Death of Clemenceau

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 829, 25 November 1929, Page 9

Death of Clemenceau

FRANCE’S WAR-TIME LEADER

Patriot and Statesman

CiRLM COURAGE THROUGH DARK YEARS

M ReCd «i«2:”U PARIS, Sunday. GEORGES CLEMENCEAU, great French patriot and • statesman, died early this morning, aged 88. ixty hours of agonising pain, made bearable by morphine, preceded 'The Tiger's" death. His son and grandson we-e at the bedside, and his daughters were in the next room.

, 11 uuil f interval M. Clemenceau • hui acteristicaliy had said he did not wi c? y w °meu round his death- .... ‘ wen asked that his sister, i heoneste, who nursed him iu his illness, should not be allowed to be present in his last moments. Nevertheless, the dying man murmured, when ho saw his sister kneeling at the bedside in tears, "1 am not going to prevent you from praying lor me. There was no trace of sarcasm m his voice, only tenderness and respect for one so devoted to him. Doctors came and went, but every lime shook their heuds mournfully, :v l > n T- It is hopeless; he cannot live. Ihe old “Tiger” seldom spoke. He endured his intense pain without complaint. though his suppressed groans were occasionally heard. One of tho doctors asked if their patient felt any pain. He replied, “Yes, 1 feel it dreadfully.” A drug

was administered to relieve his suffering. In the afternoon a priest, Monsignor do Lavatte, who. in spite of M. Clemenceau s anti-clericalism, was an old friend, called at the house. He said afterward that he gave his blessing through the half-opened door. The priest said he thought the fact that M. Clemenceau had his sister with him showed that although he had not retracted his radical views, his sentiments were not opposed to religion. His anti-clericalism was overlooked in the contemplation of a great Frenchman, and his immense services excused many things. KISSED SERVANTS’ HANDS Just before his death, “The Tiger” kissed the hands of his valet and his chauffeur, and then died without uttering a word. President Doumergne called and offered France’s condolences to the family. The Prime Minister, M. Andre Tardieu, and other members of the Cabinet, ambassadors, and other notable people followed. M. Paul Boncour called, hearing a tiny satchel of earth taken from the grave of Joan of Arc, for burial in M. Clemenceau’s grave. Another caller was Colonel Alfred Dreyfus, who, when he was almost friendless during the celebrated case in which he was’ the central figure, found M. Clemenceau suddenly championing his innocence. Tremendous crowds, including many wi r veterans, assembled outside M. Clemenceau’s house ill the Rue Franklin. to tender silent homage to the stilt’ small who, above all others, personified the country’s unconquerable spirit. The British Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, has sent a mess:l o. to the French Government: “Y.r. Clemenceau’s indomitable couraw and energy, which advancing years left undiminished, roused the warmest admiration of my countrymen. The whole British nation grieves his passing.” There are signs of mourning throughout France. The coffin will contain a vase made from a Get man shell containing a bunch of laded flowers it was given to Mr. Clemenceau during a visit to the trenches.

DECIDED FRANCE’S FATE

PARIS NEWSPAPERS’ LOFTY TRIBUTES CLEMENCEAU DIED POOR Kecd . 11.13 am. PARIS, Sunday. M Clenn.nct au died comparatively poor, apart from a valuable collection of books and a few pictures. His t-siatc is not expected to exceed *N : ewspa>.crs of every shade of opinion pay tribute to ids devoted service to France. Their views are best summed up by "Le Quotidien, which snvs" “Clemenceau at the supreme moment decided the fate of France -Le Temps' says the most fitting epitaph would be: “He was a naan. T |, , held finished his booh to his Cl itics only last Thurspains widen be*an h£ i“n rfMget l l became calmer and toned down cerI fain passages he had written, saying [“at although he differed from his , ritics he had no enmity tor them, but only wished to make his own position ! Cle ,twill be a remarkable book written as It was when M » great age and on the verge ot tile discussed own burial The “Tiger ' was prostrated yester-,-ay I,J a-1 attack of abdominal colic.

He was given frequent injections of morphine in the night and his relatives were assembled at his bedside. At midnight he sank into a torpor bordering on complete delirium. Only occasionally did he recognise his relatives. Earlier in the evening the “Tiger” indicated that he realised the end was near by discussing his own burial. He said he resented the idea of a State funeral and he besought his relatives not to announce his death until two days after the event. In the meanwhile they were to take his body to his country home at Vendee and bury it in ail upright position beside .his father's grave. HARD FIGHTER FOR FRANCE FEARLESS IN DARK DAYS OF WAR A CAREER OF CHANGE Georges Eugene Benjamin Clemenceau was born at Chateau de l’Aubraie, Fesle, in Lit Vendee, on September 28, 1841. .l ie was educated at A'a rites and in Paris, and took his doctor’s degree in 1865 with a thesis on the generation of atomic elements, lie studied social conditions in England and America about 1870, and married an American lady, Mary Plummer. In January of 1871 he was elected to the National Assembly at Bordeaux, and voted against peace preliminaries with Prussia, nearly losing his life during the Commune.

In February, IS7G, he was returned to the French Chamber, where he earned the nickname* of “The Tiger” by overthrowing one after another Ministries whose policies he clid not approve. lie was a pronounced Republican, and in 1593 he gave the Republican groups in the Chamber the title of Be Bloc. That same year he was rejected by his electorate on a faked charge of complicity in the Panama scandal. During the next few years he came again into the forefront of the public view by his efforts to get a fair trial for Dreyfus, a captain of artillery in the French Army, who was accused of telling French military secrets to the German Government. There was a savage newspaper war in connection with this case, and Emile Zola, the novelist, who was supported by Clemenceau, so attacked the Govern ment that he was prosecuted and heavily fined. Finally Dreyfus was restored to the army, and his innocence accepted as proved, DISPUTE WITH GERMANY In 1903 Clemenceau became a Senator for the department of the Var, and in 1906 he became Premier, holding that position till 1909. lie created a Ministry uf Labour, brought about the separation of Church and State, developed a scheme of social reform, and earned the antagonism of Socialists by his drastic methods of settling labour disputes, lie emerged victorious from the dispute with Germany in 1908, and established the Franco-Britisli Entente. Ho resigned in July, 1909, after a memorable debate with Delcasse which led to the rejection of a vote of confidence. Returning to the political fray in the following year, lie overthrew Caillaux in 1912 and Briand. GRIM COURAGE IN WAR

Then the war came, and in its open ing years he was a keen critic of successive Governments. He became Prein ier in November in 1917, with the in flexible resolve to win victory for tin Allies.

His return to office was at a time when France, fighting desperately at the front, was shaken by crisis after crisis in the Cabinet. Charges of espionage, defeatism, and plotting witli the enemy had been made against Minister after Minister. With Clemenceau in office the administration was

purged, suspects faced their trial, and tlio initiative was regained at the front.

Clemenceau’s record in the war was one of grim courag'o and determination. He inspired the nation when defeat loomed black and imminent. He laced hostile critics in the Chamber with the grime of the trenches fresh on his clothes, for one day lie was on the Tribune, the next with the soldiers in the front line. He it was who secured the appointment of Marshal I-och as generalissimo. Ho was president of the Supreme Council of the Peace Conference. ATTEMPT ON LIFE „ Clemenceau was elected to the French Academy, and in the French Senate in 1918 a bill was passed providing that in every Mairie in France there should be engraved on the walls a statement that, together with i the armies of France and Marshal Foch, “citizen Georges Clemenceau I had deserved well of his country. On February 19, 1919, an unsuccessful I ‘‘ttenipt on his life was made by Emile i Cottin. He resigned office in Janu- ; ary, 1920, and was succeeded by M. Millerand. As a speaker and writer Clemenceau ! was in the forefront of French politics from 1870 onwards. “A consistent j foe of clericalism, monarchism, I theoretical socialism, and of Germany," I says one writer, “he opposed colonial expansion in Tunis and Egypt, and in i lighting for liberty of thought explained that this must include liberty of | religious thought. If he destroyed ministries, his 'criticism was usually [ constructive as well as destructive and i lie did much to secure the presidency i for Carnot and Loubet. lie foresaw ! the Great War. and tried to warn his j countrymen as well as the British ! Foreign Office of the coming storm. lAs a journalist lie was no less conj spicuous than as politician.” FOUGHT SEVERAL DUELS A good swordsman and a good shot, he fought several duels, notably with i Paul Derouledc and with Paul Desi chanel. elected President of the French I Republic in 1920. His home life was ! simple. He was always a poor man, i yet he formed a small but choice coli lection of beautiful objects of art. His ■ tight against illness was marked by the I same courage as moved him in the 1 black days of war. Several times his life was despaired of. but each time he pulled through. He was recently ! busily engaged in writing his auto- | biography. Guests who visited him 1 on his SBth birthday '-*n September is to leave < - . want j to get on with his book, which he hoped 1 to publish in October.