HEAVY MENACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 204, 29 August 1935, Page 20

HEAVY MENACE.

OUTLOOK IN FRANCE. REVOLUTION IN THE AIR. THE FIERY CROSS. PARIS, July 13. July is the classic month for revolutions in France. Considering the way the temperature is rising on both sides of the two big forece now struggling for mastery in France, the average citizen wonders if 1935 is going to see a repetition of the events of 1759 and IS3O. It is still too early to scream catastrophe. In France things have a habit of "arranging themselves" just when the prospects are blackest. Come close to the brink, but don't go over it—that is what the French seem to take delight in doing. And the tone of political controversy is usually go violent in this country that it is hard to tell when a bitter diatribe really means business. But there is no doubt that the air is heavy with menace. The French are today closer to civil war than they have been at any time since the Dreyfus affair, in the late 1890's. The situation is more dangerous than it was, for the enemies of the established regime at the time of Dreyfus were more violent than stron" and one big party was for keeping the status quo. To-day the forces oA-ight and left are both powerful and the ultimate aim of each is revolution, though naturally each wants a different kind of revolution. The- profound cause of the present tension is the decay of Parliamentary institutions in France. The French Republic, the American should keep in mind, differs from his own not only in organisation and institutions, being highly centralised instead of federal, and approaching more the British model than ours. It differs also in its motivating spirit. Revolutionary Rhetoric. Spiritually the French Republic reste on revolution. It is supposed to be a continuous creation, moving toward some indefinite ideal of perfection. That is why revolutionary rhetoric is used so freely by politicians in France, who would tremble with fright if any one took their words seriously. The Third Republic has kept going on that equivocation. The consequence hae been that misunderstandinr. not to mention hypocrisy, has bpcome a constant French political practice. Words never mean what they seem to mean, or else they mean one thing one moment and something else the next moment. But always, from the habit of using violent words, there has been a constant push over toward the Left. Demagogy has been the one possible method of getting election. The candidate had to promise the voters the Government would be theirs and that they would get a good thing out of it. Constant Treasury, looting by giving handouts to everyone have kept Government finances in a bad way ever since the war. For a while, during the boom years, the Budget was balanced, but once depression set in it ran into deficit once more. Just as the situation was getting serious, and everyone agreed the house had to be set in order, the French had a regular election—that of May, 1932. The campaign was conducted with a demagogy never before surpassed, and returned a Chamber well over to the Left, i That meant predominance of the parties especially pledged to soak the rich and loot the Treasury further. To timid conservatives it also meant the road open to revolution, for Left parties have to keep part of their word sometimes. Some simple souls take revolutionary talk seriously. A deputy can hardly complain when on the platform he uses the same talk himself. He has to be indulgent toward revolutionary manifestations. From demonstrations — French conservatives think—the step is a short one to revolution itself.

The Scandal Period. The dismay of the solid bourgeoisie, which has vineyards in the sun and francs in the mattress, was increased as this Left Chamber showed itself incapable of tackiing the financial problem. After words about the necessity of balancing the Budget, it would bring down any Cabinet which actually tried that, because it meant cutting off so much electoral manna. Then came the revelation that many politicians were not only demagogic, but corrupt. A series of scandals, culminating in the Stavisky case of December,. 1933, robbed the deputies of any prestige they had left with the solid citizenry. The Stavisky affair, as a matter of fact, was not as bad as some others which had occurred .within the 10 years previous, but it came at a psychological moment. It let loose the torrent of indignation. It proved to the average taxpayer that a representative- of the people, once elected, acquires a peculiar mentality and morality. He calls for economy and "votes for a raid on the treasury. He denounces the malefactors of great wealth, but is only too happy to get on good terms with those malefactors and acquire some of their wealth. Above all, lie regards himself no matter what hia party, as a member of a privileged club, above criticism and above punishment, and will 'stand solidly beside any other deputy no matter how corrupt the latter may be. The successive Cabinets which came after the Stavisky revelations confirmed the bourgeoisie in their low opinion of the chamber. They saw that the scandal would be stifled. Hence the sporadic riots during January, 1934. The climax was the city-wide tuniiilt, of February 0, 1934, when all Paris seemed to be in the streets to cry "Down with the robbers!" and when the mobile gi'erd fired on the mob to defend the chamber of deputies. Anti-Parliamentary. Calm followed that week of storm, but everyone knew that a line of cleavage had been established in the country. It was splitting into two camps, something contrary to French custom. The French, in general, like a scattering of little parties; often indistinguishable one.froiu the other, except to the initiated, but whore individualism gets full play. On the one side has been gathering the so-called "Fascist" forces, which for lack of a more specific name we may rail the Right, though the term is misleading by implying they are conservative. Chief of them is the organisation of the Fiery Cross (Croix de Fuel), which has now spread over the whole country. Akin to it and co-operaing with it * are other bodios, notably French Solidarity and the Young Patriots. These Right organisations so far have but one point in tneir programme. They are anti-parliamentary, which does not necessarily mean that they are against the Republic. But the Republic, when they got through with it, would boar little resemblance to the one now existing- Above all, it would be au^ujrita-

tive. It would also be nationalistic, banning ideas of pacificism and internationalism. The Left lias been slowly grouping its forces into a phalanx which at first, it called the common front, and now called the popular front. The driving power is supplied by the Communists, numerically inferior to Socialists, but far more energetic and enterprising. Allied together are Communists, Socialists and a good fraction of that middle-of-the-road party which the French call radicalGrouping the Nation. The most significant step taken by the popular front has been an attempt to amalgamate the two trade uiiwma organisations of France, the G.G.T. and the C.G.T.U., which split in 1922. a split corresponding to the political one between the Socialists, who followed the Second International, and the Communists, who followed .Moscow and the Third International. The C.G.T. has 700.1)00 ■members; the C.G.T.U. 500,000. Negotiations between the two bodies are apparently coming to a successful conclusion. A huge national union of 1,200,000 workmen will put a formidable fighting machine at the disposal of the popular front, for sucli extreme measures as a general strike. The grouping of the whole French nation into right and left, with no one left in the centre, is proceeding at a rapid pace. Fiery words have been exchanged, and all over the country ..for months ha* been a sputtering of guerrila warfare. Most are just scuffles where some one gets a bloody nose, but with each one tempers become exasperated, and threats of vengeance are freely used. The situation would have been brought to a head if the Government had attempted to dissolve the Fiery Cross and other leagues of the right, as Radical, Communist and Socialist deputies have kept urging the Government to do. It is certain that these organisations would not have disbanded peaceably, nor will they in the future. TMj Fiery Cross especially lias roused the fury of the left by carrying on partial "mobilisations." rapidly transporting to a given point, all its adherents in a given region. This shows, as Communists and Socialists say, how ready these "Fascists"' are to attack the regime. The most spectacular demonstration of the Fiery Cross was at Algiers in North Africa, in the middle of June, when 30 ai:planes took part in the manoeuvres. That led to a violent squabble in the Cabinet itself, where Edouard Herriot, the Radical chief, professed to see the life of the republic in danger. On the Sunday of June 23 alone clashes between right and left were reported from six points of France. Authorised voices on botli sides announced that this was but tha beginning, that the retort in each cade would be further demonstrations.