Premier Feted

To Pre Catalan,* smart restaurant in the leafy Bois de Boulogne, there motored out last week from Paris the Cabinet of Premier Raymond Poincare. An air of mystery and suppressed mirth prevailed, for M. Poincare was not supposed to know that this luncheon was to commemorate the first anniversary of his present Cabinet and to crown the great labors by which he has restored the shaken finances of France. All the Ministers were there, even Mi Briand, just now recovered from his attack of "strawberry rash" (TIME, June 27), but no one of the assembled statesmen had an air so sly as that of Minister of Justice Louis Barthou, who carried a precious package.

All week, Premier Ponicare had refused to admit to newsgatherers that he knew his ministers were going to make him an anniversary gift. When M. Barthou unwrapped his package, the "surprise" of M. Poincare was tact itself. The gift was typically French, a book. Only a connoisseur would have recognized the excessive rarity of this copy of Ilsee Princesse de Tripoli by Robert de la Motte-Ango, Marquis de Flers, with hand lithographed illustrations signed by Mutcha, and a superb binding by the great Charles Meunier. On the fly leaf was written:

To Monsieur Raymond Poincare, our President, our chief, our friend; in admiration, in gratitude and in devotion.

Below the Ministers had signed their names.

M. Raymond Poincare has been 15 years a Deputy, 27 years a Senator, eight times a Minister, three times Premier (1911-13, 1922-24, 1926-), and was the great Wartime President of France (1913-20). His achievement during the last twelve-month has been: first, to raise the value of the franc from 41 to the dollar to 26; second, to cut the short-term indebtednesses of the State from 24,000,000,000 francs to less than 8,000,000,000 francs; third, to increase the Treasury reserves from 50,000,000 francs ($2,000,000) to 25,000,000,000 francs ($1,000,000,000); and lastly, to restore the credit of France. No statesman and probably no man has performed so great a task within the year just passed.

*Not to be confused with a onetime Manhattan night club of the same name but excessive toughness.