The sun., 1919-05-18
By N. p. D.

called 'old man Wnlle he was sun
baby; at least long before he was really
the grand old man" of England. But
if Clemenceau lives, like his father be-
fore him, to be 90, the title Of "ancient"
will never properly fit him; he is too
much the eternal boy.
The French call Clemenceau Minister
of Victory" Perhaps to Americans who
read Georges CIemenceGM, written by
rhapsodical Frenchman, Georges Le-
comte (because rhapsody is needed TO
convey what Clemenceau means to the
French people,, he will appear as the
cheer leader for France in the war with
Germany: making the people unendingly
sing the MdrseiAaise; animating them
with his unconquerable spirit, inspiring
them with his faith, communicating to
them his own passionate devotion for his
country and insisting upon every individ-
ual sacrifice that France might live.
One Of the most popular cartoons of
Bairnsfather (the "0ld BilT' artist) dur
ing the war represented two soldiers in
the trenches saying the Allies viii win, If
only ''they'-the folks at home-wiH hold.
1t was Clemenceau's special role In the
war to see that the French people -'held" ;
and to give the poilus in the trenches en-
couragcment, too, whether they needed it
or not. NJ Lecomte says that any day
during the war if Won went to the Palais
Bourbon and found the Deputies in the
dumps. 1t was because Clemenceau was
not there; on the contrary, if you went to
the front and found the officers and men
downhearted, IT was because Clemenceau
had not been around. Judging by the
movies, he would seem always to have
been at the front, quick stepping along
in his little, old hat and big coat. But
the truth is he was back and forth, al
ways on hand where a little cheering
seemed to be needed: in the Chamber
after reverse; at the front before a
critical advance.
The war meant more to Clemenceau
than to some others. '.Si leunesse sa=
Adll kDNN A1I vas lhG
frst-and is the last-of the professors
against the annexation of Alsace and
Lorraine. In the Assembly at Bordeaux
he swore eternal fidelity to fine stolen
provinces And it was because Clemen-
ceau knew what war with Germany
meant that he early made his profession
of faith: at is not enough to be heroes.
We must be conquerorsi" He directed all
his moral and physical strength not only
to the fighting but the winning Of the war.
Joffre turned back the Germans at the
Marine. Foch directed, to ultimate tn
umph, the greatest mass movement of
troops IN military history. But Clemen-
eeau was the moral leader, who cheered
the French people and the French army
to victory. NJ. Lecomte says: "Above
all, he thinks only of the war. He car
ried it on with the wild energy of man
who does not want his country to die"
The following picture of Clemencean Is
striking:
"Behold him standing at the helm in
the tempestl His sharp, calm eyes, so
intensely black in his white face, watch
through the deep, foaming waves for the
reefs and mines. He is wet by the spray.
But stanch under his little soft hat,
with a turned down brim, a hat which
has become the legend of the battlefield,
he stands firm.
Energetic, he tolerates only energy.
Full of confidence, he wants others to be
confident. Under the hardest blows OF
the sea, master of himself, humorous and
sardonic, he raises laugh by his pic
turesque jokes which hearten the strug-
Cling crew.
Then suddenly what words he speaks,
simply and profoundly human, Of con-
trolled emotion, which bring tears to the
hardest eyer'
The trenches adopted him. M. lie