The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-11-10
|CLEMENCEAU is
COMING TO U. S.
FOR new IDEAS
Tiger of France Happy on Eve
of His Departure.
'1NeVer Much of Chap for the
Past" He Says.
get U. S. VIEW ON EUROPE
Expects to Enlarge Own Judg-
ment of Situation.
FayOrS Idea of League But Will
Offer Us Advice.
'|Never Much of a Chap for the
Past" He Says.
GET U. S. VIEW ON EUROPE
Expects to Enlarge Own Judg-
ment of Situation.
fnr the Associated Press.l

(By the Associated Press.)
Paris, Nov. 1O.-Georges Clemen-
ceau sails away for America tomor-
row, happy in the spirit of adventure.
Today he was gay-interested and In.
teresting-keen to be off. I Considers
ing his great age-he was 81 last Sep-
tember-the eagerness with which the
Tiger of France anticipates the ex-
periences that are soon to come to
him in the United States is quite
touching to those who see him and
talk with him.
What impresses his American call
ers the most is his youthfulness OF
outlook. He talks of the present and
the future in the manner of man in
middle life. He refuses to be reminis-
cent.
His Third Visit.
'I was never much of a chap for
the past" NJ. Clemenceau remarked
to the correspondent who inquired
about the former premier's earlier
visits to the United States. This is not
his first trip to America, as is CONF
monty supposed, but his third.
my father, who was exiled by Ma
poleon III, thought it would be good
thing for me to go to America and I
went" Clemenceau said. II had been
following events of your Civil war and
my sympathies were with the north.
Almost Immediately after my arrival.
however, 1 went to Richmond. There
met good many southern people
and soon found out how delightful
how simply charming they were"
Saw His First War.
Clemenceau paused a moment. and
then with gesture, went on. Short
ly before my arrival, Grant had taken
the city and / saw for the first time
what war and bonbardment meant.
Then 1 went to Washington and later
out west as far as Chicago, and from
there to Buffalo, and after a while 20
Boston,
In conversation CIemenceau, seldom
alludes to his subsequent experiences
in America, first a young gentle
man Of leisure. reading extensively
for two years in the libraries of New
York, and then as a teacher in a girls
school in Connecticut. 1t was during
his days as an instructor at the girls
school that Clemenceau met the young
woman who became his wife.
Spent -Four Years Here.
At that time she was under age and
her guardian refused to give his con-
sent to a civil marriage only. insisting
on the church's benediction. Clemen-
ceau stoutly declined to recognize the
church as essential to a wedding SO
he went back home still unmarried.
That was in 1869. He had spent four
years in America. The next year he
crossed the Atlantic again and was
married to his sweetheart at a civil
ceremony.
His stay in America gave the Tiger
that knowledge of English which has
been one of his most useful accom-
plishments in his long public career
Always he has taken pleasure in the
language and its literature.
Intentions Are Good.
MY intentions in going to America
are good. 1 feel sure of that the for
mer premier said. Il feel with con-
clearness how &c will be to
the material and moral interests of the
United States to examine European
difficulties with other conceptions
than those they have at present"
Clemenceau expects to enlarge his
own judgments of European situations
by putting his ideas into contact with
American views. he does not go 10
New York with his mind made mp
and closed as to what would be the
the United States. France and Europe
generally.
No Advice on League
'T shall talk about the league Of
nations, but L have no specific advice
to offer" he remarked Il believe in
the idea Of the league. The world
must have something Of the sort.
do not say that the league as it now
exists is what Americans should
adopt. 1t does not satisfy me, but I
am for the aspirations"
CIemenceau is an early riser. Every
day he spends an hour taking gym
nastic exercises. He does not drink
wine, nor does he smoke and cat
heavily. Those meeting him for the
first time are always struck by two
things-the cloth cap, shaped like a
priests biretta. which he wears In
doors, and his invariable practice OF
wearing gloves when receiving visi-
tors