Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-07
FRANCE IS RULED
| BY |TSPRES|DENT
FOR FIRST Time
Political Expert Declares Mil
Ierand Is Real Head
of Cabinet.
BY WILLIAM Il. NASH.


Copyright, 1920.
PARIS, October For the first
time in the history of the third repub-
lie France is being ruled by presi-
dent" said a political expert to me.
alexander Millerand and not Georges
Leygues is the real head of the pres
cnt cabinet He and II. Berthelot, the
undersecretary for foreign affairs,
completely overshadow the prime
minister. Whether this is a tempo
rary innovation or turning point in
French history remains to be seen.
Georges Leagues is an amiable poll
tician skilled in the ways of parlia-
ment. but without great executive eN-
perience. He can talk well on any
subject yet is authoritative in none.
He is pliable to stronger men, and at
the same time is able to defend him
self before the chamber. two charac-
tcristics essential for President Mil
Jerand's new scheme of .governme MT
1t was this combination which led him
to he chosen prime minister instead
of BRAND. Niviani or any other leader
of Importance.
Importance Is Great.
The importance of the new step can
hardly be exaggerated. 1t models the
French government on that OF the
United States. 1t makes the president
OF the republic his own premier and
reduces the cabinet to the role of the
departmental secretaries. Likewise it
lays the head of the state open to
political attacks.
'If the cabinet is now overthrown it
is the president. and not the premier.
who is responsible. According to the
logical theory, he ought then to re,
sign. though in practice that will
hardly be possible. In other words,
the president as the supreme arbiter
of political quarrels has disappeared.
He himself is now a partisan.
The permanence of this reform de-
sf,"nds on three essential conditions
First, President Millerand must con-
tinue to win success in his foreign
policy. In the second place, he must
be able to find new political chiefs to
carry out his views. and in the third
place he must create a presidential
party in France. The last condition
can stand without explanation. The
second means that political veterans
like CIemenceau. BRAND and Barthou,
who have acted as the heads of the
French state, will never consent to
come back to the premi ership in the
quality of puppets. In their class
must be included practically all the
big men in parliament. President
Millerand will have to find new men
to take their places.
Many Cabinet Changes.
ut is not reasonable to suppose that
one or even two cabinets can last
through whole presidential term.
The first condition, namely, sue
cess abroad, is the most important of
all. At present President Millerand's
prestige is SO great that the other
leaders dare not plot against him. The
victories-the Polish military success
and the settlement of the coal crisis
have popularized his name through
out France. Can he attain other
achievements as great as these? III
not. the tickle populace will soon for
get his former services, as has been
the case in all the history of the re-
public. If. on the other hand. he can
continue even for a short period, say
five or six months, then his power
may consolidate itself and htyYef6rfil
be made to triumph" 49,
Two Groups Of Supporters.
The passage of the plebiscite reso-
luton by the national assembly had
the effect of creating a countrywide
but hitherto somewhat formless agita-
tion for a union with Germany. 1t
has two distinct groups of supporters.
one based on real pan-Germanism and
the other on economic grounds
through the conviction that the soun-