The Indianapolis journal., 1899-02-19
SKETCH OF NJ. LouRET.
A French Statesman Who Has Been
Popular with the BOurgcOtse.

the krench Senate, was porn at MafSanne
on Dec. 81 1888, was educated for the bar
| and began his practice at Montelimar lie
| entered political life in the general election
Of 1876. when he professed himself Repub-
lican and opposed to general and complete
| amnesty. He was elected by a great ma
| jority, and at once associated himself in
the Assembly with the Republican Left.
He was one of the deputies who refused a
vote of confidence to the De Broglie Min
istry in 1877. After having been twice elect
ed to the Assembly he became a candidate
for the Senate in his old department. and
was elected in 1885. He became a member
of the first Tirard Ministry, which only sur
vived for three months, holding the posi-
| ton of minister of pubic works. When NJ.
| De Freycinet declined to undertake the
presidency of the council he was ihtrusted
| with the reconstruction of the Ministry. and
| took the position of minister of the interior,
| from which M. Constans had retired in 1892.
| Such. in brief, is the public career of the
new chief magistrate Of the republic.
There are many incidents in the life OF M.
Loubet however, not covered in the fore
| going brief sketch A recent writer says:
| M. Loubet has a reputation for honesty
and good nature greater than is his reputa-
| ton for political ability. He Is short. fat
and jovial to a degree that is extraordinary.
I
came out of the great scandal connected
with the Panama canal without diScredit.
At that time, when France was shaken to
| its center and when the greatest names or
| the nobility and the bourgeOise alike were
| being trailed in the mud, Loubet was the
minister of the interior. He resigned. IL is
| true, but no word of condemnation attached
to him. His skirts We're clear and his con-
| science was easy. That trial, out of which
he emerged an honest and innocent man,
established him in the hearts of the French
people and gave him high place.
Il nnIft 81 ahr ra~xp
| conspicuous fact that only served to add
| to his popularity He was made the min
lister of public works in the Cabinet of NJ.
Tirard and his services at that time were
| efficient and highly appreciated by both the
administration and the public generally.
| The character of M. Loubet is most admir-
able He hates double dealing, and is as
outspoken as he Is just and generous. Ha
is mild tempered and 1t takes much TO an
| ger him, but when he is once aroused he
| will tolerate no compromise Of any kind.
When he succeeded M Challomel-Lacour in
the presidency Of the Senate M. Loubet was
| warmly welcomed by the senators, who had
| chafed under the irascibility of his prede-
! cessor. Challomel-Lacour was one of the
most sour-tempered men in Europe, and the
| contrast presented with him by the rotund,
| 1ovial, good-natured Loubet was most pleas
Ing to everyone whose business brought him
| into contact with the Senate or its affairs.
mo man In France is more loved by the
| great middle class-the bourgeoise-than is
| NJ. Loubet. He is most plain-living man.
| He despises show and ostentation OF all
kinds. He is as far from being a diplomat
as is Indus from the pole, and is never-so
unhappy as when he is brought into con-
| tact with courtlness or fine manners. What
he thinks he says. Banquets and great oc-
casions Of all kinds are a supreme bore to
him. In fact, his character is the very re-
verse to that of the late NJ. Faure.
m. Loubet is the ideal home man. He
singular in a Partisan. Parisians like the
gayety of the city, with its brilliant theaters
and it's humming restaurants. M. LouDet
hates all such. He never shows mmselr IN
| theaters except to hear the opera, of which
| he is very fond, but it requires MASTER
| piece of music to draw him out from his
| she'll His nome is never burdened with
much social gayety, and as for public re-
ceptions the prospective President cannot en-
sdThis truly good man of the people lives in
no pavilion or fine manse. He Is contented
with fat, and that, too, on the fifth floor.
1t is in big building In the Rue de la seine.
| There Nine. Loubet looks after her domestic
| affairs in plain way, conforming herselI 70
her husbands modest and quiet tastes. Her
children and her cuisine take up her time,
and she is a woman of the salon In no sense
Of the word The Loubet fiat is furnishes
| mere like the apartments Of workingman
than like those Of senator OF the great
state of France.
Happily, NJ Loubet is very popular.
| When he was prime minister, in lS92 he OUT
lined a policy that was most pleasing to the
| French taste. On the delicate SUBJECT toL tho
| church he took ground that was anEthing
| but grateful to the noblesse. He hinted that
| the church could as well stay out OF polltles
as not, and although the clerical party 20 uo
with the people, who, although deeply re-
| ligious, have strong ideas concerning GER
| ical interference with questions OF state. X
| M Faure was a man Of the plain people, M.
| Loubet is no less such. He is not nero pre-.
cisely-he is too sunny and too jolly Tor thas az
! them, and that his intensely Galnc nature ls
| all that patriotic Frenchman can be most
proud Of
IN. Loubet is a provincial. When he en-.
| tered politics In 1876 his declaration was OF
| the republican order. though 1t was directeo ,
40 inst ha
| oners sentenced in consequence OF the events
| of 1S7O-1 He had no opponents IN thls con-
| test, and when he entered the legislature ne
| inscribed his name In the list of the LeftlsE
| republicans. He was one of the 36o deputles
| Of all the united Leftist groups who, after
the act Of May 16, 1877, refused to join in
vote of confidence in the De Broglie Cabinet.
| He was reelected in October. 1877, by a
date of his district, and in 1881 he was again
| reelected without opposition. -Four years
later he became candidate for the Senate.
! Tirard assumed office he could have had
! the position Of prime minister, having been
| asked by the President TO form new Cab
| met, but this Loubet refused, taking instead
! the portefeuille Of the interior.
Under the presidency of M. Loubet the
new Cabinet followed the policy of the ex-
| treme Left, and during this time Of his ca
! reer he showed his adroitness as leader
In public affairs in the settlement of the
labor revolts in the mining district of Car
maux. However in this settlement he Of
Tended the Radical deputies, who caused an
Interpolation as to the conduct OF the gov
ernment during the riots. The Lettsts re-
preached Loubet that he had not shown
sufficient sympathy with the rights of or
ganized labor, and the deputies of the Right
accused him that he had procraStinated too
long in the settlement of the affair. At the
last moment when the days OF the Loubet
Cabinet seemed to be numbered, arbitration
was proposed, and NJ Loubet himself uh-~
dertook upon the suggestion OF the preSi-
dent of the mining company to be the arbi-
ter. He proposed that the strikers return
to work except those who had been sem
fenced for acts of violence by the courts.
This proposition the miners, supported by
the Radicals, refused, and as q last conces-
sion the government offered to pardon the
offenders so al to make their return to work
possible. This concession was made by Lou
bet himself from the ministerial tribune in
the Chamber of Deputies.
In the meantime anarchtstic riots had oc~
Cured not only in CarmauX, but in Lyons
and other industrial centers. These gave
the deputies of the Right occasion to blame
the government for its weakness in tho
maintenance of public ordr, and upon q
motion for vote Of confidence in the gov-
of 359 against a. The next day orders Were
issued however, for a more vigorous SUR
Veillance of parades and professions, and
the use of the red flag in them was alto
sether prohibited in the streets of Carmaux.
Despite the apparently overwhelming cons
fdence expressed in the vote. Mr. Loubet
tried to concliate the Right, and he pro-
which excited TO riots and disturbances.
After a three days discussion he obtained ~
renewed vote OF confidence, but he used the
then arising Panama scandal TO resign, Nov.
28 1892 AS q member of the French Cabinet
NJ. Loubet has a record of long service.