The French Socialists are persistently trying to press some a
charge of clericalism against M. Poincare, but apparently without much success. It must be admitted that , in one matter M. Poincare has technically put himself in the wrong, and when the debate on the Budget begins his political life may again be in danger. Most friends of France will sincerely hope that he will survive this ordeal as he has survived many others, for nothing seems to promise safety for France except a successful conclusion to his financial reconstruction. The cries of the anti-clericals, harsh and loud though they are, are unable to raise the echoes which were heard when Gam- betta could make Paris resound with " le clericalisnze- voila l'ennemi ! "—or when M. Combes and his followers a quarter of a century ago poured out their dry and inhuman denunciations.
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