Monsieur Clemenceau vowed2 revenge, and true to his invariable system of playing the Eminence3 Grise in French politics, he buried the hatchet4 with Monsieur Caillaux, whom during the Agadir crisis he had openly declared to be liable to a trial before the high court for high treason, and with Monsieur Briand’s help did everything possible to make matters uncomfortable for Monsieur Barthou and his Cabinet, and for the man whose policy that Cabinet represented, the new President of the French Republic, Monsieur Raymond Poincaré.
The campaign was almost a French War of the Roses. It was conducted with bitterness on either side, and the Clemenceau faction5 won the first battle, overthrowing6 the Barthou Cabinet, and securing the return to power of Monsieur Caillaux, while Monsieur Briand, by his own choice stood aside. Nominally8 the new Cabinet was under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Monsieur Gaston Doumergue. [Pg 104]
Actually Monsieur Caillaux as Minister of Finance and Monsieur Monis as Minister of Marine9 were the two twin rulers in the new Government of France with Monsieur Clemenceau behind them as general adviser10.
Now Monsieur Briand, though Monsieur Clemenceau’s sworn friend, politically, was no real friend politically of Monsieur Caillaux. The two men represented different factions11, for in the neighbourhood of 1913 Monsieur Caillaux had founded the radical12 unified13 party, the programme of which he announced in a great meeting at Pau that year, and Monsieur Briand very shortly afterwards founded the Federation14 of the Left, a form of moderate Socialism which combated the extreme radicalism15 of Monsieur Caillaux’s party on many points. Then Monsieur Caillaux began to make mistakes, most of which were largely due to his impulsiveness16, his ill-temper in the wrong places, and his natural gift for making enemies. Monsieur Barthou set to work to fight Monsieur Caillaux and called Monsieur Calmette to help him. Public rumour17 added that there was personal animosity and personal rivalry18 between these two men, but whether this be true or not their political rivalry was [Pg 105] undoubted, and the reasons for such political rivalry are plain. Both were rich men, but while Monsieur Caillaux represented reforms for the lower middle class at the expense of the rich, Monsieur Calmette representing the party of property, the party which we in England should describe as that of men having a stake in the country, fought these reforms with all the influence at his command as editor and director of a great newspaper. He set out to pull Caillaux down from his position, and his task was a comparatively easy one owing to the unreasoned outbursts of temper with which Monsieur Caillaux exposed the weak points in his armour19 on many occasions, the number of mistakes impulse had caused him to make in the past, and his growing unpopularity. From the beginning of January 1914 until his death on March 16, hardly a day passed without an article of a column or more, and sometimes much more, by Monsieur Calmette in the Figaro attacking Monsieur Caillaux, Monsieur Caillaux’s past, and Monsieur Caillaux’s policy. He was attacked as a politician, as a man, and as a financier, and his silence under attack made the attacks which followed more [Pg 106] bitter instead of putting an end to them. Six years ago the Rochette affair had, directly and indirectly20, been the cause of more than one storm in the French political tea-cup. It had brought the fierce light of publicity21 to bear on many public men, and politicians feared publication of the details of the case as much, almost, as the side issues of the Dreyfus case were feared some years before, and as, before that, the Panama and other scandals had been feared. During the Agadir trouble Monsieur Caillaux had laid himself open to a great deal of criticism, and the Figaro did not hesitate to disinter both these affairs and use them as a weapon against Monsieur Caillaux. Another affair of lesser22 importance in which Monsieur Caillaux’s name was mentioned in the Figaro campaign was the affair of the Prieu inheritance. In this connexion the Figaro did not hesitate to accuse Monsieur Caillaux of dishonourable conduct, and to base on it his unfitness for the post of a Minister of France. It is almost impossible in the space at my command to give all the details of a newspaper campaign such as this against a Minister in power. The campaign lasted nearly three months, and it was so many-sided that I should need [Pg 107] another volume if I were to attempt to set down its details fully. But I may resume the broad lines of the Figaro campaign against Monsieur Caillaux and the reason which the Figaro itself gave to its readers for that campaign. Monsieur Calmette from the first declared that he considered the return to power of Monsieur Joseph Caillaux after his downfall in 1911 as a veritable misfortune to France. He considered that the presence of Monsieur Caillaux in the Cabinet was of real peril23 to French interests, and, as I have explained, it was undoubtedly24 a peril to the interests of the rich men’s party which the Figaro represented, for Monsieur Caillaux was determined25 to carry through his tax on accumulated property, and the general idea of this tax was decidedly popular. There is nothing Frenchmen love so much as making a rich man pay. Monsieur Caillaux with political astuteness26 saw the vote-catching possibilities of his measure, was doing everything in his power to maintain the Doumergue Ministry27, of which he was the leading member, at the helm of public affairs until this year’s elections, and would undoubtedly have succeeded. [Pg 108]
Monsieur Calmette, with the help of Monsieur Caillaux’s political enemies, was working hard for the overthrow7 of the Cabinet, or rather for the overthrow of Monsieur Caillaux, for, as the Figaro wrote, it was Caillaux alone, Caillaux the Minister, Caillaux the politician, whom Calmette the politician wished to pull headlong. Day by day in the Figaro he put his adversary28 in the pillory29. He stigmatized30 his conduct of the Franco-German negotiations31 in 1911, he recalled in stinging terms the general indignation which had wrecked32 the Caillaux Ministry after the resignation of Monsieur De Selves, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. He recalled the work and the report of the Commission of Inquiry33, over which Monsieur Raymond Poincaré (who was of course not President of the Republic then) presided, and wrote scathingly, fiercely almost, of Monsieur Caillaux’s difficulties and quarrels with the Spanish Ambassador and with his Majesty’s Ambassador Sir Francis Bertie. He recalled words used by Monsieur Caillaux which almost suggested that France under a Caillaux régime cared very little for the entente34 cordiale, and reproduced a threat, which rumour had reported, of undiplomatic reprisals35 towards Spain. Some months ago, to be precise [Pg 109] on December 18, 1913, Monsieur Caillaux made a counter declaration to me personally in reply to the rumours36 that he had spoken against the entente cordiale. This declaration was made three weeks before the beginning of the daily campaign in the Figaro, and Monsieur Caillaux said for publication in the Daily Express, of which paper I was at that time the Paris correspondent, “I defy anyone to find in any word that I have spoken publicly, to find in any act of my public life, any ground for an assertion that I am not a whole-hearted partisan38 of the entente cordiale.” Monsieur Caillaux added that he had relatives in England, that he was a great admirer of England and of Englishmen, and said: “I am convinced that the entente cordiale is an asset for the peace of Europe, and while as a Frenchman and a servant of France, I point out that France expects to reap equally with her partner the benefits of the entente cordiale, I am sure that England in her inherent fairness understands this, and is as anxious both to give and to take as France can be. I wish to express my amazement39 and my sorrow that even for a moment Englishmen should have thought me anything but their friend.” [Pg 110]
On the occasion of this interview, which was a long one, lasting40 a full hour at the beginning of the afternoon, and another half-hour later the same day when I submitted what I had written to Monsieur Caillaux before sending it to London, in order that there should be no discussion possible afterwards as to what he had really said, a good deal passed which I did not put into print.
In the interview as printed appeared an allusion41 by Monsieur Caillaux to the undue42 interference by Englishmen in France’s home affairs. Monsieur Caillaux spoke37 that afternoon with ebullient43 freedom of expression about the British Ambassador in Paris, Sir Francis Bertie. He declared that Sir Francis went out of his way to make trouble and that he had worked against him (Monsieur Caillaux) in London for the sheer pleasure of stirring up strife44.
I thought it quite unnecessary to say these things aloud in an English newspaper, especially as, after saying them, Monsieur Caillaux asked me not to include them in the interview as he had no wish for a newspaper discussion with the British Ambassador. I quote them now merely for the [Pg 111] purpose of showing the peculiar45 and unstatesmanlike quarrelsomeness of Monsieur Caillaux’s temper. The man has very little self-restraint, and while many of his public acts and public sayings prove this, few of them prove it so conclusively46 as his outburst in his room at the Ministry of Finance, in the presence of the representative of an English newspaper, against the British Ambassador in Paris.
Following up these attacks on his personality the Figaro impugned47 Monsieur Caillaux’s honour. It did this with the outspokenness48 which is a peculiarity49 of French newspaperdom, and which would be magnificent if it were not so frequently misused50. Monsieur Caillaux was accused of changing his policy half a dozen times with the one pre-occupation of retaining his portfolio51, was twitted with self-contradiction with regard to the income-tax law, and the immunity52 from taxation53 of French Rentes, and was openly taxed with encouraging dishonourable and dishonest speculation54, if not of indulging in it himself. According to the Figaro Monsieur Caillaux made deliberate arrangements to allow friends of his to speculate and make large sums of money on the Paris Bourse, tuning55 his public statements to time with the deals of the speculators, and in answer to these accusations56 Monsieur Caillaux said nothing. [Pg 112]
“The income-tax was Monsieur Caillaux’s hobby horse. He has stated frequently that he has always been in favour of it,” wrote the Figaro one day. “For many years the income-tax was the principal item of Monsieur Caillaux’s political programme, and he told his constituents57 at Mamers that his political programme had never changed in its main lines.” Then the Figaro reproduced in facsimile Monsieur Caillaux’s letter to the first Madame Caillaux in which the words occurred: “I crushed the income-tax while pretending to defend it.”
But these attacks on Monsieur Caillaux were by no means the only ones, and Monsieur Calmette also accused Monsieur Caillaux of favouring Rochette’s escape and interfering58 with the course of justice. These are the broad lines of the Figaro campaign against Monsieur Caillaux.
That some of the attacks were justifiable59 is undoubtedly the fact. That the manner of them was a worthy60 one is more open to discussion. [Pg 113] Politicians must of course expect to be attacked by newspapers which oppose them, but there is little doubt that the bitterness and the persistence61 of this newspaper campaign worked its victim up to a state of frenzy62, and the calm observer knows what effect daily attacks on a public man are likely to have on that public man’s life within the four walls of his home. Monsieur Caillaux’s excited declaration to the President of the Republic, his excitement in the motor car, when, driving with Madame Caillaux he declared that he would go down to the Figaro and chastise63 Monsieur Calmette, show the man’s state of mind, and show us very clearly how that state of mind is likely to have reacted on his wife. I repeat that this book is in no sense an apology for Madame Caillaux’s act of murder. I repeat that I do not wish to defend either Monsieur Caillaux or his wife. But in common fairness I cannot do otherwise than present as faithfully as possible the effect of the Figaro campaign against him, on Monsieur Caillaux and on his constant companion. Nor do I hesitate to say that while the bitterness of the Figaro campaign in no way excuses the murder of its editor by Madame Caillaux, no one can deny, I think, that it explains it.
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1
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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overthrowing
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| v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止 | |
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overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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nominally
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| 在名义上，表面地； 应名儿 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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adviser
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| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
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factions
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| 组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 ) | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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13
unified
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| (unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的 | |
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federation
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| n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会 | |
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radicalism
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| n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义 | |
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impulsiveness
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| n.冲动 | |
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rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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astuteness
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| n.敏锐；精明；机敏 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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pillory
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| n.嘲弄；v.使受公众嘲笑；将…示众 | |
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stigmatized
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| v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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entente
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| n.协定；有协定关系的各国 | |
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reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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rumours
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| n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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partisan
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| adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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42
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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ebullient
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| adj.兴高采烈的，奔放的 | |
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strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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conclusively
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| adv.令人信服地，确凿地 | |
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impugned
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| v.非难，指谪( impugn的过去式和过去分词 )；对…有怀疑 | |
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48
outspokenness
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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50
misused
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| v.使用…不当( misuse的过去式和过去分词 )；把…派作不正当的用途；虐待；滥用 | |
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51
portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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52
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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53
taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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54
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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55
tuning
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| n.调谐，调整，调音v.调音( tune的现在分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调 | |
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56
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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57
constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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interfering
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| adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词 | |
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justifiable
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| adj.有理由的，无可非议的 | |
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60
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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61
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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chastise
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| vt.责骂，严惩 | |
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