Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-19

- ~ .<1s n u - n ~ - IL
age he might be a considerable time in
such n condition that he would not be
able to give his personal attention TO
tho completion of the Peace Conference s
work
owing to the fact that NJ. Clemenceau
had In hand, personally, certain subjects
now under negotiation, Il follows that
so far as these are concerned, there
must be "A suspension of activity for the
time being As n matter OF fact, these
subjects were of vast Importance. as ar
fecting the whole plan OF the confer
cnce's operation. inasmuch as they re-
lated TO the consummation of an early
treaty of peace.
There had already been some discus
sion of this situation privately between
the Premiers of the various powers ana
IL is believed that all were in accord
regarding the wisdom Of speedy action
with the exception of Premier Clemen-
ceau himself The French Government,
while desirous of an early peace, doubted
whether the moment had yet arrived
when this could he arranged without
great danger of sacrificing the fruits of
victory, and It had pointed out to the
other powers what were regarded as
grave omissions on the part of Germany
to comply with the terms OF the arinis-
tice.
Georges Clemenceau has been one of
the leading statesman of France for dec
AIDES. but is was not until the critical
stages of the great war came and he
took the reins, that he became the
world-renowned figure that he is today.
with the war. at least the actual
fighting. ended. NJ. Clemenceau has con-
tinued at the head of the French Gov
eminent during the trying peace making
period. Head of the French delegation
in the Peace Conference. he has been
an outstanding figure in the deliberations
Of that body. over whose sessions he
presdes
or an extremely vigorous and aggres-
sive personality. Premier Clemenceau.
while attracting to himself a large and
warmly loyal following, has as we'll
determined and outspoken opponents. At
every turn Of affairs in the Parliament,
however. he has been able TO wear down
the opposition to him, and just before the
opening Of the Peace Conference he and
his administration were given a striking
vote of confidence by the Chamber OF
Deputies.
Premier Clemenceau, while formerly
classed as a radical. has come to be
known in later years as representative
rather of the more moderate elements in
the French body polite, and it is in this
phase of his activity that he has been
opposed by more extreme elements in
the French political world, who have
accused him Of giving his policies too
much of an imperialistic trend He was
credited at first with being opposed to
the plan for the league of nations in it's
broader phases, expressing a preference
for balance of power secured by
France, Great Britain, the United
States and Italy His representatives.
however. have joined freely in the work
of framing the covenant of the league
and. with some reservations, expressed
approval of 1t as it was laid before
the conference.
In her hour Of need November. 1917.
when the defeatist propaganda had
sapped much Of her zeal for war, France
turned for the second time to the man
who had torn, clawed and bitten his
way TO power and named Clemenceau
the Tiger" premier
lie sustained the nation in the most
trying days of the war. crushed hoIo
Pasha and other defeatist agents, and
led France TO victory in the war.
Whatever may be said of Georges
Clemenceau, no one has ever doubted
AAiS pau iAONAoALl. LIS every dCL OF con-
struction or destruction has been in the
interest of what he considered the well
fare of France and his power has been
unhesitatingly welded through his
fearless pen. His newspaper, L'Homme
Ii re (The Free Nam was suspended
early in the war because he refused to
suppress certain passages in an article
He promptly changed the name to
L'HomTrle Enchaine (The Chained Mani
but the paper later reappeared under it's
old title. cIemenceau's name now ap-
pears as Founder" instead of political
Director as heretofore. since he will
not write for the paper while he remains
premier.
A friend once asked, him how
many ministries he had overturned,
and Clemenceau replied pleasantly
that he was quite unable TO recall
the number. Sometime after this
he was made Prime Minister himself
That was in 1906, when ne was sixty
five years old. Here are a few of the
names which he has won during his
forceful career: "Wrecker of Cabinets"
"Overthrower of Ministries" The
stormy Petrol of French Politics" THE
Red Indian" and the king Maker"
This last appellation, however, does not
Eeem TO have been very appropriate,
since It has been his business to undo
rather than to make kings.
Clemenceau married an American
girl--at one time his pupil during his
exile here--and one of the favorite cpl.
thets Of his opponents has been THE
Yankee School-teacher.
lie fought six duels. most of them
picturesque. Clemenceau Is a brilliant
writer, the author of several books on
philosophy, novels and plays