RULER OF FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 8

RULER OF FRANCE.

RICH. LEARNED AND A FIGHTER Leon Blum, leader of French Socialism, and new Premier of France, has lived his life in Opposition. He has broken Government after Government; Governments of the Right,' of the Centre, even of the Left—and he has just made his first. The following sketch of this striking character was written by Bruce Clavering for the London "Sunday Referee." As a destructive force, Blum can be ranked ■supreme. For all his physical weakness, for all his physical handicaps,i even, for all. liis gentleness of attack',, the man is dynamite. Here is something smooth, subtle, with a devastating and destructive wisdom. Blum's voice is high, holding the suspicion of the traditional Jewish lisp; retaining a trace of the slurred guttural Jewish "r." At moments of excitement it is apt to shrill into high falsetto. Amazing Linguist. Blum is sixty-four. He came from Alsace —that land of conflict. His father was a rich merchant of cloth. He studied at the Ecole Normale Superieure—he intended to be a schoolmaster. But he became a lawyer. He is still a lawyer—who never pleads in court; he is a consultant of company and commercial law. Leon became a judge at the Couseil d'Etat. But, for a time, he abandoned the law. He read philosophy and took a Ph.D., abandoned philosophy, and became a critic of the drama. He was well off, charming, cultured. He lived largely for, largely with, books. His god was Marcel Proust. He spoke —and still speaks —the classical tongues of Greece and Rome with the fluency of his native French, lie speaks good German. He has written admirable articles in English. In the 'nineties he became a Socialist. When the war ended Socialism was faced with a dual peril: the parti-coloured tide of nationalism that threatened to split it into tiny coral islands, and the Red Sea that threatened to swamp and submerge it. In 1019 Blum became the leader of French Socialism. Between all the parties, more «or less of his own complexion, Blum steered his careful course. His alliances were for a day, for a week, for an hour. Blum never broke a pledge—because he never gave one. He always preserved a free hand. Though lie saw his own followers lured away by the fairy gold of the glory of office; by the tangible gold (as politics are in France) oir the fruits of office, he let. those go who would; ,without even regret. Once in the Chamber, Blum opposed the occupation of the Ruhr on two grounds; he said the action was wrong; he said the action would cost more than it gained. History has proved him right. Popular Front. Blum was always in advance of his time. Now that the Popular Front is a fact, and a triumphant fact, it seems only orthodox fo regard the Communist alliance as natural. Blum in 1933 was the first to say: "The only effective action against Fascism ami dictatorship lies in a complete unity among the working classes —including Communists." Blum was once hooted as a rich Socialist. He has not given up his fortune; he has bought a millionaire's estate near Cannes; his son works in the luxury works of Hispano Suiza; he is an epicure, a gourmet, an intellectual aristocrat. But it was he who neiotiated the Popular Front. It was within the past six months that lie has really dominated the French scene. He went, as any distinguished Frenchman might, to the funeral of Bainville. His motor car was set upon by Royalist hooligans. They tore the number plate and rear lamp off his car, broke the win-' dows, struck him with-them. A few months later France went to the poll and returned to power the Man Who Has Never Taken Office. •'••• He has already said he will reconvene the Disarmament Conference. He has already said that he will shake hands with Germany, even though her hands are covered with blood. He has already forced France to recognise Soviet Russia. He has written on many subjects, including a "frank" book on marriage—he has been married twice, the second time only a few months after the death of his first wife. In opposition he lias never failed. Now Leon Blum, first Jew, first, Socialist to . become Premier of France, must prove that he who has triumphed without tile inspiration of leadership, without fire of oratory, without glory of patriotism, can construct, can convince, and can govern. As a destroyer lie is supreme.