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Show IHEW PRESIDENT TO CONT1HF01S Poincare Expected ' to ' Place France. In Front Rank of . European Powers.-. ENCOURAGE ATHLETICS prance and Germany Will Be Strong Contenders for Honors Hon-ors at 1916 Olympic. By GEORGES DUTRESNE. Special Cable to The Tribune. PARIS, Feb. .$. Wlieu ten days from today M.' Poincare lakes over thc reins of thc J'Vcnch state definitely, ho will niako it tho principal aim of his sop-toonato sop-toonato to help along in every possible pos-sible way the renaissance of the patriotic pa-triotic and national feeling which began be-gan a few years ago. There was a lime wher many loyal Frenchmen actually feared that their beloved country was doomed lo become a second rate power in Jiurope, but these days of anxiety arc over, and With one of Europe's first statesmen at the helm, France will undoubtedly withiu a very few years become thc loading power on the eoutiuent, as she was iudcrd from the very beginning of the Balkan i risiS. This 'in realized not only in France but also in C5ermany where' prndienlly tho whole ollicial press, immediately after M. Poincare 's .elccliou to Ihe presidency agreed that a II hough relations betw'eeu I he two eountnoH arc at preseift as correct as over. Germany will havo io watfh the trend of events in l-'ranco even more carefully than bolero. Nobody here believes that Poincnro is a jingo, or that lu for a moment contemplates con-templates rushing the country info a war of revenge agaiust Germany in order or-der to get back the lo3t provinces of Alsace-Lorraine, but, on tin; other side, nobody doubts that, he will do his utmost ut-most to.. strengthen the defences of Franc; .to such la-n'.xtent that Ger-niauv--v;oild:ri'vrV'rfii''!e '70Uwt.'what sh9;dVBVp. -'-y; Reorganize Army. '"" It is undoubtedly duo to M. Poincare Poin-care s influonco that Oulgiuui is now on 'the point of reorganizing her army in order to be able to. resist any at-tempi at-tempi on the part of Germany to strike at France after invading Belgian territory. France's forti Ilea t Ions and other per-mu per-mu lie tit defenses along her eastern frontier fron-tier are of so formidable a nature that any German attempt to attack them must end In disaster. It is through Bel-glum Bel-glum that an Invasion would eventually be attempted if war should come. Thc main railway lines from Germany, through Belgium and aoross tho French frontier, would In the- event of a Ger-,man Ger-,man Invasion, make It comparatively easy for the enemy io pour troops Into France, so long-as tho Belgian army la hot In Itself strong enough' to arrest -the advance of tho Invaders. In Its present condition any attempt lo do so would be absolutely futile, but under the new organization thc strongth of the army lu time of war will be doubled. Four army corps, comprising seven divisions, or half a million men, could be raised, distributed as follows: A field army or 100,01)0 men. a second lino of 1CO.O0O men, and a territorial force of 250,000 men. Half of this army would be composed of young highly-trained men of splendid lighting material. It will bo seen, therefore, that Belgium's greater arniy Is of vital Importance to France. Athletics Encouraged. Unless the dreaded ICuiopean conflagration conflagra-tion should break out lu the meantime, tho first tug of war between Krenehmeii and Germans will probably take place In the Olympic games iu Berlin In 1916. Tt is known here that Germany Is spending spend-ing money like water in order to produce pro-duce the champion athletes of IDHI, and Franco la now equally determined that most of tho luurcls which tho Americana Ameri-cana do not carry off shall be won by the young men of rejuvenated France. Thc growth of thc IntoreHt lu sport in Franco during the last year has been phenomenal and two months from now thu first Krouch College of Athletes will be -opened at Uholma, to bo followed by others In all the principal cities. The aim of tho colleges will bo to ameliorate tho condition of -the population generally, lo popularise, a rational system of physical phys-ical culture and to combat consumption and alcoholism by tho encouragement of sports, whilst it will also be a training .school for physical Instruction. The institution in-stitution will be directed by Uautijnant ITcbert, chief physical Instructor to the navy and an etithuslaallo supporter of the ougenlo theory, The collecc at Ithclms will be the forerunner fore-runner of similar Institutions In Paris and elsewhere, on a largo sonic, where women will be admitted as well as men. There will be running and cycle tracks, football foot-ball and cricket grounds, open-air swimming swim-ming baths, etc., and thc instructions will be carried on under the best auspices. |