The Washington herald., 1919-02-17
GREAT MEN OF AGE COMPRISE
PEACE CONFERENCE PERSONNEL
Poses Characteristic of Great Stress Under
Which Saturday Afternoon" Sessions
Labor-Confer Frequently.

Paris, Feb. 1s.-"The Saturday after
noon" sessions of the Peace Confer
ence have been In session long enough
for one to obtain bird 's-eye" view
Of the chief plenipotentiaries and said
bird 's-eye" view might be entitled a
study OF the characters Of the great
and the near-great
When all the automobiles have
drawn up before the DUAL d'Orsay,
and discharged their distinguished
passengers. and when the clock in the
famous and ornate clock chamber de-
picts the hands at the hour of 3,
practically all the great men of the
present age have assembled in their
respective places and taken their re-
spective poses for the afternoons Ia
Dor. or course. the Saturday sessions
are commonly known as the "oratori-
cal field days" wherein the delegates
give vent to the higher ideals which
the big f1ve' have outlined in secret
sessions during the week Neverthe-
less. they afford CLOSE ups" Of the
powers and therein they are interest
ing
Picture seldom Varies.
Tho picture nearly always is ths
same. The broad table at the far end
of the room is, geographically speak
ing. the most important, for beside it
are seated the delegates of the chief
powers, whereas the long tables which
spread along the length of the room
are graced by the representatives of
the smaller nations.
The far end" table always has had
President Wilson to the right of Pre-
mier Clemenceau. and Lloyd George,
the British premier. at his left. AND
these three men--a combination which
history will term one of the strongest
OF all times-cannot escape being the
cynosure OF all eyes.
The postures they adopt are nat
ural-natural because the sessions
usually are long enough to preclude
any attempt at pose. So. being mt
ural. one was able to see Woodrow
Wilson, President of the United
States, sunk bacF in his chair. some
times appearing interested, sometimes
plainly bored, and sometimes with a
touch OF ennui-this time being when
a fiorid orator. speaking French at a
gait too rapid for the President to
understand. holds the floor for an ex-
tended period.
Then. again-and this is a typical
statesrnanlike pose - the PreEident
would bury his face IN his hands and
listen in rapt attention when the in
terpreter of the conference, a French
lieutenant who Is a past master in the
art Of elocution, delivered with stir
ring intonatIon and gestures fervid, a
speech in English, the same speech in
French being delivered perhaps in a
monctonous monotone by its original
orator.
Poses of 'Tigcr of France
At times the President turned to
Premier Clemenceau and made a
remark in an undertone On some
of these occasions the Tiger of
France" smacked his right hand
on the table. let loose a peal of
laughter, and incidentally caused
one to wonder whether or not
Woodrow Wilson is a humorist.
NJ. Clemencau's pose as a general
thing. however, is as different as
are the elements. One minute he
will give profound attention to
what is being said. propping his
wise old head in his hands. look
ing through half closed eyellds,
and with his white walrus NOUS
tache acting as a great piece of
camoutiage as far as the movements
of his lips are concerned. Then, an
instant later, he has been the pic
ture of animation. despite his II
years, popping from President VIII
sons left ear to Lloyd Georges
right ear, and keeping both OF
those gentlemen busy listening to
him. At other times the old
Tiger" lapses into repoS0-albeit
a most susceptible repose. for a
second later may see him in the
role of a firebrand. barking forth
veritable stream of language,
sometimes in French and sometimes
in English.
David Lloyd George appeared to
be the best natured of the famous
triumvirate. He adops an easy. al
most lOugeful attitude, passes re-
marks constantly to Bonar Law at
his left, and his face wears the
amusing half-tolerant look of a
man whose thoughts, if spoken,
might be: We'll, this is the public
show; but let's hurry it up, for
we have real business to do when
We get together after while"
House the silent.
At President Wilson's right sat
the other members of the Ameri-
can delegation-Secreta Lansing,
who is a constant auditor of the
whispered utterances of his chief;
Col. House. who sits quietly by
and from external appearances
might be taken for a Japanese dele
gate inasmuch as he sees all, hears
all. understands all, and says moth
ing;" Gen. Bliss, the rugged old
war horse, endowed with more than
the usual amount of horse sense
and finally, the secretaries and
stenographers attached to the
American Mission.
At Lloyd Georges left is England 6
best timber. First is Bonar Law,
the cold, calculating statesman,
whose knowledge of business is
equal to his knowledge of diplo-
macy and who, therefore, is dou-
BILE valuable at a conference where
reparation. naturalization and the
like are prominent topics. Then
there is Barnes, labors representa-
tive, who jumped into politics by
walloping the man to his right
Bonar Law-back in 1906. Mr..
Barnes is another of the youngsters
of the CONFERENCE.-The 70 years
old-but he combines the beauties
of a retrospective mind with those
of a mind able to peer into the
future and to foresee what it holds
for humanity. Messrs. Barnes and
BOnar Law may have been political
enemies thirteen years ago, but
there's an "entente cordiale" be-
tween them now.