The Washington herald., 1913-05-06

Copyright. 1913 by A. %. Jacohson.)
NJ. Constans, the veteran statesman OF
France. whose death is reported, at the
advanced age of eighty Is best known to
history as the man who brought about
the downfall of Gen. Boulanger, the
pinchbeck dictator, who, having won
over the bourgeoisie of Paris in the late
'se's of the last century, threatened to
transform the destinies of his country.
A handsome man. a perfect figure on
horseback, the idol of rhe masses, yet
Boulanger proved no match for the
astute and intensely patriotic Constans.
the blunt, bluff, and stocky Minister Of
the Interior of that day, who stamped
out the public demonstrations with an
iron hand.
His master stroke was to rid France
peacefully of Boulanger at the height
Of the excitement, and when the opera
pouffe generals partisans were gaining
ground each day. N. constants was wise
enough to foresee that the arrest of the
general might lead to a revolution, and
therefore he had recourse to an ingen-
ious ruse. Having signed a warrant for
the generals arrest, he placed that doc
ument in plain view on his desk while
receiving one of Boulangers intimate
friends. who called at the ministry on
business. During the interview Nj. Con-
STAINS was called out of the room by his
private secretary. The distinguished Wis
itor, left alone, saw the warrant. and
much perturbed left the Office hurriedly.
Next morning the news spread through
Paris that Boulanger had fled across the
frontier. The ridicule showered upon the
fugitive over his cowardly act in leaving
his followers to face the wrath of the
populace marked a speedy end of Bou-
langerism.
Flaneur readers perhaps will recollect
that Boulanger, '1e beau sapreur,," as
his admirers were wont to call him, after
the handsome Murat, of the Napoleon;c
epoch, after leading an obscure life at
Brussels for some years, shot himself to
death in the cemetery of that city beside
the grave of his beloved Marguerite. the
only sensible thing the Baker CBou-
Ianger-baker) ever did in his life as
Kladderadatsch, the famous satirical
weekly, put it at the time
NJ. Barthou, the new French premier.
began his career as an under secretary
in the Meline Cabinet. to which France
indirectly owes so many strikes and riots.
His evolutions, involutions, and convolu-
those of an acrobat He shifts about
very often. but theLimits around which
he evolves are fixed. Outside of the
tastes of a collector of rare books. man.
uscripts, engravings. and curios. his one
aim as a public man is to hold trump
cards by no matter what means
A strong president, who is bound at all
times to have his own way, means A
weak premier. England had a strong
81 - aoi.v
mated, in George III. No strong cabine,
or prime minister was possible during his
long reign. Therefore NJ. Barthou may
well suit the combine that brought NJ.
Poincare into the Elysee. When Henri
Quatre said that Paris ''vaut bien uAe
messe and had sucked dry the Hugue-
not orange, he showed himself a typical
Bearnais, and so lis Barthou one. The
Bearnais is mobile, clever, and pleasant
to deal with. But no matter how init
mate one might be with him. he is the
last person to oblige one. however trif1ins
the favor, unless one can be Of use to
him.
The Norwegians used to complain that
the first four Bernadottes had this char
acter, especially the first of that dynasty.
He would never betray any one, although
he has often been charged with having
done so. But he did have a knack of
slipping away from close associates when
lie could be of use to theme if they could
be of no further use to himself. His
son and grandson had the collecting in
stinct and tastes which go to make M.
Barthou's residence in the Avenue d'Antin
an interesting and valuable museum.
The new premier possesses both fluency
and versatility. He started in politics
as an underling to M. Meline. the panegy-