NEW FRENCH CABINET

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1374, 27 February 1912, Page 2

NEW FRENCH CABINET

STRONG MINISTRY FORMED BY M. POINCARE,

TWO EX-I»I!F,XtJERS

On January i:i M. Poineare succeeded II tunning a new French Cabinet. The Ministry is as follow.,:— M. l'oineare, Premier and Foreign Af'airs; 11. .lSriand, Vice-President uf the 'abinet. and Justice; 11. Stoe:,', Interior; M. Millcrami, War; .M. Deleave, MnrimJ; M. Klotz, Finance; il. .lean Dnpuy, Public Works; -M. Pams, AsvicuHnro; M. r.ebrun, Colonics: .M. Leon Bourgeois, Labour; .M. (luisthau, Education; 11. Fernand David, Commerce; 11. Leon I.larard, Fine Arts; Jl. Chaumct, Posts and Telegraphs; il. Itesnard, Under-Sec-letary oi' Finance. Of "the twelve Ministers eleven havi: lieid office before. The new member is M. David, who is deputy for the llauto Sarnie. lie is a large land-owner and a barrister. The Paris correspondent of the "Westminster Gazette" writes: The Cabinet of 11. Poiucaro has licen called "the growl Ministry," like'that, formed by Uambet.ta ill 1S&1 —which ■ la-stel hardly three months; may the new Cabinet have a longer career! It is certainly an edifying spectacle that former "Premiers" ami other important leaders in the Parliament liave accepted to play second fiddle iu the future .Ministeri.il concert. We should hasten to congratulate tliem, and hope that there will bo no rivalry anion;: stars. The l'oineare family lias recently won a considerable reputation, like. tlu Pascals in the seventeenth century. 31 Henri Poineare, first cousin of the pre sent Premier, is considered as the great est mathematician since Blaise Pascal and mo.st of 'the Poincares are loader with honours; they .'ire memlwrs of uli sorts of academies, two of them having; seats ill tho French Academy. It: is nol the first time that M. Raymond Poineare who appeared as Minister for Public In struction when he was thirty-three year.of ago and Chancellor of the Exchequei a few months afterwards, has been en trusted with tho task of forming a Cab inet. He always refused, and has been often charged with want ol decision. However, his rapid sncces; yesterday, and the names of tin prominent meli who accepted to )je hit associates, prove that his credit remains unimpaired. He is an orator and a [treat barrister; in fact, he has inherited Waldeck liousseau's situation, of whom politically lie lv.-av also fill the place. ,\o body (luestious his intellectual capacity it only remains to be ascertained what he will do as a leader. M. l'oineare be longs to the more moderate faction of tin Radical party, and therefore his accession to the Premiership is favourably greeted by the Opposition newspapers, He brings with him several members ol either Chamber, such as MM. Briand, Jean Dnpuy, Millerand, Lcbrun, Guist • hau, who by no means represented tlu Combes' policy. Only the names of M Bourgeois and M. Steei? stand as firir representatives of the liadical party ii iis marked shade. The career of M. Raymond Poineare il lustrates the truth of the French say ing: "Lo journalisine meue a tout" (joit'r nalism is tho starling point for everywhere),.. In the old days lie and M. Maurice Barres were colleagues, under tlu editorship of M. Alexandre ITepp, on tlu staff of the Voltaire; and his colleagues remarked that lie was always serious— always an arriviste. Presently he be came, the law reporter of liis paper, am by degrees he acquired a large legal prac tico of liis own. He had a specia reputation as a pleader in commercial cases, and his income was com pitted _to be XBOOO n, year. As in tlu sub-editorial room, so at, the Bar, his dis tinguishing characteristic was his earnest ness; and he acted on O'Conncll's maxin that "the verdict is the thing." "Losirij •a case,".he once said to a friend, "is ti me like receiving a slap iu the face."