the Cabinet: who. could, command the sympathy and-support of Jaures and his powerful Socialist following. M. Monis has, hardly, been "riding f.6r a fa,ll" since M. Berteaux's deaths hut the adverse vote ou proportional representation three, days-,ago must have come as a sort of happy release,, and the Premier promptly seized upon bis defeat as a pretext for resignation*

The new Ministry, it must be' understood, does not in the ordinary sense, . represent a change of Government. It includes several, members of the old Cabinet, and it may be trusted, to, develop its .policy aldn<r the lines laid down by its immeiiiate predecessors. What we may term moderate Badicalism, with, a tendency towards So-cialistic-experiments, describes with suflti--cient accuracy the general political character of the party that now holds the "reins of state in France. But. there is one man iv M. Cailknx's Cabinet whose presence and the office that he holdg, indicate that the French Government has an. eye to- important international and diplomatic, developments as well as to matters of purely domestic policy. M. Delcasse is back'aga'h in his old seat at , the Foreign Office; ..and his selection for : this highly responsible post must be regarded on the Continent almost in the light of- a direct challenge to Germany. For M. Delcassc is not only the most successful Foreign Minister that France has produced since tile downfall of the Empire; he" is the one French-statesman who. has been publicly marked out as the object of the Kaiser's high displeasure. Delcasse had always been disliked at Berlin for bis self-assertive nationalism; but when the Anglo-French agreement regarding Morocco vvas made public, the French Foreign Minister was at. once accepted by all patriotic Germans as the sworn foe of "the Fatherland." When the Kaiser started his agitation for a re? vision of the agreement as regards Morocco, the first point on which he insisted was that Delcasse must resign; and tho French Ministry, overawed by the Kaiser's threats and wholly unprepared to meet an attack by the immense body of German troops promptly massed on the eastern frontier, reluctantly gave way. •Delcasse for the moment disappeared from the stage of public affairs. But his restoration to his old office at this particular juncture at. least lends col-, our to the 'belief that France is more confident, of herself and of the "entente" than she was Six years ago. and that she is no longer prepared to direct her for- ' eign policy in accordance with the arbi- ■ trary will of the Kaiser. '