The chief lesson to be learned from the Cabinet crisis, now closed by the formiition of another Poincare Ministry, is the continued influence of small coteries and wire pallers in French pol The Poincaré Cabinet, which did a great deal towards restoring the national finances, fell to pieces in consequence of the resolutions passed at the Radical congress at Angers, which made louse for training. The journey south—two days ard two nights hhurse-trucks, with a tin of sardines as rations—gave them carly experi ice of the hardships of war. Less than three months later they were] in the firing line. In February, 1915, they were transferred to "Kitchen" er's army" and in course of time were represented won all fronts Flanders, the Aisne, Italy, Exypt and Macedonia, For the first time since those heroic days they assembled at lunch-y}eon in Paris on Sunday, the tenth They the Cabinet to withdraw ernment was thus overthrown not in khaki and most of them wore! by a defeat in Parliament, but by a gathering of irresponsible politicians. The adoption of the resolutions is generally attributed to Caillaux, and yesterday, when the Senate had to elect its Finance Committee, all the retiring mem hers were re-elected with the wzle exception of M. Caillaux. M. Poincaré has the support of about nine-tenths of the Senate, and the majority lost mo time in letting M. Caillaux know what they thought of him.
That gentleman, without intending it, has done more good than hai He has given the Pioncaré admi stration a new lease of life. It wa generally expected that the coal tion would no: last long after Parliament reassembled, simply because it} had already been so many months office and because members. other groups wanted their share and)
likely to seize the first opport-for an upheaval. All. this! has been cleared away and M. Poincare is making a frosh start, He has profited by it to transfer the work of the Finance Ministry to M. Cheron, so as to leave himself more time for matters of general policy and more especially the negotiations over the revision of the German war medals. One came on one lee, lost the other the French front. General Bucant. who represented the War Minister, and came in full uniform with all his medals, made a charming little speech expressing high appreciation of the sacrifices made by the Britons who surrendered everything to give personal service to France. Some of the volunteers, and the British doc-for who examined them, told stories of 1914 and revived many memories. Te was a delightful gathering, and general wish was expressed that it should become annual.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.