Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-17
THE FRENCH ELECTION
Probable Candidates for Pres
ident of the Republic.
Special cahle,.ram 70 rhe star.

opeeiai Caoiesram TO Inc star.
| PARIS. December 16.-On January 16 next
| the members of the national assembly. conn
posed of the members of the senate and
| the members of the chamber of deputies,
/ will meet at Versailles, and, under the
Craftsmanship of NJ Fallieres the president
of the senate. will proceed to elect a new
president for the republic for a term OF
seven years.
Repeated and determined efforts have
been made to induce NJ ioubet 10 take the
Office for another term. So strenuous has
| TINS demand become that 1t is apparent
that NJ Loubet Is almost the unanimous
choice OF France Up to the present time
| IL might have been imagined that he has
been playing coy kind of polities-a kind
| or politics which, by the way, appeals to
| the French emperament-which expects
| man to say one thing and mean another
But his more recent emphatic declarations
| have caused the people of France to believe
that the president means just what he says
and that he will not be again candidate
| for the high office of ruler of France. His
| lateSt utteranceS upon the subject have
been so emphatic. in fact that it is now
| apparent that M. Loubet means it when
| he says that he Is getting old: that he Is
! very tired; that the Office can have no
| further charms for him. and that he feels
that he has earned a rest 1t should not be
forgotten that NJ. Loubet will be sjxty-
seven years Ola on the last day of this
year--he was born December 81 1898
and seven years more of office would
therefore take him well over the border
ine or three score years and ten. In fact
IL ne should stand for reelection il is hard
ly to be expected that he would live
through his term of office in the natural
order of things.
Plenty of Candidates.
Nine out of ten Frenchmen have a name
TO suggest as his successor, but there are
millions and tens of millions who would
like to be able to pick the>lucky person
The one qualification necessary for the
highest office in France is that he must be
a Frenchman just in the United States
lie must be a native of the country. He
need be neither senator nor deputy
and although he has always been a public
man and a man of well-known political
opinions, he need not necessarily be a poll
tlcian at ALL NJ Loubet was president of
the senate when in 1898 the national as
sembly elected him to be the president of
the republic, but he had filed high office
and been actively engaged in politics for
many years. Nevertheless his name was
not a household word in France at the
time Of his election--he was even almost
unknown to the average man of the street
Today the candidates may be divided into
three ctasses-candidates, dark horses and
the unexpected. OF the last class II is obvi-
| ously impossible to make even a passing
mention.
may be looked upon first favorite, partly
by reason of his office and partly because
he is known to be sound; known too not
to be too ambitious and because he is dis
tinctively decorative The election of NJ.
Fallieres-and this may be a point In his
favor against him, it all depends upon
the point of view-would not be displeasing
to the reactionary party He is large
landowner, and he has always been fond
of entertaining members of the older no.
bility of France. Nine. Fallieres is also
| very popular, and the question of the per-
sonality OF the first lady In the land natu-
rally becomes one of Importance. AL
| though President Loubet has outlived the
| feeling, Frenchmen have not forgotten the
| uproar which his election caused in 1898,
| and fears of anything of the same kind
| fears. for instance, of the repetition of the
Auteil race course scandal, for instance
would be sufficient to kill off the chances
of any presidential candidate next January
Next in favor to NJ. FalliereS comes M.
Leon Bourgeois. He has been the president
of the chamber of deputies; he has been the
| premier, and perhaps most important of all
! he was a member of NJ. Loubet's cabinet in
| 1892 and is known to have remained a
! close and intimate friend of the president
! ever since. NJ. Bourgeois is fifty-four and
| for man who is comparative young, his
| years of office make a surprising total.
! Yet he has never pushed his way to the
| front, and the knowing politicians say that
the difficulty which has always been ex-
| perienced in persuading NJ. Bourgeois to
| accept office will tell heavily in his favor
| at this time. About the only thing that
! has been urged against him is that he IS a
! widower and the country would be with
| out a first lady" but his friends have in
| timated that possibly this might not be an
! insurmountable difficulty, and there ore
rumors that he intends marrying once
| again.
| NJ Doumer, the president of the chamber,
| ranks third in the list of probable presl-
| dents He has been a minister of the in
terror and minister of finance and he IS
| regarded as a man of unusually pleasing
! personality. Besides, 1t is said that his
| political opinions-those of the radical
| publican school-are rather too clearly de-
| fined, for the president OF France Is sup
| posed to be, first and above all, things po-
! litically neutral.
Outside the Government.
| Among the outsiders may be mentioned
! NJ Bertoux, although he has probably lost
| ground by his resignation from the post of
war Office. He is genial man, and rich
| one, and is popular among the deputies,
| but the senators are said to fear that he is
! lacking in conservatism. NJ Paul Deschanel
| had a strong chance, indeed. in 1899. and
| had NJ. Loubet's presidency ended then or
| thereabout, NJ Deschanel would undoubt-
| eddy have been elected. 1t Is now believed
| that he has scarcely any chance. The only
reason that can be assigned is the pro-
| verbal fckleness of the French. He Is in
| the position of an athlete who has been
| overturned, though it is doubtful whether
| NJ. Deschane himself could assign any
| other reason for the fact that he is out of
| the running save the oft-repeated charge
| that republics are ungrateful.
The chances of NJ. Coombes are regarded
| as being rather poor Among the posi-
| bilities may be mentioned NJ Jean Dupuy,
| whose influence as the proprietor of lie
| Petit Parisien Is widespread, and who is
| known to be anxious for the office. But
/ before ii reaches the dark horses there are
many names to be considered, a few of
| which have been given.
| Everything that has occurred in the
| French political world recently has be-
! trayed the concern of the members of par
| Lament as to the electoral period. The
! separation bill and the %orkmen's pension
bill have been taking up the most of the
! time lately, All parties would be glad to
| be In position to carry back to their
! stituencies the news that one practical piece
| of legislation has been enacted by the
| French parliament. The nationalists have
| been just anxious to have something
done in the workmens pension bill as the
socialists, the leader of the nationalist
party seeking to have the measure ex-
/ tended q all wage parpers The measure