New Britain herald., 1918-12-27
By Iruing X. Bacon

By Iruing K. Bacon
E'ocH was the mighty arm which
snlote the German and forced
them to sue for peace; but the head
which energzed that arm and gave
1t power to strike was the astonish-
ing Clemenceau, the prime minister
and war lord of France.
For forty-seven years had Georges
Benjamin Clemenceau nursed the
sacred flame of protest against the
= German domination of Alsace and
Lorraine, the provinces which Ger
many Wrested from France And
during all that long period his one
dream and hope had been that he
might live to see them restored to
their rightful country.
lie was thirty when, in 1871, as the
leader of the Radicals in the National
Assembly, he opposed the peace which
gave to Germany SO large and beau
ttful part Of France. He was seven
ty7oeVen when, in 1918, as Prime Minis.
ter, he dedicated the peace which re-
Incorporated with the French soil the
provinces that had been torn away.
On March s, 1918, before the Ger
mars had begun their second big
drive, but when many in France were
clamoring for peace, he said in tho
Chamber Of Deputies:
II have but one ambition, and that
! is to serve my country My whole
policy is to preserve the country's
morale. In all wars he is the con-
queror who, for a quarter of an hour
longer than his adversary. can believe
he is not beaten. Everybody desires
peace-myself like everybody else
but 1t is not by bleating about peace
that we shall destroy the Prussan
militarism."
Americans Are Coming
And again addressing the Chamber
Of Deputies on June 5, 1918, when
the Germans new big drive toward
Paris was under way and the Social
lists in the chamber were denouncing
Clepenceau for the disaster which
appeared TO be Inevitable, he said
calmly:
The moment is perilous; but the
courage of our soldiers is equal to the
situation, and they have good chiefs.
Our duty is very simple. Our
resolve must be to carry on the fight
TO the end. The Americans are
arriving. We are stalking the game
upon the help Of the Americans.
Our electives and those of Eag-
Land are being exhausted as are those
of the Germans. The struggle now
turns upon Americas participation
Have you not the patience to wait?
> If l have not done my duty, turn
me out. If I have your confidence,
let me complete the work which our
dead have begun"
And then, on October IS, 1918, when
he had completed the work" and the
victory was won, he once more ad-
dressed the Chamber, which this time,
hailed him as the Deliverer Of
France"
Our victory is not a victory of re-
venge," he said; "our victory and the
ton of civilization and the emancipa-
fion of human conscience"
Never since the time of Richelieu
has France been so loved by any of
her sons with a love so romantic as
by Clemenceau, is the testimony Of
those who admire him.
An American writer, who appears
n cd hi Ii,
on March 20, 1916, when Clemenceau
was chairman of the French Senate's
War and Foreign Affairs Committees,
said
= AT twenty-five he (ClemenceaU had
the appearance of a man of fifty. AT
seventy-five, his haggard face and bald
head sometimes look as if suddenly
revealed from the Surroundings of the
grave. The cynical smile on his lips,
speaking of establishment, complete
and irrevocable, is the farewell of an
old, old man to his youthful dreams.
But the mention of France trans
forms the face. The black eyes be-
come infamed, alive with passion and
fanatical devotion, as he says:
NO Slght or countries ana OF men,
no grace of EARTH no splendor of the
heavens could wear away from my
heart the love of my native soil. BY
it's charm 1 was possessed, its charm
still holds me. This is our land; here
our fathers sleep in peace and here,
too, we shall sleep when our days
work is done.'"
Romance and Ambition Unite
America has a particular incentive
to regard this man with a more than
common interest. He lived in this
country several years; practiced medi-
cine for a while in New York; taught
school in Stamford. Conn, and mar
ried an American girl.