Alexandre Octave Bérard

Born in Lyon (Rhône) on February 3, 1859, died in Paris on April 20, 1923.

Member of Parliament for the Ain from 1893 to 1908.

Senator of the Ain from 1908 to 1923.

Under-Secretary of State for Posts and Telegraphs from June 10, 1902 to October 19, 1906.

Son of Ernest Bérard (1829-1914), silk manufacturer who was deputy of the Rhône from 1889 to 1898, Alexandre Bérard studied in his native town, first at the institution of the Carthusian monks, then at the Faculty of Law, which awarded him the degree of doctor in 1882.

From the age of seventeen, he practiced journalism by collaborating with the Courrier de Lyon, a newspaper that the government of May 16 pursued; he also wrote in the Progrès de Lyon and the republican Lyon and, subsequently, in various provincial and Parisian newspapers. He was admitted as a lawyer in 1877 and became chief of staff to the mayor of Lyon. In 1880, he joined the judiciary as attaché to the offices of the public prosecutor and then the public prosecutor in Lyon. He was appointed substitute in Saint-Etienne on December 21, 1883, and then in Lyon. In this capacity, he spoke in certain criminal cases that had considerable repercussions, such as the case of the anarchist Cyvoct, which he had condemned, or the Gouffé case. On May 20, 1890, he became deputy public prosecutor of Grenoble.

He left the magistracy in 1893 when he was elected deputy of Ain, in the district of Trévoux. Since 1886, he represented the canton of Ambérieu in the General Council of the Ain; he ran in the general legislative elections of August 20, 1893 and obtained on the first ballot 11,731 votes out of 12,003 voters, his opponent obtaining 272. He succeeded Henri Germain, who did not stand for re-election. He had refused to stand as a candidate in 1885 and 1886 so as not to compromise the unity of the Republican Party in the department. In 1893 he pledged to defend a democratic, reformist and progressive Republic, to maintain the school and military laws, the secularity of the public school, to vote laws on associations, on agricultural credit, on compulsory agricultural insurance, to reform the tax on beverages, to create pension funds for workers, to institute a tax on capital and large property, to maintain and even reinforce customs protectionism.

He was re-elected on May 8, 1898 in the first ballot by 12,172 votes, while his most favored competitor obtained only 6,738.

Become vice-president of the general council, he was still re-elected beginning on April 27, 1902, in the first ballot by 13.766 votes against 6.378 and on May 6, 1906, by 13.948 votes against 6.621 still in the first ballot.

He was finally elected to the Senate on January 9, 1908 by 772 votes out of 886, replacing Senator Goujon, who had died; he was re-elected on January 7, 1912 and January 9, 1921.

In the House, Alexandre Bérard joined the Democratic Left and Progressive Union groups, of which he was Vice-President during the 7th Parliament, then the Radical Left and Democratic Union groups from 1902, and finally, from 1906 onwards, the Democratic, Radical and Radical Socialist Left group. He also belonged, at least during the seventh legislature, to the "agricultural group" and, in the same period, on various occasions, to the "education group".

Alexandre Bérard was a member of various Commissions, including the Insurance and Social Security Commission (sixth and seventh legislatures), the Commission of Inquiry into the Panama Affair (1897), on behalf of which he submitted a partial report, the Rules Committee (1901) and the Budget Committee for the years 1899, 1901 and 1902.

He carried out a great deal of activity in the House, of which only a brief summary can be given. During the sixth legislature, he tabled and reported a bill to create departmental insurance and pension funds for the fire department - a proposal that he completed in 1898 -, a bill prohibiting the accumulation of senators' legislative indemnity with State salaries, and a bill on the Dombes ponds. In addition, he reported on numerous bills to authorize local authorities to impose extraordinary taxes, to take out loans or to extend surcharges. He took part in the discussion of a legal proposal and frequently intervened in the discussion of the budget, in particular to obtain the development of education, post and telegraph services and fire-fighting.

During the seventh legislature, he tabled proposals for the reform of the administrative organization, local railways and fire departments. He reported on the budgets of the Interior for 1899, 1900 and 1902, of the State Railways for 1901 and of the Cults for 1902, as well as various projects or proposals, notably concerning the distribution of the subsidy fund to the departments or the allocation of aid to the victims of public calamities. He supported the Cabinet Waldeck Rousseau, voted the law on associations, the law on hygienic drinks, the progressive inheritance tax. His votes show his concern for social progress - for example, he voted for the regulation of work in industry and for the eligibility of women to sit on industrial tribunals - but also for the thrifty use of public funds. He intervened on a wide range of subjects: rescue for miners, freedom and secrecy of the vote, electoral law, etc. He was also a member of the National Council for the Protection of Women's Rights. At the same time, he worked for the economic development of the region he represented, which led him to be called to the presidency of the General Council of Ain.

On June 10, 1902, Emile Combes entrusted him with the under-secretariat of State of Posts and Telegraphs, which he kept until October 19, 1906, in the second and third Cabinets Rouvier, then in the Sarrien Cabinet. In this post, he worked to develop the internal telephone network, but also worried about connecting by telegraphic cables the colonies to the metropolis: he deposited several projects on this subject. Becoming simple deputy, vice-president of the Budget Commission for 1908 and member of the Commission of Education and Fine Arts, he tabled two bills, one relating to the customs duties on oil, the other to the elections of deputies. He voted for the suppression of the privileges of religious associations and the purchase by the State of the network of the West.

As a senator, he remained a member of the radical democratic and radical-socialist left and continued to be very active. He was a member of various Commissions, including the Finance Commission, of which he was vice-chairman in 1912, the Railway Commission, of which he was also vice-chairman, and Commissions for the examination of proposals relating to the press regime, departmental and communal organization or war councils.

He frequently intervened, in particular, on electoral questions, and, before 1914, tabled several reports, four of which concerned the railways and some others the judicial organization. He also reported on the draft law approving a Franco-Russian convention for the protection of artistic and literary works, as well as the budget for the interior for the year 1912. He took part in the discussion of the law on workers' pensions and, on 27 January 1914, in the discussion of an interpellation on military aeronautics. During the war, on behalf of the Finance Commission, he tabled several reports, a number of which were of interest to local authorities forced by the state of war to interrupt their work. He also reported on the budget for the interior of the fiscal year 1918.

Elected for the first time vice-president of the Senate on January 14, 1919 - he was to be re-elected each year until his death - he reported in 1919 the bill to re-establish the list ballot with proportional representation and various projects and proposals relating to electoral matters, as well as the budget for the interior for the fiscal year 1921. In 1922, he intervened in discussions of bills relating to women's suffrage. On February 28, less than two months before his death, he was still presiding over a session of the Senate. His eulogy was delivered by President Gaston Doumergue.