“MME. LA PRESIDENTE”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 169, 22 July 1935, Page 7

“MME. LA PRESIDENTE”

. REMARKABLE CAREER advice to investors Aladam Hanau, sometimes known as Aladame la i'residente,” was alter her incarceration in the Bt/Luza-re I’lisun at Paris, dubbed “the must remarkable woman in contemporary France. ” This description has been applied to her by a well-known Eu--lisli journalist who recently interviewed her. 'lwenty-live years ago Aladame Hanau, when twenty years of age, was peddling baby linen at Alonimartrc. Her ascent began quickly after she had met and married Jaizare Bloch, who displayed enterprise almost equal tc her ow n. They tried many things, and in J Jl2 w ere at la.il on the road to success with a perfume shop whose success terminated only with an accident to the proprietress. Then came the war. The couple decided to make the most cf their opportunities and marketed a “soldiers comforter,” which proved a great commercial success. It was a mixture of rum and coffee in small metal tubes. But beI lore long they were prosecuted fur the heinous offence of selling bad drink to the poilus and their worst times were upon them. In 1923 Aladame Bloch had to return to her soap shop to work, and there she met a customer who changed everything. Under the Spell i his was Aladame Joseph, rich, charming and mysterious, who icll under the Hanau spell and who provided the money whereby Aladame Hanau was able to realise a life-long dream of launching a newspaper behind which should stand a bank. Lazare Bloch was editor, but he. was entirely under the influence of his wife. He continued tu be devoted to his wife, and while she was in prison he deputised for her. While her husband edited the journalistic side of the paper, Aladame Hanau-Bloch turned half of tire publication into a bulletin, ever im.-re pertinent and direct, of international finance and the stock exchange, and this brought her to the second part of her plan, co-operation with a bank. Before long Aladame Hanau was playing with millions of francs entrusted to her by a believing public. The true financial purpose of the newspaper was concealed by the barrage of eminent namc3 which was provided, fur the contributors were the first men in France. Aladame met all her contributors socially and a composite photograph, with autographs, of all the great ones who had written for the journal was put up in the office. This brought more business from the public and gave her more money with which to play. The paper was a great success, and she opened 400 bureaux in different parts of France. In her office she swayed millions of francs by advice to the investor. She employed a head office stall of 250 people in her newspaper, which was also a bank. But in tlie bad times of .1926 when the flight frc-ni the franc began t'heistorni broke. At the end of 1928 there was suspicion of her but. no proof, and Alinisters showed a curious reluctance to proceed against her. Arie st ‘‘You tell me that nu one will carry plaint against her,” said Al. Poincaie, the I’rcinicr. “Tnen 1 will.” Aladame Hanau and most of her aides were arrested. The sum of 300,000,000 francs was said to have been lost by her, in spite c-f the great dividends she had paid io her depositors, dividends which had started the suspicion against her. Her magic with the public remained, however, a meeting of 5000 of her most involved clients voted their full confidence in her. >he maintained that her affairs were solvent, and that she had pai'l every■ne 190 per cent, of what they ah i handed to her. But a counter-in vest! gation of her affairs was refused and she went to prison. There she kepi tier contact, with the outside world and insist»•;! that she was being victimised. In .19;; 1 she was again arrested anti sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, actually reduced to eight months because <>f the time she spent in prison awaiting trial. In 1932 she was arrested again and charged with the theft of confidential Government d' cti incuts and with attempting to create a panic in the Parisian market by statements in her newspaper, but latci