Evening star., 1924-07-24
Foreign Letter
BY WILLIAM IVY.

Edouard Herriot is homesick for
Main street He hasn't been happy
! since the day his cartel des gauches
won the elections and thrust him into
the frent line of French politics.
Herriot wants 70 believe that he
can manage the deStinieS of France
| in the same simple way that he has
! for twenty yeaes. as mayor OF Lyons,
managed the affairs of u provincial
| city. 1t ought. in his view. to be
sufficient TO have knowledge and
! learning and sincerity - especially
sincerity.
speaks eloquently. though rather
rapturously-and even in intimate
J conversation be constantly inserts
such phrases as:
4 think you know that ! have al
ways kept faith with my friends.
"It is not necessary 10 tell YOU
my whole record proves it-that l am
sincere.
Mr. Macdonald knows my good
faith"
"I shall use the same straightfor-
wardness in dealing with foreign
governments as | have used in all my
dealings in my long public career"
! calls them my good friends" aud
freely offers to "collaborate" with
them in ameliorating the condition
of the world.
When you want To know the
truth" he says. come dire1 TO me.
You will not lind that high office has
turned my head. You will find me
the same simple. modest individual
| that you have always known.
The recurrence in his talks OF such
! words as Friendship" sympathy.
| collaboration" might appear to mark
him as man with many deep personal
attachments. This. however. is not
! the case To Edouard He-riot friend
ship is d kind of fine. high virtue. that
one places on a pedestal and worships
from beneat tn. In fact. ha has almost
| no near friends and co1idants. all
though he may desire them. 1t is easy,
| indeed. to approach him, and he Is
| invariably good-natured and cordial.
/ but one feels Immediately that il would
i be impossible to- break through gen.
| eralitieS and get into the realm of i'm
mediate practical concerns.
Herriot is one of the most learned
! men in France, a first-class critic and
| historian, but. above all. he is an
| evangelist, an eXhorter. and as such
| is lacking in that true sympathy with
ones neighbor that comes only with a
/ dash of humor and of pessimism. The
| incurable optimist is a hard man to
get onto Intimate terms with. so
| much so that somebody has defined a
! pessimist as "a man who lives with
| an optimiSt.
| Well. his Wilsonian faith in
| progress. combined with a warmth of
! manner that Wilson lacked. no doubt
| made him an ideal mayor of Lyons
but he has discovered that the same
qualities are of only minor Importance
| in the larger affairs of nations. Per-
| sonal integrity erudition. faith-these
! play no large part in international
! dealings.
And so. on the latest occas sions on
/ which | have seen Herriot, he seems
) changed man. One night-it was the
night he refused. much against his will.
| but al the dictation of his followers.
| who were thirsty for revenge on the
| conservatives-he came walking. all
alone along the boulevards. Nobody
recognized him. He walked slowly. al
most mournfulIy. When the writer
| and a group of other journalists ac-
| costed him he spoke cordially enough.
but seemed in prey to a violent in
ward struggle.
On a later occasion-just before his
visit to Ramsay MacDonald-he was
nervous agitated. He claSped and un-
clasped his hands. He spoke in short
sentences. pausing after each in an
| a attitude of defensive expectancy, as if
| feeling that he was about to be con-
tradicted.
One thought of a goldfish. lost in
great pond, searching for the comfort
ing circumference of his nice round
bowl Nothing to protect him from
the predatory fish of international poll
tics but his shining scales of honesty
and culture