VIVE LA FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 235, 3 October 1936, Page 11

VIVE LA FRANCE.

f WEEK IN REVIEW. PEOPLE, PLACES AND EVENTS * AIR RAIDS» IN WARSAW. (By CECIL W. LUSTY.) "New Deal" Premier Blum and his Socialist Government make monetary history this week by the devaluation, in conjunction with stabilising agreements by Great Britain and the United States, of the franc. This step has probably saved France from economic and financial collapse, which, in turn, would send "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" to the Fascist or Communist guillotines. While the People's Front Government is a combination of the many Leftists, the Communist party, although given temporary support, , h-pld . £lo<?f f.r<?fli representation, biding its time until, it hopes, it can seize control and effect its Soviet programme. Similarly, the Fascists, while' collectively • disbanded; are awaiting their opportunity. The issue is more than one of national politics; democracy, in its generally accepted term, is in the balance. The startling march of events in Spain and other European centres has tended to cloud this vital stand by M. Blum of demo- I cracy against dictatorship. i It is estimated that the Government will have to raise nearly £180,000,000 by next month to meet part of the armaments expenditure, accumulated Budget and railway deficits, and to repay other . short-term loans. French Governments ; have been obliged to seek advances from the Bank of France, and bills redis- < Jounted by this Institution—now reorgan- 1 ised by M. Blum—during the past two or three years have exceeded £230,000,000. The French Peasant. Of this total it has been estimated < that about £160,000,000 accounts - for f State borrowings from the hank, repre-1 senting inflation. Thus without- some [f

bold change in currency manipulation » the new Government could not hope to raise from the bank, practically the sole source, the hundreds of millions it requires in the near future for its public work, unemployment, pensions and other schemes. According to tradition, the French J peasant hoards his gold in his stockings, but I have never met anyone to verify this belief. Certainly the French peasant is thrifty, self-denying, and often mean in the extreme. It is a common sight, particularly in the Basque provinces to see the peasants carrying their shoes or clogs in their hands to save the leather ; or 'wood. Their characteristics since the . days of 1014-1918, when the peasant farmers' avarice triumphed over liumanitarianism, and handles were removed from the pumps over wells, unless the Allied troops paid in francs for the water, have not greatly changed.

War of the future, all experts agree, will come from the air, and precautionary measures, as shown in the illustrations and cable news in Thursday's "Star," are being taken in England and European countries. My most vivid •memories 'of • mimic ait' raids are of Warsaw, where practical instruction in air raid precautions is given periodically. Ample notiqe. js. given fii the Warsaw "raids" in the Press, over the radio, and by large placards at every street corner. By eight o'clock on the evening of the "ta.id"' all blinds and curtains have' to be drawn, blue tissue paper pasted over non-light-proof blinds, and all lights extinguished. .As .further .warning, of danger from the skies, a prearranged signal, in the form of a national tune, is broadcast by the radio stations. Talks by military authorities on necessary precautions are next broadcast, interspersed

with national martial music. A City of the Dead. Realism is added to the broadcasts by the roar of the aeroplanes circling overhead coming through the microphones at the studio, while radio reporters give graphic eye-witness accounts of the eerie darkness, stabbed by the searchlights, from above and below, the deserted streets, and the efficacy of the experiment. Power for the transmission is supplied from a plant in the basement of the broadcasting headquarters; studios are in darkness, and, to those at the station, the voices of the announcers .

Leaving the studio during my visit, armed with a pass to satisfy the police and soldiers patrolling the streets, I accompanied an official party on a tour of Warsaw, usually such a blaze of Neon and flood-lighting colour and scene of cafe animation, and now like a city of the dead. The heart of the city was rfi Stygian gloom, save when a police torch flashed from a doorway, or the sweeping searchlights cast buildings into strange relief. Here and there in the suburbs the edict was not faithfully observed, and there were gleams from windows, but one gained the impression that any enemy aeroplane would find it exceedingly difficult to locate vulnerable targets. Finally the signal "Danger past" was broadcast by mus?c, and Warsaw suddenly resumed life.