Evening star., 1923-09-14
Eduoard Herriot Visiting u. S.
To Boom Famous Fair at Lyon

ruthless fashion. everything that
stood in the way of the speedy ac-
compliShment of his task
Formerly, as l pointed out above. a
professor of rhetoric, he has, as the re-
suit of the extraordinary experiences
man of action, rather than of doc
trines or theories, and whereas be-
fore he became mayor OF Lyon he
had achieved considerable literary
eminence as the author of very
charming, and, at the same time,
erudite biography of the celebrated
Nine. Recamier, his only contribution
to literature since then has been
book which he entitled "Agir" Chat
is to say, "Action") and in which
he embodied the necessity of doing
rather than speaking and "theo-
rizing."
Herriot is a big. burly man. with
a heavy, squarish head set on a short
neck between big shoulders. He has
been rightly described as talking.
not from Immediately behind his
front teeth. but from his stomach
with q good deal of forcefulness in
his expression. lie is careless in his
dress and prefers sack suit TO any
other raiment; a sack suit which
often looks as if he had slept In it.
He insists that he Is not coming to
America on any political errand and
that whatever propaganda he in
dulges in here will be only for the sake
of his world fair at Lyon.
He is particularly anxious to secure
lot of American wood ma
chinery for the exhibition. In fact,
his mission here is largely on the
same lines as those which took him
to Russia last year; 4 mission which
was described as political, but which
was undertaken mainly in the inter
ests of his world fair. It's result was
that Russia has been among the
largest foreign exhibitors at Lyon,
Russian furs being the piece de re-
sistance of the show. Buyers were
was hungry for fine pelts and had to
buy the furs that, through him and
through his world fair at Lyon, were
placed at its disposal. The great fur
ordered millions of dollars worth of
skins and the goods have been deliv-
cred to. their complete satisfaction.
Herriot. who would not believe in
the possibility of the great war until
IL actually broke out, is of the opinion
that international economies DOM
mate international policy and that
business relations and the bonds OF
trade and of commerce are far more
powerful and lasting than any al
lance based on sentiment. idealism
and treaties.
4 y u
1t is very doubtful whether Edcuard
Herriot will go to Washington. But
he has already arranged to visit the
chief Industrial centers and will seek,
1t is said. a meeting with Herbert
Hoover, whose businesslike admin
istration of the various American re-
lief agencies in Europe during the
great war aroused his sympathetic
interest and admiration.
There is but one disadvantage under
which Eduoard Herriot will labor
while in America, namely. his inabil-
ity to converse with those whom he
meets in English. or to make any
public addresses in that language. He
could do so with fluency and elo-
quence in Latin or in Greek, of which
he retains a remarkable mastery, but
/ English presents difficulties which he
| has never been able to overcome. In
deed, he is a man of great culture,
! personal charm, very simple and un-
| affected, and openly favors the further
| renunciation by France of some or
, her just demands upon Germany for
reparations, being convinced OF the
! limpossibility OF obtaining anything
like the total sum mentioned in the
Versailles treaty.