THE FRENCH PRESIDENT.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14017, 25 June 1913, Page 5

THE FRENCH PRESIDENT.

■ VISIT TO ENGLAND. t Picas Association.—Telegraph.—Copyright ( LONDON, Juno 24. ! Extensive preparations are being ! made to welcome President Poincairo j at Picton. The streets are decorated, i Mr Rudyard Kipling has published a [ p».*ni entitled “Franco,” happily sumj manring French characteristics. | ARRIVAL HI ENGLAND. AN ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME. * [ Received Juno 25 9.35 a.m. [ LONDON. June 24. ( The Prince of Wales welcomed President Poincare at Portsmouth. The King [ and members of the Cabinet met biin at i Victoria Station. Great crowds greeted 1 the French President with an ovation along the route to the Palace. [ Many Admirals, including Admiral Patey, welcomed the Prince of Wales to Portsmouth. (Admiral Patey is com- : mander of the Australian Navy.) BANQUET AT BUCKINGHAM. KING GEORGE’S HOPES. Received June 25. 12.30 p.m. LONDON, Juno 24. At a banquet to President Poincare at Buckingham Palace, the King expressed the hope that the relations between the two countries, whose aim was peace, would continue unimpaired in intimacy and vitality. PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. At a dinner in the Champa Elysces a little world of diplomatists and journalists awaited the great man. A little past the boar be entered witli decisive step, air a slittlo solemn, face pule and set. liis manner is direct—never cflu-ive—-courteous, but rather distant, never given to the phrase-making tor mere politeness sake that some politicians affect. At dinner be was as sparing of the dishes as of words. “How do you manage to attend so many dinners, M. le President; 1 ” was asked. “By not eating them,” be returned, his face lighting and the brown eyes twinkling. One saw bis fun again at the icc stage of the banquet, lie gazed appreciatively at a wonderful construction with turrets and portcullis. “And is that of real icer" he inquired. “Ves, M. le President,” remarked the maitre d’hotcl, proud of the notice taken of his ‘chef d’oeuvre,” and he put a linger to the pink columns to show that then; was no deception. Dignity gets no meretricious aid from clothes in 41. Poincare’s case, lie exhibits complete indifference to sartorial matters. When he entered the drawing-room where his hosts awaited him, one noticed the itl-litting collar of his coat, the poor set of the cmcmblc. But what elegance of mind to compensate for the external want of it! Ilis speeches arc as delightful to hear as to read. They breathe the spirit of the classics. There is the sense of culture in them, the ordered miiid, which is the best product of the French intellectual training; there is a firm grasp of questions and their clear exposition. When the silvery baritone issues from the rugged face one forgets the ill-cut tailor’s clothes, the disdain of details, under the charm- | ing magic of the speech. ; HIS PERSONALITY. If in his person, which is email and well-knit, he resembles the engineer more than the typical politician, his speeches navo something architectural in them. They are struct.ues—not merely utterances or the paso.ug hour. Read his wonderful oration ut toe unveiling of the monument lo Queen Victoria at Cimiez, and you will realise the architectonics, the perfection of the arrangement, as well as ihc splendour of the language. In the length of this article he gives the picture of the Good Queen. Her life is reviewed from the cradle to the grave; the power of her character, her penetration, her strict constitutional sense, her personal inffuenco as Sovereign and mother shine from this short speech. Nothing is omitted, and yet the orator has spokeinouly tor a few minutes, during which the hearts of British listeners throbbed with the beauty of this tribute to the great ruler of her people. As successful was his phrasing of King Edward’s life at Cannes when the monument, designed by 11. Oenya Puech, was unveiled on the succeeding day. When he speaks he makes gestures to emphasise bis points, which are remarkably expressive. From the height of the tribune in the Chamber he looked like a bust of Socrates, and his mind and 'intellectual methods hare much tbo cast of the old philosopher. Sometimes one feels he is a “desabusc" for whom no illusions are left, as if his mind could never he brought to the level of party government in France, where Parliamentary tricks so often take the place of ••rinciples. To his contempt for intrigue is due, in measure, the desire of some of his supporters to see him in the Chair of State. This serene atmosphere removes him from contact with compromise; at the same time, his translation removes a check upon certain illicit enterprise. Raymond Poincare has led with conspicuous success the Ministry of all the talents—a Ministry including Millerand, Briaud, and Delcasse. Maitre Millerand is hi.-, old rival in the Law Courts; they have decided between them most of the great civil casts in the country. Tims, when M. Failliercs entrusted M. Poincare with the mission to form a Cabinet, the Premier’s first concern was to secure the co-opcration of M. Millerand. Otherwise, of course, he stood in danger of losing his clientele, from the challenged presence of his “learned friend” at the Palais 3e Justice. It was with reluctance that M. Poincare abandoned the long robe and beretta of the lawyer for the dress suit of the politician, lie lias always loved the atmosphere of the Courts, with its clash 1 of forensic weapons. Until quite recently 1 he had not “distributed his dossiers,” as ; the expression is, which showed a hanker- : ing after the old life of the law or, at least, a prudent desire to keep open the line of retreat should politics and public service prove unkind. AS POLITICIAN. . He has been “yonng” all his life; young as Deputy, young as Minister for Finance who boldly tackled the old door and window tax, proposing to substitute a tax on incomes; young as President of the I Republic. Felix Fame was 46 when he i accepted the supreme office; Raymond j Poincare is six years older, hut he sat in • the Chamber in the twenties, and held : bis Ministerial portfolio in the thirties. | His origin as native of Lorraine is of pro- , found significance at this time, because ■ it repres; f.‘ ■> that spirit of the “Souvenir” j which is piramont in France. The night | parados, the patriotic demons!rations, that I deputation f-r-m the severed province I which waited neon him a few weeks ago, ! the rcsoliii’A’* c f Departmental Councils " approving firmness in foreign policy—all I these things are straws upon the wind that

blows from Paris to the Pyrenees when Spain is recalcitrant over Krnie question of Morocco, from Paris to the Vosges when above the- blue Alsatian ;monutains appear the clouds of conflict. Poincare understands the temper that is behind the manifestations. Born ten years before the war, his boyhood was impressed by its horrors and humiliation: his father's house stood in the wide area of the battle. And when he said, the other day, “Wo. do not want war, but wc are not afraid of it," ho spoke “on connaissanco dc cause" as a good Frenchman and a patriot. Then, also, that speech in Eastern France before the monument to the dead of TO. “This soldier, gripping still his broken sword, is a true picture of France to-day,’’ lie said, with an eloquent gesture towards the rculpturcd warrior, “wounded, but still proud and valiant.” On that same occasion lie gave a definition of true politics, which exhibits the moralist as well as the statesman. “However good a reform may be, it will never possess its full virtue unless it is inspired by the - wind that blows from the summits. And' that wind from the summits is goodness, justice, love of truth; it is the respect of. the Immai conscience, it is the full faith Tu the destinies of the country.” -The style is the man. His amazing catholicity is, also, the man. *