New-York tribune., 1894-04-26
NJ C4RNOTS RETIREMENT.

Tho announcement that NJ Carnot will not
seek reelection TO the Presidency OF the French
Republic will scarcely cause surprise. II Is. IN
deed. a mere repetition of a similar statement
made on indubitablc authority some weeks ago
and Is in entire consOnance with the tenor OF
the whole Administration. For years NJ Carnot
has been charged by his critics with intriguing
for second term. In almost every official act
performed by him they have professed to see
that ulteror motive. Impartial observers have
discovered no such thing. And whether or not
In earlier years the President did indulge the
perfectly proper ambition TO serve second
form II has been evident for the last year or
two that he has now no such idea /, his pub
lie acts he has shown. as indeed from the first
n manly independence and Indifference TO mere
partisan gain. while In private matters IT Is
easy TO see that the burden Of State life has
become well-nigh uncomfortable. The domestic
quiet so dear to NJ and Nine. Carnot has been
DESTROYED They have been compelled as he
once expressed IT, TO abandon home for n hotel
And they have both seriously suffered in health
through the high pressure modes of life enforced
upon them by the requirements Of official soc-
ETY.. 1t will be a welcome relief to them both to
leave the Elysee and return to their old apart
ments or TO some similarly modest home.
When NJ Carnot was elected to succeed NJ
Grevy there was n general feeling that France
had chosen King Log. and a small and mediocre
log at that. He is a respectable man, who is
in love with his own wife and who can add up
n column Of figures correctly" was the comment
of one; and Of another: "He is the grandson Of
his grandfather" But this faint praise, with
It's ill-concealed note Of contempt, did not damn
lIv md
" 1t was n high and genuine tribute to him. and
II pictured him as precisely the sort Of man
France needed Nor did it, after all, stamp him
with mediocriy After the niggardly regime
Of NJ Greyy, with its corrupt annex Of Wilson
ism. It was a grateful novelty to have at the
ElysGe man Of generous instincts, pure life
and ability ito add up column OF figures"
without making mistakes in his own favor
Even after the splendid genius of Gambetta
with its craftsmanship unrvalfd in this gen
Grafton in France 1t was we'll to have public
life dominated by a man with less intellectual
and moral fever. and with more regard for
those domestic virtues which must form the
real foundation Of strong society. Moreover,
NJ. Carnot soon showed himself not only the
grandson Of the "Organizer Of Victory" in name,
but in austere integrity and wholcsouled patrl-
otism as well.
His administration has not been entirely free
from mistakes. 1t has been marked by numcr-
GUS stormy crises and difficulties comparable
with the most serious the Republic has endured
But II is only simple justice TO say that through
them all he has shown himself rich In saving
common SENSE" and rich also in absolute hon
esty Each conflict. moreover has terminated
in victory FOR the Republic, so that to-day pop
ular government in France is more securely
established and more approved than it was at
the beginning of his administration; more that
is to say not merely through the strength natu-
rally gained by lapse Of time, but through the
positive and aggressive virtue OF things done
N. Carnot deserves well Of his country, and his