Herriot a Mother

Men as fat as Premier Edouard Herriot can see the brighter side of things more easily than men as thin as Montagu Collet Norman, Governor of the Bank of England (see col. 1).

"I feel," chuckled M. Herriot at a reception in Paris last week, "like a woman with twins--Disarmament and the Budget!

"Sometimes I wonder," continued bantering Herriot, "which of them is going to die or whether it will be both or whether it will be me! "

Ah, Messieurs, I am too much of a philosopher to worry about the possibility of my Government falling. I have already experienced it twice. Being Premier in France is very much like being a steeplechase jockey. Half the skill is in knowing how to fall."

Earlier in the day M. Herriot had been asked by the U. S. Embassy whether France will make her debt payment of $19,261,432 due the U. S. on Dec. 15. Promptly the Premier answered in dead earnest that France will pay. Next day the whole Paris Press flayed M. Herriot, reminded him that it is for the Chamber of Deputies to decide this week whether France will pay or not.

''France should not pay," said Vice President Henry Pate of the Chamber, "Cancellation is now inevitable."

Plainly the U. S. question had been asked and answered too soon. It touched off so much explosive French resentment that when the Chamber meets this week the Deputies may well buck and throw the cabinet of self-styled Jockey Herriot.

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