Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-18
BY STEPHANE LAUZANNE,

VERY man. big or small, has a
l. day in his life that he prefers to
all others and that he loves to
IL remember. Pierre Laval, the
young and successful premier OF
France, has such a day deep down in
his heart. II you ask him what sort OF a
day it was he will answer you unwaver-
ingly, ut was the day when took my
first degree"
And gladly he will tell you the whole
story. His father was hotel keeper
a keeper of small hotel in small
city in France, the city Of Chateldon, in
the very Auvergne whence came La
fayette-and he had no money to waste
for his sons education. So the boy was
put in charge Of driving the bus Of the
hotel. He had to wait for hours at the
railway station for possible guests, and
he hated it, because he felt that he was
wasting his time. To divert himself he
asked a schoolmaster in the town to
lend him some books, and these ne
read on the coachbox while he waited
at the station for incoming trains. Not
only did he read them with passion, but
he learned them by heart. And thus he
learned the subjects he would have been
taught in school. He learned them so
well that at the age of 16 he took his
first degree.
Never in my life" he says, did I
experience such JOY" His father, OF
course, ceased to insist on his driving
the hotel bus and sent him to the uni
versity. There the boy learned more
and betterad his condition. He became
a lawyer, a Deputy, mayor, a minister
in the cabinet. Today he is premier OF
France.
Man Without ElOquence.
What characterizes him best is his
complete absence Of nerves and pathos.
In a country where eloquence Is con-
sidered second nature, he has, in fact,
no eloquence-or, If you prefer, ne mas
very peculiar eloquence He just says
what he wants to say in few clear
cut Sentences. and he never INDUCES in
rhetoric or in emotion. For instance,
he very rarely ascends the tribune In
the Chamber of Deputies, and even IN
the most solemn circumstances, after
the most heated debates, he merely
stands up in his place on the front
bench of the government and addresses
the Assembly in q short and simple
manner.
1T is not true" he said recently,
that because you make a long speech
you necessarily make good speech.
There are one or two things winch you
have got to tell an audience to carry
its votes or its appreciation. When
these things have been told, that Is
quite sufficient"
And there you have Pierre Laval In
nutshell. What he cares for Is the re-
suit. He loved only achievement. He
does not mind If the achievement Is
small one. AS long as 1t IS something
tangible and practical, something wnlcn
Is not in the clouds or in smoke, ne
feels perfectly satisfied. To obtain this
little something he works hard and long
And, mind you, he never cheats. He
laws his cards on the table and from
the very beginning he says yes or
no"
thus he did with Chancellor Bruening
in his dramatic interview OF last July.
At know" he at once told the German
what you need. You need
money to save your country. would
be perfectly willing to lend you the
money If 1t were my own. But It Is not.
It Is the money of the French people.
And they will never lend it without
financial guarantees or political APP
Are you prepared TO give
them?"
This declaration was rather sharply
criticized abroad as being harsh and
stifF. But he could not say anything
else. II he had said something else he
would only have deluded his inter-
locutor. TO understand the situation