The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-12

betH Hittue upon nlfl py lne isHeirh pfecs' Ono well known halfpenny journal rep resented Caillaax as "a determined ad-
 versary of reiision,' and then mentioned Brfand Bs sort of defender Of the faithful" To anyone with a mere nod ding acquaintance with French politics this is a ludierous misstatement of facts. and one can only wonder at the stupen- dous ignorance Of the writer.
 reference to any year book would have informed him that Briand dis established the church, confiscated It's property, drove away the Sisters of Mercy from the hospitals and abolished the word God in all the public school manuals. This Is not surprising on the part of a man who made his po- litical debut as an anarchist, preached the doctrine of general strike, and l then deserted his former companions
 when he rose to power. His advice to l the soldiers to use their weapons on
 their officers first" sowed the seeds of | that military discontent which has only | been appeased after years of patient ef-
 fort. The great battle of the coming
 elections will resolve itself into a fight between these two men, but the Issue Is hardly doubtful. Briand has
 too many "holes In his armor' to stand
 | any chance of success.
 | The present unpopularity of Call | laux dates from the time of his ne-
 gotiations with Germany over the Mo
 rocco affair. when he ceded a DOT l tion of the French Congo in return | for free hand in Morocco The pub
 lie did not see any further than the
 deal itself which appeared to be "un- patriotic" If they had known Caillaux | a little better they would have under stood, as the Germans did little later.
 that the French premier had got the 1 best of the bargain. The territory ceded 1 to the Germans was, as they admitted in their newspapers, absolutely worth less for colonizing purposes. But there was another and more urgent reason ! for coming to terms with their formid- l able neighbors. Germany was threat ening war and the French army was disorganized and seethng with dis | content. It's state at that time may be 1 judged by the present when, after two years of ceaseless efforts, General Mai
 trot makes the following statement in the Echo de Paris
 "Our heavy artillery and field guns are inadequately supplied With ammu- hilton. It would be impossible to use them for more than a few hours. The food supply of Paris would give out in two days Even the supply of uni forms has given out and many young
 soldiers have been obliged to buy their own winter great coats. Morally France
 is prepared for war but the famous
 "buttons on the gai9ers' are still miss
 ing If war had broken out two years ago France would have suffered an IT. reparable disaster This was averted
 solely by CaillauX's keen diplomacy.
 When the French realize this and learn to appreciate his efforts to improve
 the social conditions of the mass of
 the people they will probably want to
 ise a statue to him.
 1 In public life the former "Ministre
 des Finances" is born fighter-a quality which is apparent in his round hoo sebi in h he has another and very charming per ! sonality which requires the communi- cative warmth of friendship to bring
 to the surface. H1e is seen at his best in the character of country gentle
 man during the parliamentary recess.
 He spends his holidays in his native town where he possesses a fine old an- cestral mansion built by his great
 grnndfather He entertains on large scale, and secs to it personally that every one of his guests has a good
 time. He is good shot, plays very
 fair game of tennis and can drive a car with the best. He always puts in a few hours work after his guests
 have gone to bed, but Is always up first
 D the morning.
 In his public capacity ne never hedsed
 himself round with the army of flunkeys
 which block up the entrance to other
 government offices. His working day
 
 and anyone who had a definite object in ; calling could have 15 minutes of his time 7 by applying for it a few days in advance. Just before the tragedy the writer was t down for 11.15 a. m. and was shown in to ], the stroke of the clock.
 , 'I represent" said CaillauX, in speak Q ing of his political views. "all the differ 7 ent groups of the radical party which
 range from the independent socialists tt the republican liberals. Our policy at home, is to carry out the social re- forms which are dear to the heart oi B every liberal government. not by increas- ing the burden of taxation, but by pre- } venting the waste of the public funds in 9 other directions. Economy first reforms X afterwards. is my motto. l have in- g stituted a system of checking the accounts Q of every public department which will | effectually prevent waste When our ] fiscal system has been entirely remodelled n by the institution of a progressive in 8 come tax and tax on capital we may . hope to see the finances of this country = on sound basis.
 f Am I in favor of the three years i military service law? I am in favor of :. it as long as it is necessary for the de- = fense of my country, but I should be t very glad if we could safely return to
 our two years system, as an additional { years service Is q grevous burden on { the industrial and agricultural population. e Both these classes of men are overworked, = and although I cannot force private em-
 ployers to follow my example I am glad to say I have been able to institute
 the Saturday half holiday system in all
 government factories.
 With reference to religion allow me
 to protest against the statement made
 by an English journal that I am its de
 termined enemy Nothing is further from the truth A religious belief. adapted to the character of the people, Is indis- pensable to every nation, but l am an
 adversary of the interference of the
 church in state affairs This is what
 We call 'clericalism' in France and I am entirely hostile to 1t. I need hardly point ' out to you the state of those countries ; where the church is political power. In reply to a question about the forth ' coming elections Caillaux said that he re- ; lied on the strong common sense of the 2 l man in the street. and the man on the \ land"
 Callaux, who speaks English with re- ' | markabe fluency. concluded our little
 talk by saying, 'I am glad to have ar p opportunity of telling the American peo ' pie what I stand for. and of correcting ' some of the false ideas about me whicl y have been disseminated by part of tho English press"
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