New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-02-19
THE NEW FRENCH PRESIDENT
NJ LouBETs PERSONAL AND POLITICAL
RECORD A CLEAN ONE.
urs INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES CoNNipEN""
MEDIOcRE,-TIGs FRANKNEsS AND
DEMOCRATIC VIEWS.

urs INTEL, FCTTAL QUALITIES ''N9I'T"""
MEprocRE-HIs FRANKNEss AND
DEMOCRATIC VIEWS.
Whereas President Faure lowered head and
shoulders above the majority Of his country
mon and was nv reason OF his stature rather
impressive-lookng parsonage. his successor as
Chief MAGISTRATE Of France NJ. Loubet' Is IT.
tic short man. rather fat. with gray hair. point
cd beard. closely cropped. and clear honest plue
ewes He is the least diplomatic man that can
remember ever to have met, and II he has any
fault II is excessive frankness High-prlncipled
| tn a degree he is a foe to equivOcatlon ana dou-
be-dealing Of every kind, and he Is devoted 10
home life disliking theatres state oanque's anu
official receptions Before becoming President OF
/ the Senate, he had already on two OCCASIONS
! held office once Minister Of Pubic "orh''
and the other time as Premier, on when la'ter
occasion he was associated with his Old frlehu
Viette the Falstaff Of French politics. noted ior
his anecdotes for his loud. ringing laugh. ana
for his phenomenal consumption Of beer
Frances new President has been made the
! subject of innumerable stories. most or them
OF n character 10 demonstrate his great good
nature Thus when he arrived from the South
Of France to assume the Presidency Of the SEN
! ate in succession to the atrabOus, irasclpie
and eour-tempered Challemel-Lacour. he was
| met at the railroad station at Paris by an eN-
! ceedingIy we-dressed and important-lookihg
gentleman. whom he at once assumed to be one
/ Of the principal officials Of the Senate. Inc
gentleman in question having greeted NJ. Lou
het informed him that a carriage was in wait
ing and conducted him to IT, As soon as Loubet
had taken his place in the vehicle he pulled the
skirts NJ his coat aside in order to make room
! for his companion beside him. Noticing. now
aver that the latter was about TO shut the door
without getting in he inquired why he did not
enter
Il am going to ride on the box, mon Presi-
dent" said the stranger
Nonsense not a bit of it," exclaimed Loubet,
you will get welcome inside
But, Your Excellency'-
Come along / insist upon IT,
The stranger thereupon took his seat beside
the new President of the Senate. who SUISSE
| ouently during the course Of the ride, discoV-
! cred that his companion was nothing but one u
! the footmen. or one of the mental servants Of
the Luxembourg Palace. 1t IS scarcely neces-
sarv 10 add that the man was subsequently
loud I'm his praise of the condescension and
bonhommie of NJ. Chaeme-Lacou successor.
NJ Loubet is a lawyer by profession, fairly
well off for professional man, and when knew
a plainly furnished ffth-noor fiat in the Rue
de la Seine Nine. Loubet is in no sense a
woman of society, or Of the world but unat-
fectedly absorbed by her duties as wife and IN
| connection with the care and education OF her
| young children NJ. Loubet Is a southerner, ana
owes his rise in politics first OF all TO the FAVOR
! which he found in the eyes Of President Carhot
and secondly, to the universal goodwin when
his sterling qualities a man of unblemshed
honesty, and as a bon pere de famille,' have
created among the bourgeoisie and rural popu-
lation, who may be said TO constitute the back
bone of the French electorate.
Unlike President Faure President Grevy
and President Theirs, he has. far as is
known. no family skeletons TO furnish his enc
mics. political and otherwise with means Of
warfare against him. In the case Of Grevy, 1t
may be remembered, hls matrimonial affairs
and the dishonorable dealings of his son-in-law,
Daniel Wilson, furnished plenty Of material TO
his foes for his persecution. while In the case
Of poor President Faure the opposition was for
ever raking up the ugly fact that his father-in-
law mad been a convict. a circumstance which,
according 20 French law. would have barred the
late Chief Magistrate from obtaining the posi-
ton Of a common gendarme had he belonged to
a humber walk in life. Loubet. in fact, is one
81 those men. few and far between in French
| politics, VINO are NltuOuN dHtC~N+NA'N" NN'~N-N~
10 hamper him in his functions as IresIueht Oh
the French Republic.
The new President has been singulary non
comnoittal on the subject Of the Dreyfus case
Rut in view Of the fact that he owes his cleo
ton to the Presidency in a great measure 10 the
almost unanimous indorse ment which he re-
ceved at the hands Of the Senate, and that there
is an overwhelming majority in the latter Which
believes in the innocence OF Dreyfus, and in the
negality Of his trial, and likewise the opposition
Of the anti reyfustes to his nomination, it may
be assumed that Frances new President is
rather favorable to the prisoner Of the Devils
Island than embittered against him. Certain il
IS that Loubet would be the last man to counte-
nance any illegality in connection with the
. affair.
NJ. Loubet has never however, been regarded
as a man Of much brilliancy or intellect. In
fact his mental calibre is Of the same order a:
that Of Faurc. Carnot and MacMahon That i:
, to say he is IN no sense Of the word a strong
man. and if the mantle OF President has de-
scended on his shoulders it is mainly due to the
, fact that those who have engineered his cleo
ton expect to be able to lead and control him
, Faure's election was brought about mainly by
means OF the votes of the monarchlcal party
The leaders Of the latter aware Of the story
, then generally unknown. Of the felon father
in-law Of the ex-tanner, and they fondly mag
ined that thanks TO this secret, they would b'
, able to exercise a control over Faure. That is
why they elected him. and it was more in
spirit Of revenge and disappointment than from
any other motives that they subsequently re
vealed to the public this skeleton in the Faur'
closet when they found that they could not bend
= him to their wishes.
; In the present instance Loubet undoubtedly /:
indebted for his election to Dupuy, the present
Premier who never made any attempt to con