THE LATE PRESIDENT OF FRANCE. (Hansard, 10 May 1932)

§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WAR (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM)
My Lords, I beg to move that the Motion for an Address to His Majesty which stands at the end of the Paper do take precedence over other Orders of the Day for this day.

§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAM
My Lords, I now have to move, That an humble Address be presented to His Majesty to convey to His Majesty the expression of the deep sorrow and indignation with which this House has learned of the assassination of the President of the French Republic; and to pray His Majesty that He will be graciously pleased to express on the part of this House their abhorrence of the crime, and their sympathy with the French Government and the people of France.
I think the whole world was shocked by the news which reached us on Friday night of the murderous attack on the President of the French Republic. Its fatal outcome on Saturday morning has left with each one of us a sense of horror and dismay. The French people may to-day feel a more personal sorrow than any we can share, but I venture to think that even they cannot have a more real sense of calamity. That a public man with a distinguished career behind him, with a record of a noble life given to the public service, should be struck down by the irresponsible hand of an assassin is a shock to the moral sense of the whole civilised community.
The assassination of the official head and representative of a great nation at the very moment when his guiding hand was most needed is a matter of profound concern not only to his own people but to the world at large. Our feelings of horror and grief are intensified when we recall that this crime is due to no personal animosity against its victim, but that it has fallen upon him solely because he is the chosen head of the State. That the head of a friendly State should thus perish must, in any event, arouse in us a deep sympathy for his people in the loss they have sustained, but in the present case there is a more intimate tie which moves us to share in the sorrow of France and to seek to associate ourselves in their mourning, a tie derived from the history of recent years. We do not forget the dark days of 1914 to 1918 when France and we ourselves were united in a common struggle. We do not forget that 343 the late President himself gave four of his sons to the defence of that cause in which we fought side by side.
Of the President himself I would only say that his life was a pattern of public service fitly crowned by the supreme honour which he was fated to enjoy for only one year. He leaves behind him a memory of personal integrity, of patriotism, and of unflinching courage which to-day can only deepen for the French people their sense of loss, but which surely will be an inspiration and a pride to his countrymen in days to come. As I have said, we recognise that this tragedy brings to them a more intimate grief than any we can know, but I should like to assure the Government and the people of France that we associate ourselves with their sorrow, and that in their hour of bereavement we sympathise with them with all our hearts. I beg to move.

§ LORD PONSONBY OF SHULBREDE
My Lords, I rise to second the Motion now before the House, and on behalf of the Opposition to associate myself with the condolences to the Republic of France and the tribute to the memory of the late President which have been so appropriately and impressively expressed by the Leader of the House. That the head of a State should be the mark for an assassin's aim is an unfortunate fact of which history furnishes many tragic examples. The high position of such men exposes them to this danger, and great courage is required of them to discharge their constant duties before assemblies and crowds where the deadly weapon of the assassin may be lurking unsuspected and concealed.
There have been instances of men in high position who, because of some grievance, real or imaginary, against them personally, or because they were the embodiment of some particular policy, or because of their personal action or 344 character, have been attacked and have fallen in this way, but what makes the dastardly crime which has thrown France into mourning so specially abominable is the fact that the victim was a man against whom it is inconceivable that anybody harboured any grudge, a man who, I do not suppose, had an enemy, either personal or political, in the whole world, a man who had reached the high position that he held from the very fact that he was able to display such scrupulous impartiality. M. Doumer, rising from a very humble origin, worked his way up to high posts until at last he was chosen by his fellow-countrymen as chief of the State as a testimony to the value they placed on his sane judgment and his wise discrimination. Not only here where it is our duty to express official sympathy, but in many modest homes in other countries than France deep sympathy will be felt for his family and his country, and as deep abhorrence of the senseless, meaningless, purposeless act which brought about his death.
On the very same day the news reached us that France had lost another distinguished statesman in the person of M. Albert Thomas, whose services in the international field are so well known and so highly appreciated, and that constitutes an additional cause for the expression of our sympathy. The fortunes of our great neighbour across the channel will always be a great concern of the British people, and as in the happier days and the brighter days we have been enabled to rejoice with her, so in the darker days we shall not fail to express the heartfelt sympathy of our friendship.

§ THE MARQUESS OF READING
My Lords, on behalf of those with whom I am associated in this House I desire to support the Motion which has just been moved in such graceful terms by the noble and learned Viscount. In my judgment he spoke not only for your Lordships' House, but also for all classes and all Parties, and for all the people of this country. We deplore with him the dreadful crime that has laid low the head of a State, our neighbour, our close friend, with whom we have been so long associated. M. Doumer was a man of singular merit, of blameless life, of unimpeachable integrity, of devoted service; and it is impossible to conceive of 345 any action in his life that could have given rise to animosity. The crime therefore remains as senseless as it was horrible. We have long been associated with France in the march of progress and civilisation. In the Great War, as the noble and learned Viscount the Leader of the House has already mentioned, we were bound together by the closest of ties. It would be strange indeed, if in this hour of trial of France, when we are working day by day in intimate endeavour to find a solution for all-perplexing world problems, we as a nation should fail in the slightest degree. It is on the contrary to be expected of us, as it has happened, that we should, in deepest earnestness and sincerity, show our sympathy for France and her Government in the time of trial.