The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-13
uithont a nilot and nnmanageable-was

without a pilot and unmanageable-was drifting rapidly toward destruction
 Those who have lived in France within the last few days and have been prlVll- eged to peep behind the scenes know now imminent and deadly was the peril, now very near the republic was to shipwreck. The phrases "coup de 'etat" and dictator ship were whispered as possible soiu- tions. But if the present regime mas Weathered the storm it is due 10 M Poil- care responding to the imperative cal ol national duty. He set to work, and wlth- in 10 hours had brought under his leader ship a ministerial team which may De counted upon in the conduct of public af- fairs to place national above private anu individual interests.
 Now in his fifty-second year, M. Pom care is broad shouldered, well set up man. with a moustache and short beard streaked with gray. He has frahh, opeh face and chin which. if 1t means any, thing at all means determination ana firmness. He was born at Var-leDuc, near the eastern frontier, and his earnest recollections were the bitter ones or Prus- sian Uhlans invading his country.
 Like so many other French statesmen, M Poincare was in early life Jourhal- ist He studied for the bar, passed ms examination and soon afterward became chef d,l cabinet to the then minister or agriculture This probably caused the future premier to turn his attention to notifies for in 1887 he was elected deputy for his native department of the Mouse.
 He sat for his constituency many years, and until his election to the senate.
 Coming to Paris, NJ. Poincare proceeded to fight his way to a place in the fro" rank of avocats. Success came to him after 10 years of arduous work, and his name was coupled with that of Waldecll- Rousseau. then the greatest lawyer in France Since then he has. in his profess sional career. never looked back At the age of 32 he received his first portfolio, that of public instructor in the Charles Dupuy cabinet. This Banjamin of French cabinet ministers in the following year found himself called upon to take charge of the finances of France. While in of fee he was noticed for his suavity of maner, his love of work. his attention to details and his positive genius for ad- ministration.
 When the whirlwind of the affaire Drey fus and the subsequent storm raised by war on religious associations broke over France, NJ. Poincare stood aside and refused ministerial office. While France politically was being torn by bitter struggle he practically abandoned active politics and devoted himself to his work at the bar.
 In politics he has always been a mod crate republican, with rooted objection to the fanatical and fantastical nostrums of the extreme left, which has had the ef- feet, unfortunately. of setting French men at the throat of Frenchmen. He was a minister of finance in the Sarrien cab met, but a conflict of opinion with his chief concerning Poncares proposed scheme of income tax led to his resigna- tion. On the fall of the Briand cabinet M, Poincare was asked by NJ. Fallieres to undertake the formation of a ministry, but he refused.
 In private and domestic life the premier is anything but recluse. In his me house near the Bos de Boulogne he en- tertains largely, but all his books and his family and his works of art find a prominent place in his affection. He is es- sentially man of the world, who goes everywhere and sees everything. He does