The Washington herald., 1918-04-19

Paul Bolo. otherwise Bolo Pasha.
has paid the penalty OF treason be-
fore a firing squad at vincennes,
where Msta Hari suffered the same
fate for spying last autumn And
thus. 1t 10 expected, has begun the
march 70 traitors death Of the band
which has been working against
France ever since the war began In
1914.
But the death Of Bolo will not be
SUFFICIENT in the minds of the French
people TO wipe out what has come 10
be known as "Boloism-" Bolo him
self was a genius, but not SUFFICIENT
OF a genius 20 have planned all Of the
moves which the band made and
which are coT-ing to light, one by
one. There are several others In La
Sante prison now who are accused Of
the same crimes for which Paul Bolo
has been executed.
When the deputy. Constant, attempt
ed to twist the tail OF THE Tiger In
the French chamber the other day
on the Bolo matter he found that he
had more Of a job on his hands than
he was equal to. In fact, the job had
such proportions that even the leader
OF Constants party. the Socialist Rem
audel, has not attempted Il seriously
since THE Tiger reassumed the
reins Of oface as Premier of France.
1t is not for nothing that Georges
Clemenceau has been dubbed Tho
Tiger" He Is as fearless as he IA
pitiless and as able a politician as
a
confidence OF the French people.
who see in him the force which
will put an end in France to the
plotting and the pull-back methods
which have been uppermost in
France since 1914.
Clemenceau has frequently been
accused OF being a destructive rath-
er than a constructive force in
French politics. Those who do not
like him call him the 'Wrecker OF
Ministries" but since he came into
office this time he has proved that
he Is as well able to construct and
maintain a strong cabinet as he IS
successfully to attack the structure
OF another. Clemenceau was never
very friendly toward the Ribot and
the Painleve cabinets. He did not
approve of many of their acts and
he particularly objected to the way
the censorship was used for inter
nal political purposes. He was the
owner and editor OF a daily paper
which he christened at its found
ing 'L'Homme Libre," which. trans
lated. means The Freeman" OF
course. he dealt in politics as all
French papers do to a great extent
However. he ran into the censor
ship once or twice and one day his
paper made its appearance with a
new name, 'L'Homme Enchainne,
which means The Unclaimed Man
Thus II continued until the day he
assumed the premiership last au'
tumn when IL reassUmed its old
name and has used II since
When he took office this time
Clemenceau made no formal state
ment on the censorship: he simply
allowed the French editors TO judge
for themselves by the change in his
papers name. Then to clinch the
matter he took into the cabinet as
minister OF foreign affairs the able
Stephen Pichon, editor of one OF the
largest and most influential papers
in Paris, lie Petit Journal"
Clemenceau, IT will be remem-
bered. spent several years OF his
youth in the United States. He had
a falling out with his family over
the plans for his future and he de-
cided to shift for himself. 1t was
not until the outbreak OF the
Franco-Prussian war that he re-
turned to France. By profession he
is q physician. but as he himself has
said. he Is a doctor without patients.
IN his life IN the United States
he naturally absorbed some Ameri-
can methods and ways and these
have stuck to him since he has re-
turned TO France. Shortly after he
became minister OF war. which job
he holds as well as president OF the
council, he took a trip through the
bureau de la presse. which Is the
French censorship organizati m. He
walked around and asked que. tons,
but made no comments. Neithe- did
he take any notes-apparently.
But within a few days things be
gan to happen. Officers who had
held down desk Jobs ever since the
beginning OF the war disappe AIRED
one by one. and in their stead sat
officers who had been in the
trenches a similar length Of time.
He did not go out with a brass band
and announce sweeping changes
They just happened, and while they
were waiting for them to happen
the officials OF the bureau de la
presse spent many bad quarter
hours. The effect OF The Tigers
acts was to arouse new enthusiasm
in the army because it demonstrated
that here was a man who was just
and who played no favorites.
Clemenceau has a mans job on
his hands right now II he is going
to rid France OF the hand of the
Hohenzollern. which has been feel
ing its way through underground
channels. As I said. Bolo is only
one: awaiting trial now are Joseph
Caillaux. one time president OF the
council; Turmel. a member OF the
chamber of deputies, who is ac-
cused of being Co-between for