New-York tribune., 1919-12-01
CZemenceau' S Victory
Bv Frank II. Simonds

Clemenccau's victory, almost as com
pletc as his military triumph of year
ago, definitely takes France out Of the
list of countries in which Bolshcvism
remains q peril. The men who put in
ternational socialism above France in
tho years of tho war and have valued
Bolshevism more dearly than order
since have been defeated. So also
have been the following Of Callaux,
who were at all times ready to make q
"defcatist" peace with Germany and
almost accomplished the ruin of their
country.
The victory in the recent election
confirms the success of the war; France
has wiled to live, in the presence of
domestic dangers, exactly as she wiled
to live at the Marine, in the presence
Of the German. The majority which
will dominate the Chamber of Deputies
is too strong to offer any immediate
or even remote hope to the foes Of
ordered freedom and the friends of
Russian madness.
There remains the question as to
who will succeed the man whose per
sonal triumph is disclosed in the result
Of the election; for no one can now be-
lievc that with his work done, order at
home assured following the achieve
ment Of victory abroad, Clemenceau
will be tempted to revise his ante cleo
tion pledge Nor is it much more likely
that he will consent to succeed Pon-
care in an Office which has never
yet failed to extinguish the man who
held it,
AS successor to Clemenceau two
names are at once mentioned: Mile
rand, the present representative o.
France in Alsace Lorraine, and Tardieu,
who ably looked after the military and
financial interests of his country in the
United States during the latter part Of
the war, in which he served as captain
at the front for conside rable period.
Of these two men Millerand is by far
the more experienced as a parliament
tartan, and he is much the elder. In
two Cabinets he has been Minister o.
War: once before 1914, when he con
tributed materially to insuring neces-
sary reforms and heorganizations,
which proved their vaaue when war
came, and again, for az time early in
the war, Millerand held his old port
folio but this time his influence was
far less, for actual control had passsd
naturally, to Joffre.
But for many years Millerand has
been man sof recognized ability.
patriotism and dscharacter, and the most
difficult and successful of his achieve
ments has been his recent service in
Alsace- Lorraine, where he has com
bincd good sense and decision. The
confusions and Misunderstanding in
evitable in the case of q transition as
sharp as that from German to French
mary mistakes have been remedied by
subsequent intelligent action.
1t is true of Clemenceau, as it is
equally true of President Wilson, that
he is not overfond of having big men
in his immediate circles; Mllerand in
Alsace and Tardieu in America and
latterly, Jonnart in the devastated re
gions have been the three exceptions
to the respectable mediocrity of his
colleagues in his Cabinet, and the
selection of Millerand aroused not a
little surprise when | was in Paris
But the necessity was great and Mil
lerapd happened to be one of the rare
Frenchmen with whom Clemenceau
had never fought political duel.
AS for Tardieu, he is, relatively
speaking, new il the political world
although as foreign editor Of the
"Temps" he has been familiar with in
tcrnational affairs for years. Next to
Clemenceau he has been the most con-
spicuous Frenchman in the peace nego-
tiations; his advice and his sugges-
tons hav,, ntributed much to the
character of the treaty itself and he
is in many ways the logical heir to the
Clemenceau political estate. On the
other hand, he is still rather young to
have a Cabinet and it is by no means
unlikely that he will make an alliance
with Millcrand and occupy in the new
Cabinet something of the same infuen-