The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-13
PO|NCARE IS THE
 MAN OF THE HOUR The New French Premier Is
 Greatly Liked IS VERY VERSATILE Public Opinion Welcomed Him Warm ly-Greatness Seems to Have Been Thrust Upon Him.
 Has High Ideals
IS VERY VERSATILE

Paris. February 12.-(Special.)-M. Ray
 mond Poncare, the new premier oi
 France. is undoubtedly the man or the
 hour and the most talked-of citizen or tis country today. In him are centered
 oil that one understands by French cul-
 ture dignity and charm of manner lie
 is essentially the chevaher payaro oi
 modern republican France, sans peur e' sans reproche. In his intense and never
 fsuinq study of all things that make
 fo,. perfection, M. Poincare would sureiS
 have satisfied the exactins heart or Mat-
 thew Arnold himself.
 That august and learned body, the
 French academy, for the third time has
 s,nnlied the third republic with a premier.
 The first was the Due de Broglie, in lsi5'
 then there was M. de Freyainet, Tn ls9o'
 hut it is true that he was premier nrst'
 becoming academcan while stlil Tn or
 6ce. Now there Is M. Poincare, whom
 contemporary writers regard as the most
 versatile Frenchman of his day
 If NJ. Poncare had not practiced law
 he might have become a scientist as emil
 nent as Bertholet, or an academician as
 
 Never. perhaps, since the birth of the third republic, has public opinion eN-
 nressed itself so clearly and so warmly in it's welcome of a new premier as 1t
 has done with Raymond Poincare. lie Is A personality that counts Tor much and commands respect. In tTance ne
 stands for high ideals Of a government for honesty and infiexibality of purpose. One of the foremost advocates Tn france, and one whose income from ms legal nractice is correctly described as enor- nous. M Poincare has still found time 10 devote himself to the service of his coun- try. His present greatness has been none or his own seeking. It has been thrust upon him. On the political stage he mas ever avoided the limelight, and he has never been known to talk for more effect. In the halls of justice or in his place In the senate no voice commands more atten- tion than his He is eloquent and learned in speech, his periods are well rounded and his phrases impeccable. As an acad- en1ican he long ago won fame. To listen tr Poincare is to listen to one of the greatest of living masters of the French l language.
 Morally. he is strong and great. If he had so wished it he might have been long ago premier, but he happens to be one of the few puDnc HIGH III 'iaiieo who do not look to politics as the most lucrative, and therefore the highest goal of earthly ambition. He has always care | fully stood aloof from plotting Tor per sonal aggrandizement and from the uh- worthy intrigues which in recent years have so blackened the escutcheon or the | republican party in France. The preatn | of scandal has never touched nm, II | he nreviously refused power it was chiefly | because he despised the narrow parochial spirit of politicians and the bitter strife of auarreling political entities,
 l His ideal was always a high one. NO l one better than he understands the crying need of Trance. weary of strife and dis | sension, for a government that Will De al once strong and national. that will repre- sent the people and not the party, and one that will make for union and not weakness and vacillation. when his coun- try unmistakably called him, NJ. Poincare ! felt be could no longer hesitate. Her 1 need was a crying one. there was min isterial deadlock, the ship of state was