Georges Cochery

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Photograph by Georges Cochery, 1913

Georges Charles Paul Cochery (born March 20, 1855 in Paris , † August 10, 1914 there ) was a French politician . From 1896 to 1898 and from 1909 to 1910 he held the position of finance minister.

Life

Georges Cochery was a son of the politician Louis Adolphe Cochery and the Victorine Felicité Marcus. He graduated from the polytechnic school in Paris and became an artillery officer in 1875, but took his leave in October 1877 to become head of the cabinet of his father, who was then Undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance. In 1879 he became head of cabinet in the Ministry of Post and Telegraphs newly formed for his father, attended several international telegraph congresses and played an important role in the numerous reforms that were being carried out in the French post and telegraph system at that time. He also took part in the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna in 1883 as French general commissioner .

As head of cabinet, Cochery resigned on March 30, 1885 and, after he had already been elected to the General Council of the Loiret Department for the canton Bellegarde on August 12, 1883, received a mandate in the second ballot from the same department on October 18, 1885 Chamber of Deputies . He was a member of the commissions dealing with postal and telegraph issues and was their rapporteur several times, for example for the Postal Congress in Lisbon and the Telegraph Congress in Berlin . He also took part in the work of the permanent railway and shipping commission and the commission for the 1889 World's Fair .

In 1889 and then six more times until 1914, Cochery was re-elected as a member of the Loiret department in the first ballot. Since May 13, 1892, he was no longer General Councilor of the canton of Bellegarde, but of the canton of Pithiviers , in which position he remained through constant re-election until the end of his life. He was also a member of the Villemandeur municipal council . As a moderate Republican, he advocated the separation of church and state.

Cochery was considered an outstanding financial expert and had been a member of the Budget Commission for several years since 1889, of which he was President and General Reporter twice in the legislative period from 1893–98. With the formation of the cabinet led by Félix Jules Méline on April 29, 1896, he received the Treasury, whereupon he dropped the progressive income tax that his predecessor Paul Doumer had applied for and came up with a plan to tax the French pension. The financial integration of the French colonies begun by his predecessors was completed in 1896. He also took care of the questions of the credit system and the financial markets, for example through his decree on September 20, 1896 for the supervision and review of savings bank transactions and the decree of December 24, 1896 on the powers of stockbrokers. In 1897 he supported, among other things, the draft laws to extend the privileges of the Banque de France and Banque de l'Algérie and in 1898 those for the trade tax reform . By a law passed on December 18, 1897, he had the new treaty of the Latin Monetary Union ratified. In general, he defended the government's economic policy and tried to keep the constant increase in government spending in check. In the case of delicate reforms such as the introduction of the alcohol monopoly, he was happy to commission special commissions to investigate the feasibility of such political measures. He remained Minister of Finance until the end of Méline's term in office (June 28, 1898).

From 1898 to 1902 Cochery was Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies. As President of the Budget Commission, he participated primarily in the discussion of the draft law for the expansion of the fleet (1900) and the budget of 1901. Also in the eighth legislative period of the Third French Republic (1902-06) he often participated as President of the Budget Commission participate in the fiscal and budget debates.

As the successor to Joseph Caillaux , Cochery was again Finance Minister on July 24, 1909 in the first cabinet led by Aristide Briand . His proposals on inheritance tax and surcharges on alcohol and tobacco tax, presented in 1910 to achieve a balanced budget, met with fierce resistance. He had to refrain from introducing quality seals on alcohol and schnapps bottles ("vignettes Cochery") because of protests from manufacturers and consumers. By a law of March 29, 1910, he changed the general tariff. After he had resigned as finance minister on November 3, 1910 with the entire cabinet and had received a successor in Louis-Lucien Klotz , he was again President of the Budget Commission and participated in this capacity in the debates on the budget for the years 1911-14. In addition, he voted in 1913 to fix the length of military service at three years.

Cochery was the husband of Gabrielle Hortense Marie Hunebelle, a niece of Jules Hunebelle, Mayor of Clamart . The marriage resulted in two children, Blanche and Jean. The two-time finance minister died four days after a fainting attack on August 10, 1914, at the age of only 59 in Paris.

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Remarks

  1. ↑ These six re-elections of Cochery took place on August 20, 1893, May 8, 1898, April 27, 1902, May 6, 1906, April 24, 1910 and April 26, 1914.
personal data
SURNAME Cochery, Georges
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cochery, Georges Charles Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French politician
DATE OF BIRTH March 20, 1855
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1914
Place of death Paris