FRANCE'S RULERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10538, 13 August 1912, Page 2

FRANCE'S RULERS.

HOW THEY PASS THEIR LIVER

j France is not torn from end to end by the question, " What shall we do with our ex-Presidents?" With one in retirement and another preparing to follow, the country is as calm as an English village on a Sunday morning. M. Loubct, of humble birth and simple tastes, after seven years of the last word in pomp, glory, and ceremony, without fuss and without effort lias stepped from the gorgeous Elysee Palace to a modest Hat on the opposite side of the Seine. Apparently without regret, as one whose duty has been done and who was glad of the relief from great responsibilities, M._ Loubct passed from the post of President of tho French Republic with its neverceasing round of ceremonies and duties and routino into private citizenship, with its honie life and simple joys that go to make tho existence of the French bourgeois an ideal one. That was six years ago, and never since has the former President shown by word or deed that he regretted the change or would return to tho jpalace in the Faubourg Saint Honoro if the opportunity were offered him. As with M. Loubet, so with his successor, M. Fallieres. A man of simple tastes, his father, a modest functionary, and his grandfather a blacksmith. h:i has never been quite at ease at the Elysee. And now, when his term of office is drawing to a close, ho plans to return to his former modest ways of life, absolutely unaffected and unspoiled by his long acquaintance with show and glitter. With a joy that is apparent to all who know him, tho French President is looking forward to his retirement to a six-room apartment in tho Boulevarde Saint Germain, in a house which he owns, surrounded, not by an army of attendants, such as has been his custom while in office, but contenting himself with two servants—a cook and a housemaid. He will not oven agree to havo a valet,- disliking the idea of having a man to wait on him. Instead of the pretentious carriages and liveried coachmen and footmen that are indispensable adjuncts of office, M. Fallieres talks of tho convenience of the subway and tho motor 'buses that ply close to his door. TIRED OF OFFICE. M. Fallieres is not averse to making the fact known that the multiple formal social functions which are the chief duties that fall to the lot of a French President are becoming almost unbearable, and it will be a relief when.he can drop out of this arduous hoop of pleasure that has no cessation, and seek quiet and poaco in a simple little flat away from the crowd. M. Fallieres owes his brilliant destiny first of all to his exceptional abilities as an orator. His talents and perfectly upright character gained for him the Presidency of the Senate, where his wisdom and impartiality were clearly revealed. Like his predecessor, M. Loubet, he stepped from that position into the Presidency of tlio French Republic- _ This sort of promotion from one high position to another without excitement or hitch is a proof of the simple stability and easy working of the French Republican institutions. In M. Fallieres the people find their own democratic aspirations, simple and free from violent outbursts. There is nothing about him that suggests the exaggerated chivalry and aristocracy of the rulers of other times. During all his political career the wine merchant President lias been followed step by step by his faithful wife, who also comes from middle-class people. Mmo Fallieres has never been reconciled to the political life, yet she has repressed all her distast.e, has devotedly aided her husband, and has shared his duties, whenever her presence has been required, with a dignity that has brought them many friends. Mm-e Fallieres is by nature of a retiring disposition, and of. modest tastes, and when her husband _ forsakes tho Presidential chair she will again take up her bourgeois manner of living, surrounded only by a few intimate friends. HELPED BY LAWYER SON. Their son, Andre, who is a lawyer, seldom leaves his father's side, and lightens his labours in every way. Father and son, and often a few friends leave the Elysee together at ten in the morning for a brisk walk, generally routine. tJpon his retirement, Presi dent is firmlv convinced that to these walks alone he owes his power to continue his confining and irksome daily routine. Upon his retirrement. President Fallieres will spend the winter in Paris and most of the summer in the south of France, giving personal attention to his vineyards. Soon after his election to his present office he wa3 approached by an American eyndicate, which offered him a fabulous sum for his property, with tho understanding that it was to be free to sell the wine product as " from tho vineyards of President Fallieres." The good-natured President simply laughed at the proposal, and refus'ed. to have anything to do with it. _ As a matter of fact he sells his entire yield to a near-by merchant, with tho strict understanding that no mention is to be made of its coming from hig estate. In this wav it does not compete unfairly with the crops of his neighbours' Since his elevation to the Presidency he has not by any moans neglected his property, but, naturally, ho has not been able ix) give it the close attention that lie would have liked. M. Loubet, like M. Fallieres, is also of the bourgeois class. Frugality, thrift and economy were early instilled in his mind, by his hard-working parwho were modest merchants selling iron and copper utensils for tho kitchen. Notwithstanding his steady rise to affluence and power, from a Deputy of the Lower House to a Senator, then Minister and President of the Senate to the Presidency, he never lost eight of the "little economies" that are religiously practised by tho middle classes all over France. SALARY SPENT ON FRANCE.

Deep-rooted as were these principles, however, M. Loubet is said to havo failed to save a penny of tho princely salary of £48,000 a year with an additional sum of £24,000 for expenses, which he received as chief representative of France. Ho felt that his money was for the glory of the office, and that splendour and magnificence befitting a great country should be maintained. So many are tho State banquets and formal functions that the President is obliged to give to visiting royalty and men in public life, that it is said these great sums little more than defray expenses. President MacMahon entertained with such magnificence that he not only spent the amount given him, but the larger share of his private fortuno as well. M. Loubot's guiding principle is great economy and moderation in all things. He onco explained his ideas on the subject in the following phrase: "One must never let the occasion to economise go by even when performing the greatest act of generosity or charity, and I admire the man who gives i generous gift to a needy family living afar, and who takes it on foot so as to economise the expense of the journey." As President, whenever M. Loubet oould escape from Stato functions, he lived in a plain bourgeois manner, and his chief annoyance was the police escort and detective service that watched over him. He was very accessible, charitable, indulgent, a friend to be counted on, a man of quick action, seeming much younger than his years. Such was M. Loubet, the President; such is M. Loubet, tho ex-President. Since his retirement. M. Loubet has lived with his wife and two sons, both of whom aro lawyers, like simple mid-dle-class people with a*comfortable income. Their apartment, which is a very modest one, is in the Rue Dante, in the Latin quarter, between the Seine and the Cluny 'Museum. He "has entered the ranks again," as they say in France, and lives absolutely retired from politics. His influence on public opinion is only used in a very indirect way in friendly interviews

with noli I iciani who tuny turn to him for ml vice. The French people do not consider their I'l'widciiLn or ox-I'resi-dents iu« nl'flreunion, but iim men ehn.son to reprer-enl. their country on great Oceanians -tho oO'ieiiil lionlm <>l l 1 ranee, to entertain Koynl visit urn, 1.0 show thorn the boMulirH of I'.'irin, and set them a good cxainnl" Ix'lore. tlio "cajion and extra dry." Their mission is to bo pro.'iont nt gronl. charitable or patriotic events, gala performances at tho theatre, to open exhibitions and unveil monuments. A QUIET, USEFUL LIFE. Tho President of tlio French Republic is not supposed to havo political prejudice* or opinions, he must act always in accordance with the majority in 'Parliament. Hence it in not to bo wondered at that tho peoplo show absolutely no intorcst in the opinions of an ex-President on tho Stato affairs of the day. There is not the slightest difference between M. Loubot and any ordinary citizen. When ho walks in tho boulevards none turn to look at him, he arouses no interest when ho enters a street car. However, ho tries not to bo altogether useless to tho country and has accepted the honorary presidency of somo co-operative societies, associations of students and pure food organisations. At tho meetings of these societies he now and then makes a speech, without protousion, but i full of good sense, and ne is always listened to with deference. Each year he presides at tho re-union of Students' Associations at the Sorbonne. Last year he visited the ministry nt the head of a Parisian alimentary society to ask that the county tax be taken off dry cheese. It was an unusual spectacle to see tho man who had received kings, granted audiences to ambassadors and had hob-nobbed with all tho great men of the world, entor very humbly the offices of the ministers to solicit favours for a society for the public welfare. Individuals often come to him for advice and. it was tho result of one of these visits that caused M. Osiris to bequeath his fortune of 30,000,000 francs to the Pasteur Institute. M. Lou bet's habits are as regular as a business man's. He rises at seven o'clock and after his rolls and coffee he starts for a long walk.which ends, generally, in paying a few visits. At eleven o'clock one sees him return to his apartment, where ho is known to bo accessible for an hour to all people who seek him. After a simple luncheon he again goes out, either with his son or with his wife, this time for a drive in his coupe which is drawn by one horse.