THE MEN AT THE HELM.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1193, 31 July 1911, Page 7

THE MEN AT THE HELM.

THEIR PERSONALITIES IN BRIEF. In the negotiations between France and Gcrmanv on the Moroccan question the principal negotiators are Herr von Ivider-len-Waechter. the German Foreign Secretary and ITerr von Bcthmann-Hollweg. the 'imperial Chancellor; and, on tho French side. M. do Selves, the new Foreign Minister and the new Prime Minister, M. Caillaux, Behind these two Mnuitere,_

however, is M. IMrarite, Minister fnr Murine, fnr anil awiiy tlie must niiliibln iiilthorily "I I III! 11n v mi Kii'iirli l(ii rimi policy. I■'imlll\<> is h'|iitso:iliml at llcrlin l>.v M. Jules Ciiwlioii, and the (li'i'iiiun Ambassador is tln inn von Sclioen, 11 orr von KliU'l'li'H-WihtliUt's predecessor nl (ho German Foreign OMrc.

Ilnglisli right* nml intent-Is hit now being nssei'led In- Sir I'ldwnrd tircy ill l,ondon, mill through Sir William Gusrln.:i, British Ambassador in llcrlin, nnil Sii- i'. 1,. Bertie in I'nris, Tim German nml French representatives iii l,niulon are respectively Count WollV-Mcllcrnich, nml M. I'iiul Ciimbuii,

Sir Edward Grey. Sir Edward Grey, snyn it "I'till Mull Gazelle" writer, is' (he iirst. foreign Secretary who luts siil in Iliii House of Commons' since 1 .oid PuliiicrsUin, nml, though hi! hits hjiil oiTiisiimiil lapses from high Imperial line on which lin sliulcd oul Ihi bus htiil a sound record. Hi' flipported (lie I!I0(I Government, throughout tlio South African war, ho has publicly endorsed (he .1 npaneso Alliiinci! and (ho Entente Coriliale. lie is a politician who enjoys general good will, iinil liis specchcs ■smack of considered judgment rather than oratorical clVcct. This is why people look such serious notice of his grave speech of warning in March, 1!)U!>, concerning tho rapid advanco mado by tho Germans in building n fleet of battleships rivalling our own. Ilis bird-liko nrofllo tops a seasoned athletic figure, for lie is a tennis champion of renown, and an expert (practical and literary) upon llyfishing. lie was born in 1802, and at tho age of twenty succooded in tho baronetcy to his grandfather—also it well-known Liberal politician in his day. Ho was educated at Winchester and Balliol, and has been in tho lLouso sineo 18S5, his only previous term of ollicc having l>cen as Under-Secret,try for Foreign Alfairs from 1892 till 1895. His wifo died in tragic circumstances soon after ho went to the Foreign Oflico.

Gormnny't Foreign Minister,

Fifty-eight, and a bachelor, lierr von Kidorlon-Waechter combines with his fcoutli Uerninn joviality nn extremely lorcctul temperament. i''or teii years Vuu Kiderlcn-Waechtcr—ho is often called Von iuuenen simply—held the relatively unimportant post of Minister to iiuniania. From that point of vantage, however, ho has surveyed tho development of atlairs in tho Balkans and tho iNeur East, and has been a vigilant outpost of Germany's vaulting ambitions in those regions ot possibility. Under tho German Ministerial system tlio Foreigu Secretaryship is ordinarily a negligible adjunct oi tho Imperial Chancellor's Department. Of vastly wider knowledge ot foreign affairs than his present• chief, Dr. von JJoth-mann-Holhveg, Von Kidcrlen-Waeehter is destined, in t)io opinion of Dr. Wile, ot the "Daily Mail,'" both by training and temperament to convert the Foreign Secretaryship into a portfolio of more than nominal importance. Aggressiveness, which iinds expression in a certain brusqtieness oi manner; tenacity of purpose, keen political insight, uncommon energy, courageous initiative, quickness and independence of judgment, are Jlerr von Kiderlen-Waechter's dominant traits. He typifies in characteristic degree the political phenomenon native to Germany known as the Kealpolitiker, tho statesman who concentrates on tho purely practical. Pan-Germans who clamour for deeds and not words in diplomacy are not likely to find the new Foreign Secretary lacking in the attributes they most admire. Yet ho conducted with consummate tact and conciliation the tortuous pourparlers which led up to tho FrancoGerman accord over Morocco a year ago.

Prince Bulow's Successor. The Kaiser's present Chancellor is his boyhood's friond and college "chum." That and the circumstance that Dr. Theobald von Bethwanp-Hollweg is of Jowish origin, like the Colonial Secretary, Hcrr Dernburg, were the facts standing out most prominently in connection with his elevation to the office hallowed with the memories and traditions of Bismarck. Tho appointment did not tako Germany by surprise. As l'rince Bulow's Vice-Chan-cellor and a known intimate of the Emperor of many years' standing, Von Beth-mann-Hollweg had long been a logical candidate for tho Chancellorship, and his selection becamo a foregone conclusion from the moment Princo BuloW, in response to. the Kaiser's invitation, nominated him as his successor.

The fifth Chancellor is a born.Brandenburger, a liutivo of Hohen-Finow, a vilin the Mark, three-quarters of an hour west of Berlin. He is fifty-fivo years old. His family, ennobled in 1810, is an old-time I'ranktort merchant and banking dynasty, prominent in the commerce of South Germany for several centuries. Originally it consisted of two branches, Betlimann and Hollweg, which became united under a single hyphenated name through intermarriage, The founder of tho Bcthmann branch was driven from Holland in tho seventeenth contury on iiccount of his religion. Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg's grandfather was the urst of the family to identify himself with public life. Aa excellent lawyer, he bocams a professor of jurisprudence at Bonn I'niversitv, receiving the patent of nobility as'a mark of distinction, for his learning. As a member of tho Prussian Legislature in tho 'forties, ho was in the thick of the constitutional struggles which Jiad their culmination in 1848, ancl ton jears lato he became Minister fur Education in a Liberal Cabinet. M. Delcasse.

M. Delcasse is, perhaps, the most prominent figure in internatioual politics. His greatest achievement was tho 'Entente Cordialc." Ho was the first Minister to think of bringing England and France together. In fact, according to M. Victor Berard, M. Delcasse announced his intention of winning Britain's friendship the very day after the settlement 0/ tho Fashwia incident. On the other hand, it has been pointed out that I'tench and English opinions were ripo for this cordial understanding long before M. Delcasso brought it to realisation. M. Dclcasse's greatest blunder was his conduct of the Moroccan affajr in 1905, which brought France to tho vergo of war with Germany, no went ahead with his policy in tho faco of obvious German irritation and without telling his colleagues that they might at any moment be involved in a strugglo with tho German nation. Franco was not ready mentally or materially for war, and the loreign Minister who had blundered into this peril lvas at once thrown aside. M. Delcasse, whatever his faults may be, is earnest to tho point of impetuosity. Ho rose to prominence again on the navy fccandals, which have gravely agitated the French people, and devoted all'bis energy and eloquence to awakening the Chamber to a sense of tho necessity of the reorganisation and rehabilitation of j: rench maritime power. . M. Delcasse was Minister for Foreign Affairs in tho Brisson, tho WaldeekRousseau, Com lies, and Ronvier Cabinets from -180S to June, 1!)05, when ho resigned in consequence of tho Morocco crisi*. Ho returned U, office as Minister for Marine in tho Cabinet formed by M. Monis, in March last, and occupies tho same post under M. Berteaux.