Premier's "Pocket Money"

At Moulins, France, dwells a modest carpenter who has admired M. Aristide Briand, Premier of France, since the days when L'Endormeur* was writing articles for the anarchist journal Le Peuple (circa 1885).

Last week the carpenter was outraged to discover that his hero's salary as Premier is but 90,000 francs a year. Vexed and eager to right what he considered a wrong, the carpenter straightway despatched 1,000 francs ($33) to M. Briand, with the request that he expend it as "pocket money."

Unfortunately the letter came under the eye of the French secret service, and four operatives were sent after "the man who has dared to insult the Premier of France." Simultaneously the Minister of Commerce started proceedings against the carpenter for having "illegally mailed currency in an unregistered letter."

All this ponderous breaking of a carpenter upon wheels within wheels came to an end when M. Briand himself chanced to read his admirer's letter. Touched by its evident sincerity he detected no insult, called off the secret service and the Minister of Commerce, sent the carpenter a warm note of appreciation, returned the 1,000 francs.

* Untranslatable: "the siren," "the wheedler into benumbed complaisance." So called because of the lulling, persuasive power of his deep cello voice.