CLEMENCEAU DEAD

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 52, 25 November 1929, Page 11

CLEMENCEAU DEAD

the man WHO SAVED FRANCE OUTSPOKEN AND FEARLESS STATESMAN The death of Georges Clemenceau, reported this morning, makes another gap in the ranks of the diminishing band of the statesmen of the Great War. Of these, Clemenceau was one of the big figures, and certainly the most picturesque. Clemenceau was 88 years of age on September 28 last; and for a period of over 60 years he has been a-fearless political warrior, always fighting for what he regarded as the interests of his beloved France,

United Press Association. —By (Rec. November 24, 11 p.m.) London, November 24. M. Georges Clemenceau is dead. (Rec. November 24, 5.5 p.m.) Paris, November 24. Clemenceau at midnight sank into tropor bordering on complete delirium. He only occasionally recognised his relatives. SUFFERED INTENSE PAIN HOME VISITED BY LARGE CROWDS (Rec. November 24, 11 p.m.) London, November 23. Tremendous crowds visited Clemenceau’s house in Rue Franklin, Paris, to tender silent homage to the statesman, who, above all others, personified “La Patrie’s” unconquerable spirit. Doctors came and went, but every time shook their heads mournfully, saying: “It is hopeless. He cannot live.” i The old “Tiger" seldom spoke all day long, but endured intense pain without complaint, though suppressed groans were occasionally heard. The doctors asked if he felt any pain, when Clemenceau replied: “Yes, dreadfully.” Morphia was administered to relieve his suffering, and he sank into a coma prior to his death. Great French personages and representatives of many foreign States cajled' at the house and left cards; also Colonel Alfred Dreyfus, who, when almost friendless during the celebrated France-wide upheaval, found Clemenceau suddenly championing his innocence. THE FINAL SCENE BOOK FINISHED ONLY LAST THURSDAY (Rec. November 25, 12.30 a.m.) London, November 23. During a lucid interval M. Clemenceau characteristically said he did not want women round his deathbed, and even asked that his sister Theoneste, who has nursed him in his illnesses, should not be allowed to be present at the last moments. Nevertheless he murmured when he saw her kneeling at the bedside in tears: “I’m not going to prevent you praying for me,” and there was not a trace of sarcasm in his voice, only tenderness and respect for one so devoted. This afternon a priest, Monseigneur de Lavatte, who in spite of Clemenceau’s anti-clericalism was an old friend, called. He said afterwards: “I gave my blessing through the halfopened door. I think his having his sister with him shows that although he has not retracted his radical views, yet his sentiments are not opposed to religion. His anti-clericalism is overlooked in contemplation of a great Frenchman; his immense services excuse many things.” M. Boncour called bearing a tiny satchel of earth taken from the grave of Joan of Arc for burial in Clemenceau’s grave. Clemenceau finished a book replying to his critics only last Thursday. He laid down his pen in relief, and was seized five hours later with abdominal pains which V e » an tbe last iliness. He began his book full of anger, but as it progressed he calmed down and toned down passages he had written, saying that although he differed with them he bore no enmity. He only wished to make his own position clear, It will be a remarkable book, written at a great age on the verge of the grave. “THE WRECKER OF CABINETS” MAN WHO SAVED FRANCE COUNTRY FIRST, ALWAYS “In her hour of need France lias turned to the wrecker of Cabinets, the man aptly described as having ‘torn, clawed, and bitten’ his way to power. _ Though his enemies are legion, tlie nation has chosen Clemenceau ‘the Tiger’, to lead the Government." These words were written by an American, when Clemenceau formed his “Victory” Cabinet on November 17, 1917. For whatever may bo said of Georges Clemenceau, no one has ever doubted his patriotism. His every act of construction or destruction has been in the interest of what he considered the welfare of France, and his power has been unhesitatingly wielded through his fearless pen. His newspaper, “L’Hommo Lire (The Free Man ) was suspended early in the war because lie refused to suppress certain passages in an article. He promptly changed the name to “L’Honinie Enchaine (Hie Chained Man”), but the paper subsequently reappeared under its old title. A friend once asked him how ulaa y Ministries lie had overturned, and Clemenceau replied pleasantly that lie was quite unable to recall the number, home time after this he was made Premier himself. That was in 1905. when he was G 5 years old. Here are a few of the names which he has won during bis lorceful career: “Wrecker of Cabinets, Over ’ thrower of Ministries,” ‘'’Che Stormy Petrel of French Polites,” “The Red Indian.” and tlie “King-Maker.’ ibis la.t appellation, however, does not seem <> have been very appropriate, since it lias been his business to undo rather than to make kings. . ... Clemenceau married an American gii —at one time his pupil during his exile in that country, and one of the ii"’ o }”' l . l ' epithets of his opponents Ims been me Yankee School-teacher.” . . , Clemenceau’s father was imprisoned by Napoleon HI nt the time of tlie coup d’etnt” thnt destroyed the Second Republic, and the sou has been a true chuu

Electric Telegraph.—Copyright, of the Revolution. It is characteristic of him that he supported General Boulanger as long as he believed him to be working in the interests of the Republic, and that when the “Man on Horseback” was seen to be scheming for the return of the Bourbons, Clemenceau rose up and drove him from power. Sent to Prison. Before ho was twenty Georges was thrown into prison for shouting “Vive la Republic 1” on the streets of Paris, in the midst of the celebration of one of the imperial anniversaries. He served his term in gaol, and then, practically an exile, he came to America. Between 1865 and 1869 he lived in the United States, chiefly in New York and in Stamford, Conn. He had been educated ns a physician, and it was as a medical practitioner that he established himself on West Twelfth Street and became known in the neighbourhood about Washington Square. But Georges Clemenceau, though his father had been a physican before him and generations of his family had followed that profession, was not successful as a doctor of medicine. He was not deeply interested in his calling. It is true that his university thesis for his doctor’s degree was not only considered an important work at the time, but was still consulted as authoritative fifty years after he had written it. But, even ns a student in Paris, young Clemenceau ,had found time to inform himself carefully on political questions, and to contribute controversial papers to the political reviews. In New York he gravitated naturally toward the study of social and politcal conditions. And he drew his income not from the practise of his profession, but largely from the letters about things in America that he sent to the papers at home. Clemenceau wrote back to Paris that his first impression of the Americans was that they had “no general ideas and no good coffee.” The Siege of Paris. Throughout the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of Paris, Clemenceau was Mayor of the district of Montmartre. One of his duties during the siege was to see that 150,000 men were properly fed. Another was to look after thousands of refugees. He was also responsible for large amounts of money, and they tell a story that, foreseeing the accusations against anyone’s honesty that might be made in those trying days, he took the precaution of engaging an expert accountant to “check up” and made public his use of every sou of public funds. At the end of the war he did all he could to gain “home rule” for Paris, and then found himself the enemy of the Commune. , In 1871 he was elected to the General Assembly, and it is interesting to note that he was opposed to a treaty of peace. From 1871 to 1875 he was a member of the Paris Municipal Council, of which he became president, and in 1876 he was elected member from Montmartre in the Chamber of Deputies, where he soon became leader of the Radicals. From the outset of his career in the French Parliament he was the bitter opponent of the Royalists, and soon became known for his eloquence and independence of action. Men could not predict the action of Clemenceau. He was independent even in his radicalism, and he followed no leader but his own principles. They called him the undisciplined vandal in those early days when he was making a reputation as an upsetter of other men’s careers. His political power was increased by his journalistic activities. In 1880 he founded “La Justice,” the great daily paper, of which he became chief editor. He destroyed the Fourton-Broglie administration. He overthrew Boulanger. He caused the fall of Jules Grevy and of Jules Ferry. He wrecked the activities and position of M. de Freycinet at least three times. Yet his own policy was a consistent radical republicanism, clear and practical ; he stood for the realisation of all that the revolution had hoped and dreamed. He was opposed, we may note, to the alliance with Russia, determined that his country should not be joined in so close a friendship with a despotic Power. He unceasingly upheld the complete separation of Church and State. He urged constantly the development of French resources to the utmost. And those who have watched his career closely point out the growth of the man’s political philosophy from his early reckless radicalism to the saner advocacy of a just and free democracy. A New Clemenceau. In 1893 Clemenceau’s career was apparently wrecked. He was involved in the Panama scandals, and accused of disloyalty and dishonesty. Although he met every charge and beat down the attack upon him in the Chamber, his constituents deserted him, and he was dropped out of politics. But he “came back” in two years, not into the whirl of politics —it was nine years before he was again connected with the Government —but as a new Clemenceau, a man of letters. The wily politician, the reckless duelist, the insolent bounder of his foes was gone. In his place was a philosopher and litterateur, a man who wrote exquisite prose, a lover of nature, a friend of humankind. Among his writings during that period were a book on the philosophy of nature, “Great Pan” ;; a novel of social life, “The Strongest”; a play of which the scene was laid at the Court of China, and some notable criticisms. But he returned in a few years to journalism. His old paper had gone down in the wreck of its chief’s career. But when the Dreyfus affair suddenly burst upon France, a new journal, “L'Aurore,” edited by M. Clemenceau, made its appearance. It was devoted to proving Dreyfus’s innocence. Clcmeueeau was back in the active world of French affairs with a vengeance. With his tireless defence of Dreyfus, he became, ns some one has said, “the sentiment conscience of France in print.” It was in Clemenceau's paper that Zola published his famous “J’Accuse.” In 1902 the same constituency that had forsaken him in his hour of trial returned him triumphantly to the Senate. In the spring of 1906 lie was appointed to public office for the first time in his life as Minister of the Interior. In November of that year, upon the retirement of M. Sarrien, he became Premier.

In 1909 liis old enemy, Deleasse, rose up suddenly and overthrew his Ministry. A discussion over naval affairs sprang up almost overnight. There were scandals, investigations, controversies. In a verbal duel with Deleasse—in the early years of Clemenceau’s activity his duels were frequently not verbal —tlie Premier, to quote a newspaper dispatch, "seemed, for the first time, in his Parliamentary career, to lose his head." Certainly he lost his temper, declared that Deleasse had "humiliated France,” _ and stalked out of the room. The President

shortly after offered the Premiership to M. Leon Bourgeois. But Clemenceau’s power was not broken He kept his place in the Senate. In 1912 lie overthrew Caillaux’s Ministry. In 1913 lie wrecked Briand’s Cabinet. When tlie present war began he entered the Viviani Ministry. _ . Clemenceau formed his Victory Cabinet on November 16, 1917, at <6 years of age, and was destined to see Germany defeated in the following year. From then on to June 28, 1919, Clemenceau devoted himself to the international settlement. On January 20, 1920, Ihe Tiger” met the fate which overtook other War Ministers when his Cabinet fell. He then sailed for India, a country which had always fascinated him. At tlie end of 1922 he went to America. Returning to France at the age of 84, he was in 1925 already writing two books, one on philosophy, the other on Demosthenes.