Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-05-08
PAPA 'l0FFR' ! IS
SIMPLE ] SINCERE / { Err
Savior Of France CaptiVatss All
Washington Correspondents.
"spEED up IS HIS MESSAGE

Delivered With Quiet Emphasis, Which
Brings War Home to American Off.
ciais-We Must Profit by Experience
Of England and France, He Asserts,
and Not Repeat Their Mistakes.
"Papa" Joffre, the French call him.
and it is not possible to get closer to
the truth Of mans personality than
does an entire nation when it invents
such title as this for one it has lived
close to and loved. Papa" Jofrre he
shall be.
One thinks Of Mr.. Balfour as typ
ically British in an easy, card indexing
way, or of NJ. viviani as typically
French, or of NJ. Hovelacque- French
man speaking English SO polished that
not six men in Washington can match
tt-as typicafiy cosmopolitan, in the
best sense Of the word, but Marshal
.1offre does not lend himself to any of
!, these ready classifications. He IL q
wonderfully gentle and simple man,
wholly lacking self consciousness.
Take the quality Of self conscious
ess. ! The Anglo-Saxon always has it
with him. He stares feebly at ceilings
and exercises the devil with strange,
meaningless motions Of his hands, but
himself he can never forget. The
Frenchman has erected self conscious
ness into the art Of hiding self con-
seriousness, an art which conceals art.
Papa" Joffre has no need Of art. He
wears his uniform in such way that
you forget the uniform. Do your best
and you cannot keep your mind on the
fact that he is the victor Of the Marine.
He has never read the ''art OF sales
manship." He puts no "punch" into
his manner. There is no studied hyp-
notism In his glance; no emphasis IN
his words, no compelling energy in his
handclasp. Voice, grasp, smile and all
are gentle and quiet. There is nothing
professional about him, neither as SOL
dier nor victor, but an easy natural
humanness, which the loving French
have identified as paternal. There is
no occasion to quarrel with their judy
ment.
A Figure Of Strength.
The original authority Of the man Is
the authority Of immense vital re-
sources, for there is no mistaking the
strength and endurance Of the power
full figure, with its great shoulders and
deep chest; the large, broad head, COW
cred with coarse, strong hair, once
blond. now white. Big, bristling eye
brows contribute to the suggestion of
abundant vitality. The reserves Of
strength are there, not to be conscious
" exhibited nor to be drawn upon on
every light occasion.
This Is the man whose presence in
Washington is doing more than any one
other thing to bring the war home to
the officials there and whose address,
delivered to about seventy newspaper
men the other morning will do more
than anything else that has been said
or done to make the American people
aware of the great task they have un-
dertaken in behalf of civilization. The
moral OF what Marshal Joffre said is
that every moment is precious, and that
is the moral Of the French and British
visit. Cautiously concealed as 1t is in
the absence Of criticism and in the
generous bestowal Of praise, the object
OF this visit from our allies is to
speed us up. War, like time and tide,
waits for no man. It is full OF sur.
priSes.
Washington "Spesds Up"
1t Is given to no one to know what
tomorrow's battlehelds or tonorrow's
diplomacy or tomorrow's scientific
laboratories may bring forth. That Is
the message. These commissioners
come from nations that were slow.
Therefore they may not criticise. but
down in their hearts they know, too,
that their nations blunders afford us
no excuse. The whole process Of get
ting ready may be speeded up now
that the way to speed has been pain
fully learned abroad. As Marshal
Joffre said in response to a question,
with the French and the British ex-
ample to help, your soldiers may be
got ready more rapidly than the Brit
fish soldiers were"
mo moment must be lost" That is
the message these representatives from
France and England bring. and the
message is Enthusiastically being heed
ed. There is a different feeling in
Washington since they arrived There
is an infinite distance still to 60. but
we are on the road.
.Joffre came up upon the newspaper
firing line with that ease which only
simplicity possesses. To get things I'M
mediately on perfectly human basis
he shook hands ut once with every one
al around. finding an artless word or
two to say with every one whose
newspaper connections suggested any
thing to his mind, as, for example, an
enthusiastic word OF praise to an Aus
trnlian correspondent upon the brav-
cry Of the Australian troops. He shook
hands with an economy of effort that
must mean much on a handshaking