Evening star., 1932-11-27
BY STEPHANE LAUZANNE,
Editor in Chief of lie Matin.


Hall Of Lyons. Statesmen, like women
have their days. On certain days they
are nervous, preoccupied, hurried; on
others they are expansive, at peace and
perfectly willing to show you a corner
of their souls. On that day last April
Edouard Herriot was at his best, ready
to talk on any and all subjects, includ-
ing him1elf A large wood fire was
burning in the fireplace end baskets of
flowers were in each window. He was
walking up and down. going from the
fire to the flowers. and alternately ex-
pressing his thoughts near the mantel-
piece and in the winGow recess.
It was a fortnight before the French
election. and it was certain that his
party-the Radical Socialist party
would be victorious. Before anything
else, he explained to me his conception
of the line of c-nduct of the majority,
whose chief he was. I do not believe
he has ever explained it more clearly.
so far" he said. Eve have seen two
forces continually clashing in France
the force that called itself nationalist,
because it gave prominence to. pro-
gram and t. precccupations OF ma
tional character, and the force that
called itself socialist. because lt9 nrst
concern was social progress. MY own
plan is not to merge these two 1orces'
but to place my party on plane where
it can borrow fr-m both ideals. Conse.
quently, the Radical Socialist party Will
be g national party. which Will protect,
to the best Of its ability. the great IN
terests of the nation; and 1t Will also
be a social party. which will attempt to
solve fearlessly the great social prob
lens. In this I feel confident that l
am interpreting the viii Of the vast
majority of Frenchmen, who want
security with peace, progress with
Justice"
I inquired what would be his methoo
Of attaining his aim.
An Old Scholar.
"I am an old scholar" he replied.
"and as regards method, no master
appeals to me ae much as Descartes,
who made it rule to study subject
in Itself. without passion or prejudice,
and to take subjects one after the other:
This will be my rule internally and
externally. I have no prejudices against
any thecry or against any country. L
am going to play fair. l know what
INV qualities are and whct may be my
shortcomings. I shall try to eXercl.e
nv qualities to the utmost and TO cor
rect my shortcomings"
The word shortcomings" piqued my
c,lri-s sity. What we're those Edouaro
Herriot acknowledged or thought ne
possessed? He told me this delightful
story:
II shall never forget the words OF my
wife's mother to me On her death ped:
she was a woman of great feeling and
keen Judgment. When abcut to pass
away, she called me to her bedside ana
said: 'Edouard. I, have a-ways tet a
deep affection for you. You are naro-
working and honest. but that Is not
sufficient to succeed in life. Be lnteln-
gent For a long time 1 thougnt her
farewell to me had been rather hsrsn.
But today I realize the Wlsasm OF II.
To be intelligent ig to be calm; not TO
allo.; yourself to be carried away by
nsssion: it means patience. / shall be
intelligent" =,
And it is quite true-credit mutt be
given him fer this-that during the flVe
months he has been prime minister
Edouard Herriot has applied his intelh,
gsnce to ridding him II o. passion ana
nery.usness ana to remaining calm ana
patient. o,,
He had not been in power a week
when he had to go TO the Lausanne
conference. which proved to be one OF
the hardest and most difficult OF IN
conferences. 1t often nap
naned that those surrounding him
ministers, secretaries, experts, news
paper men-lost patience. Herrlot
never did. Twice he was adVlsea 10
THAT" he answered, sis precisely
The one thing I shall never 90.
And particularly to the polltlcaI men
and journalists who sought TO aaVlse
him, he would repeat:
LET me be. If, when all is over, you
find have acted unwisely, you may say
20. But let me follow to the emu tle
inc / have traced for myself.
One evening. however, found MN
somewhat perturbed: 1t was the eve
ming when President HooVerS lleni-
o-andum on disarmament was COM
to him. And if I relate the
Incident, it is to show how delicate
matter is the handling of men ana
things. the choice of time ana place,
in International questions.
Slips Out of Hotel.
So. one evening at Lausanne, at
,hont 10 o'clock, Mr. HerriCt, accom-
nanied by a single secretary, was seen
fo sl,p mysteriously cut OF his hotel
and to rush eff in q rapid car Tor an
unknown destination. He came PACK
Iote that night ard was visibly nervous
and out of sorts. The following day
We learned what had happened:
telephone message had informed
him while at dinner that Norman
Dav;s ard Hugh Gibson. represent
ing America at the Disarmament Con
ference. wished to see him urgently
and confidenticlly, to hand him docu.
ment from the President of the Unlteo
States. Consequently, it was suggested
that the American delegates shculo
cover half OF the distance ana tne
premier of France the otner hah'
They were to meet at Mor2GS, peace
ful little town on the banks OF Ile
Lake of Geneva. and to confer III tne
Town Hall, which had bcen placed at
their disposal The greatest secrecy Is
to the meeting was enjoined.
Herr,ot later. greatly to my surprise
| found almcss the entire town illuml-
natcd A large crowd had assembled
re,r the Town Hall. and the mayor, IN
fun dress, was waiting on the steps TO
greet me. The secret l had so closely
Guarded at Lausanne had, Of course.
leaked out in Geneva. through the
American reporters. And practically
tha whole country knew that there
would be an important meeting IN
Morges between the French and the
American delegations"
But Premier Herriot was not COM
planning of that He even laughed
Thole-heartedly about it. What seemed
a less laughable matter to MN, What
gave a certain bitterness to his eX-
preston was that when he had been
closeted with the American delegates,
they had communicated to him thc
text of President Hoovers famous
memorandum statirg that within AZ
hours it would be solemnly made pub lc
ct the Geneva Conference. AS qiic-.ly
as he read it, Premier HerrloS raallzed
that it was a highly important doca-
mcns-perhcps the most important doc
urnent that had been submitted so lar
to the c7nfe-encc-written in a f2r
spirit and strong of structure, but re-
curing careful examination and re-