And All Europe Laughed! “The Plight of the Poldavians”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 708, 6 July 1929, Page 2

And All Europe Laughed! “The Plight of the Poldavians”

■HEN .28 French Republican deputies sat down to their breakfast coffee and croissants (breakfast rolls) recently, each found a large crinkly letter from Geneva in His morning’s mail. Innocent and refreshed after a sound night’s sleep, not one Republican deputy saw anything untoward in the fact that the large crinkly letters were embossed on the stationery of "Foreign Minister Lamidaeff, of the Kingdom of Poldavia.” They saw nothing strange in the fact that Poldavians were in financial difficulties, and they found Minister Lamidaeff most thoughtful in not asking for money, but merely for an expression of "moral support” from the Deputies in his campaign to aid Poldavian sufferers. “We believe that our interests were betrayed at the Peace Conference,” wrote Poldavian Lamidaeff. “and we appeal to you as a member of the French Parliament to do your utmost to help us in this, our hour of need. The whole nation of Poldavia and its noble monarch, who disregarded personal safety In 1916, and joined France in her war for justice and righteousness, pray you to remember our sacrifices.” What could be fairer than that? Legislators all over the world are always ready to write enthusiastic ■platitudes in favour of anything that sounds like a good cause. The wronged Poldavians seemed a very good cause. Each of the 28 deputies sat down at his desk and pledged his moral support to "Foreign Minister Lamidaeff of Poldavia.” None of the 2S deputies noticed that to be renewed. Fox made her an offer of £350 a week if she signed up again. Miss Borden was willing—but mother stepped in. The mother thought her daughter was worth £4OO a week, and even went to the length of saying that she could get it from certain other companies. So Fox “let her out.” For four months Olive’s mother tried to get £4OO a week from various other companies. But there was nothing doing. So they eventually accepted a contract with a minor company at a greatly reduced price. I doubt if Olive’s income for the year after she left Fox amounted to a quarter of what it would have been had she accepted their offer.

The trouble is that mothers are pampered too much in Hollywood. They live in the lap of luxury provided for them by their sons and daughters, and few—a very few—-have the tact to remain gracefully in the background and let their children manage their careers.

the old Poldavian name of Lamidaeff might read “VAmi d’A. F.” —" the friend of A. F.,” "the friend of VAction Francaise,” famed royalist newspaper of which the editor is Leon Daudet, bon vivant, practical jokester, son of famed Author Alphonse Daudet (Tartarin de Tarascon), exile from the republic be has so consistently lampooned. Three days after the 28 gullible deputies replied to the "Poldavian Minister,” a special edition of L’Action Francaise appeared.

"People of France,” wrote exiled editor Daudet, who once escaped from La Sante prison through a hoaxed release order telephoned from the office of the Minister of the Interior, " —People of France, how much longer will you permit such ignorant deputies to represent you before the world? Here are 28 of your elected representatives, and they actually believe there is a Kingdom of Poldavia, and that Lamidaeff is its Foreign Minister. Lamidaeff, e’est moil”

Thus 28 rueful French deputies discovered that Poldavia and the Poldavians, their Foreign Minister and embossed stationery, were just another hoax of Royalist Daudet ':nd

his followers, the Camelots du RoL Their object again was to prove that all Republicans are either imbeciles or ignoramuses. In high glee at the success of their latest hoax, Editor Daudet reprinted all 28 letters to the Minister of Poldavia.

“My time, my heart, my ssword if necessary is at the disposal of your noble nation,” wrote the most impressionable of the deputy dupes.