Cambon Dead

From heart failure in his Paris home on the Boulevard Haussmann, died M. Pierre Paul Cambon, 81, for 22 years French Ambassador to the Court of St. James (1898-1920).

M. Paul Cambon was born on Jan. 20, 1843, and is the elder brother of the equally famed Jules Martin Cambon, French Ambassador to Germany (1907-14). He entered the public service as private secretary to Jules Ferry in the Prefecture of the Seine and during the next 10 years he was engaged in administrative work as the Secretary of the Prefecture and then as Prefect, successively, of the Departments of the Aube, Doubs and Nord. After that he joined the Corps Diplomatique. He became French Minister Plenipotentiary to Tunis; Ambassador to Madrid, Constantinople and, in 1898, Ambassador to London, where he lived during the reigns of Queen Victoria, Edward VII, George V. His task at London was not simple. The Fashoda incident* was a sore point between France and Britain; but this pearl of ambassadors finally managed to smooth things over, and if not too well, he at least avoided a rupture of peaceful relations. . He was now free to start the greatest work of his life--the formation of the Entente Cordiale, which became a fait accompli in 1904. The signing of this convention was to a large extent his work, although, until better evidence is produced, the principal honor belongs to King Edward. None the less the role played by M. Cambon was of vital importance and just how much influence he exerted upon King Edward, with whom he was on intimate terms, is not definitely known. The other landmark in his ambassadorial career was in 1914, when he frustrated every attempt on the part of Germany to separate Britain from her allies--France and Russia. When the news came that the Duchy of Luxembourg had been invaded, Paul Cambon called upon the then Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey, with the Luxembourg Treaty (guarantee by the five great Powers of Luxembourg's territorial integrity) and asked him what he intended to do about it. Sir Edward did not reply and M. Cambon remarked: "I do not know whether we shall not have to strike the word 'honor' out of the English vocabulary." He knew that the King, Sir Edward, Premier Asquith and some other statesmen were of his opinion and that they wanted to intervene. Then came the violation of Belgian neutrality before anything could be decided about Luxembourg. There was no longer any doubt, Britain would go to war; M. Cambon had scored another diplomatic victory. In 1920 at the time of his resignation, he said : "Aug. 1, 2, 3, 1914, were the only days of real difficulty in all the years I have spent in London."

*A French expedition under Major Marchand declined to obey Lord Kitchener's demand to withdraw from Fashoda on the River Nile. The two forces glared at each other for days, while a heated diplomatic duel was fought between Paris and London. Finally, French Minister Delcasse gave way; war was narrowly averted; France agreed to recognize that "the whole Nile really lies within the British sphere of influence."