LONG EXILE ENDED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20496, 22 February 1930, Page 3 (Supplement)

LONG EXILE ENDED.

LEON DAUDET RETURNS.

ROYALIST WELCOME IN PARIS.

M. Leon Dandet, accompanied by his wife and a deputation of tile Action Francais who had gone to fetch him from Brussels, arrived at the - Gars du Nord, Paris, on January 2. . thus ending his two years' exile. As the train in which he was travelling entered the French frontier station of. Feignies it was boarded by an official of the Surete Generale, who notified officially to M. Daudet that he had been pardoned by the President "of France.

On the platform and outside the station in Paris the Royalist leader had an enthusiastic reception from his followers, but everything went off quietly, and, in spite of a. large crowd oi "Cameiots du Roi*' that massed outside the Gare du Nord, nothing happened to call for action by the strong force of police on duty. As M. Daudet stepped out of his rail-, way carriage his numerous friends present raised the cry of "Vive Daudet!"' and a deputation of Royalist railway workers handed him a large bunch cf flowers. Outside the station M. Daudet's car had some difficulty in making its-way through the closely-packed crowds of "Camelot3 du B-oi/' When he got away be drove first- of/all to Fere Lachaise cemetery to visit the grave of his son Philippe and then to the house of his aged mother, the widow cf Alphonse Daudet. The chauffeur was the driver of the taxi in which-M. Daudet drove away from the Sante prison when he was liberated by a. hoax in 1927. He was sentenced for libelling another taxi driver in connection with the death of his • son, whc is generally believed to have committed suicide in the man's cab. M. Daudet, however, always insisted that the lad, who was only about. 15, was killed by the police m an affray with Communists. Ha accused the ta:u driver cf complicity and the man took criminal proceedings against the Royalist leader. Speaking to the members of the press M. Daudet said the joy he felt in returning t-o France was tinged with regret in leaving Belgium. He added that he intended to struggle more than ever for the cause he had-at heart.