A PARIS LETTER.

Waikato Times, Volume 110, Issue 18478, 5 November 1931, Page 10

A PARIS LETTER.

LESSONS IN ECONOMY. BRITAIN THE ‘HORRIBLE EXAMPLE’ (From a Correspondent). PARIS, September 19. Britain’s struggle with her financial difficulties has made a very deep impression on the French mind, and it is being freely used by political moralists as the text of lay sermons. Frenchmen are being warned that they are not simply spectators in the economic crisis which has involved most of the civilised countries in the world. The gospel of economy is being .preacbfed Intensively, and though France has been able to lend large sums of money her citizens are told that they must tighten their belts just as their neighbours are doing. According to one calculation—which, however, is purely speculative—the French Budget at the end of the current financial year will have a deficit of about £50,000,000. Other commentators, taking a more cheerful view of the actual' situation, have staled that there is serious trouble ahead unless France begins at once a programme of economy. If she does not, then difficulties of a very serious order are prophesied for the years 1932 and 1933. All wise leaders, here as in England, are preaching economy, but the difficulties of applying their precepts are being more fully realised than ever they were before. Everyone wants economies to be practised at the expense of someone else. Perils of the Dole. The heavy expenditure necessitated by the dole In Britain is one of the principal objects of criticism of our economic system. It is pointed out that the rigidity of the dole system at a time when sacrifices are being made by all classes is one of the greatest obstacles which Britain has to overcome in her fight to regain economic health. There is a certain appeal about the frankness of the thing. There is an even stronger appeal to the Ihrifty Parisian who, having heard of the tradesman’s discomfiture, is eager to take advantage of the bargains it entails. What the creditors will have to say about it is another matter. When questioned on this point the tradesman in question said that he was acting in the most honest manner possible. He was realising all his stock at 'bargain prices in order that when the crash came he would be able to offer his creditors at least a reasonable sum in hard cash. M. Herrlot, Tailor. Very few people known that M. Edouard Ilerriot,, Mayor of Lyons, and a former Premier of France, is -a master tailor and a wine merchant. He has reason to be proud of his titles as a tradesman on account of the manner in which he acquired them. During the war M. Merriott, having decided that certain wholesale clothing manufacturers were making scandalous profits out of the provision of army clothing, decided that he would obtain some of the contracts so as to provide work for the women whose husbands were at the front. He applied on behalf of the City of Lyons for an army contract, only to be informed that the City was not on the 'list of contractors. He 'therefore had himself placed on the list as a wholesale clothing manufacturer, and after a long dispute with the army authorities won his point. He could distribute the work as he liked, and so the city authorities saw to it that the women who needed work got It. Some time later he ordered on 'behalf of the municipality 2000 hectolitres of wine destined for the population of the city. The octroi authorities decided that the wine could not be delivered as the municipality was not registered as a wine merchant. M. Herriot again overcame the difficulty by having himself registered as a dealer in wines and spirits, and personally supervised the delivery to the city of its ration of refreshment. The question of national pride has also become involved. One writer has just pointed out that when the average Frenchman loses his employment he looks not for relief but for some other kind of work. “He will change ihs occupation a dozen times if necessary but he will not simply hold out his hand.” These notes are typical of what Frenchmen are saying at the moment, and they are recorded here simply because it is sometimes good to see ourselves as others see us. Shares on Wheelbarrows. Among the sights of Paris which have disappeared during the past few years are the “Pieds humides,” those shabby peddlars who used to hang about the Bourse and offer thick wads of share certificates for next to nothing. For a few francs one could buy the controlling interest in a gold mine which had never been made to pay or in some other wild-cat adventure of finance which the Bourse had spurned. There is now in Paris at least one survivor of the “pieds humides.’’ He •sells fruit from a barrow which he pushes about mid-day into those streets where midinettes congregate at the lunch-hour. His prices are very modest, for he offers grapes of good quality at only 3d a pound. But a notice" on his barrow announces that be will wrap his merchandise in genuine securities. When last I saw him at work he was wrapping threepennyworth of grapes in share certificates which had a face value of 350 francs (nearly £3). These were redeemable on sight, but, alas i - they were shares of a hank which failed some time ago. The enterprising fruit merchant, however, pointed out to all potential customers that by 'buying threepennyworth of grapes in a £3 wrapping they became shareholders in a bank which might one day rise from the ashes of its failure.

Bankruptcy Bargains. When an English business man finds himself bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy lie does not usually advertise the fact. Some Parisian tradesmen see things in a different light. There is one in the Trinite quarter who lias lately displayed in ids window a notice which reads: “I am about to lie bankrupt. Take advantage of my bargains.”