Almost unknown to the masses, Joffre was placed at the head of the French troops in the summer of 1914. Among his associates he was known as an authority on aeroplanes, automobiles, telegraphs and the other details of modern warfare. Above everything else he stood for efficiency and preparedness, and lacked the qualities of the French soldier of literature. To be prepared for instant war had been his effort for three years, and when that time came France found herself nearly as well prepared for the conflict as was Germany, which had prepared for twenty-five years. ADJURATION TO SCHOOL CHUMS. One of his few published speeches, made to his old school chums, is on this theme. "To be prepared in our days," he said, "has a meaning which those who prepared for and fought the wars of other days would have great difficulty in understanding. It would be a sad mistake to depend upon a sudden burst of popular enthusiasm, even though it should surpass in intensity that of the volunteers of the Revolution, if we do not fortify it by complete preparation. "To be prepared we must assemble all the resources of the country, all the intelligence of her children, all their moral energy and direct them toward a single aim--victory. We must have organized everything, foreseen everything. Once hostilities have begun no improvisation will be worth while. Whatever lacks then will be lacking for good and all. And the slightest lack of preparation will spell disaster." What Joffre said to his chums he had done for the French army, and President Poincare, after the Battle of the Marne, summed up his qualities which made it a French victory in this message to Joffre: "In the conduct of our armies you have shown a spirit of organization, order and of method whose beneficent effects have influenced every phase, from strategy to tactics; a wisdom cold and cautious, which has always prepared for the unexpected, a powerful soul which nothing has shaken, a serenity whose salutary example has everywhere inspired confidence and hope." These words of the President of the French Republic are an epitome of the character and the military record of Joffre. He is representative of the real France, not the France of Paris and scandals. He is of the peasantry, and he and his kind, men of character, brought about the glorious France of the war. Among those who accompanied Joffre on his visit to the United States was Rene Viviani, ex-Premier of France and Minister of Justice. He was born in Algeria in 1862, his family being Corsican, and originally of Italian blood. VIVIANI A SOCIALIST LEADER.