PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17371, 19 January 1920, Page 5

PRESIDENT OF FRANCE.

K,- rjESCHANEL ELECTED

M. OLE2SNOEATT WITHDRAWS.

Australian and N.2.. Cwl» Association. , (Reed. 6.6 p.m.} LONDON, Jw. 17.; M. Deschanel has been elected President of France in succession to M. Poincare. i. »nd N.Z. M* * fi " if ; M. Clemenceau has anneaet*.* : fc* he will not stand for the Fresi ' ■ ' V * Clemenceau withdrew after M, I ■ Chanel, had received*. 403 votes ! c, i M. Clemenceau himself had re- ' vjr>l 389 vote? at ; the .preliminary | caress... '

\j. ?«ol Deschanel, the new Present 4 tfrtnco, has had a long and distin;.„:,ed public career. He was prudent ;< a. P Chamber of Deputies from 1898 to hM and held the office for the fifth tune SfftS.Ho has also held important Snobitawata in the French, foreign .and. Gonial Offices.. A character sketeh pubIkhed at the .time of hie filth term as President of the Chamber stated :7-Paul Deschanel interssto the Republicans. He ma born in exile, his father having been one of .the many victims of Ma the Little's tyranny. The. day of his birth his father,, who was eating in Brussels the bitter .bread of the exile, ran across ™ street to inform two other illustrious exiles cX the happy event. .They were Victor Hugo and fear Quimt "£»*•■ te&bom of the proscription. Let us be tic godparent* Quinet," said Victor Hugo. ■ 3c then two prophets of democracy were ;Si sponsors. Sedan finahed, Napoleon, VfMor Hugo, Edgar Quinet, » Dei- ! jhavel, and others returned to their bei.v -d Paris. Emile Deschanel resumed his ; eU«r of French literature in the College i <?.,. i-rance. In time the young Paul be- : «aK a a secretary in the Ministry of the : if iorior. His publio career began in 1885, i ? hen he wag elected to the Chamber of I Demities for the district of Eure-et-I Loire. There he has eat ever since. In ' the Chamber Gambetta was his .idol. .He looked upon the great tribune as the in-, heritor of the principles of "Victor Hugo and Edgar Quinet. During these yeaTs of a fine Parliamentary career, he has been noted for fidelity to principle and finished speaking. His sentences are clear and his phrases are cadenced. Though the small of the midnight oil and the stamp of tho Academician is over them all, he has tho art of concealing art. Ho is not as eloquent as either Jean Jaures, the leader of the Socialists, or as the Count do Mun, the spokesman of the Catholics. Nor has he the biting sarcasm of the former Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau. But he is classical to his finger-tips. He speaks with full knowledge of the subjects he discusses. His reviews of foreign politics fere always listened to with close attention. M. Deschanel has been a. prolific writer for a number of years, the subjects he dealt with including French interests in the Pacific.