Why Do French Governments Fall?

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 166, 16 July 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

Why Do French Governments Fall?

By A. W. Parsons

FRENCHMEN ,itturt have'%»h 1 gotten something., ( VVw' if They ;faijfcnitii*.*Ukgm fSqUtdass Ci^rnirf :^nnV#; with pointmeiir-/ «e<fond I remgtiMioti, and final neconstruction with grantinfir v'feir^ a- month ':&f jifUl. power to rule, by decree in respect to finances, plus appeal to the country for stability, for three months. ■, >. It's too., good t» be.'tree if they've suddenly decided ta let , one Government stay there long enough to get aome real work done. Which tirrngy ...ii«;-.to:"t|Mi much-vexed questions , ■ "* WHY DO FRENCH GOVERNMENTS FALL SO EASILY t One region is that the French Chunfer of Deputies—the House- Sf Commo»work on the party »y S «em,%s d works on the " <i divided among nine main grouidngs The, result of this is tbatieione part T can hope to have an alwolute majority Therefore, all Govemmente mittt L, coalitions. No one ean tell when there will arise a question on which the com- ,

ponent parties of the Government will When the French : constitution -tfae devised, nearly 70 years ago, K£l thought that it mm^mtiWmi country if then were too many general elections. * ~Y ■.;.;■: - . */..-, the Chamber should l>e * dafceli autt^f a Chamber will be dissolved until ite four-year course has run.

\vT is not, therefore, faced with the inconvenience and Iriek of bcrin? to «g*t an election when he- k vote wiidi may bruig down the Qowtfnment. ,?l»e Cabinei'e Parliamentary troubles are not ended with the GhSber! The Senate M no Hoiwe of Urde It can iL M&S* double with ment^anostllevoteonanLpor^;

s •..;>• The Government appoints its Governor t and; vice-Governor—the bank ie a pri..vete' institution with a charter—'but they can be outvoted by other regents, 1? of whom the Government has y Kpw, if these 12 regents do not lik . the * Government, they can say to the ' i when credits are required: ■ "Not another penny." is-. The opposite danger also faces a , French Premier. If he is a favourite of the bank, the Chamber—-where the bank's ideas on national finance are not necessarily popular—may turn nasty. ---Then the only way out is to resign or_ to shout: "This is a crieis"—and obtain dictatorial financial powers from the Chamber. The Chamber does not like making Prime' Ministers into money dictators. So tire probability- is that the Government has to resign. lW_ two very, good reasons a French Government may want to resign. If a 'Cabinet ie. playing for time in • tricky international negotiation, resignation is a sound move. Naturally, resignation stops negotiations. And the Government can (with luck) re-form, in a few days, when foreign affairs have sorted themselves out a little. Also, we come back to the fact that French Governments are coalitions. The majority of a Cabinet may be embarking oat A policy which is unpopular with one of the Government's constituent .partiee. ■'•■•■ If the Cabinet can resign, get rid of the dissidents and take in new men — either a little more to Eight or a little more to Left than their predecessors— well, that suits them fine. ? So the Third French Reputßrl—lad 100 Governments in less than 70 years. Undoubtedly this has been, a weakness 01 France's political system, but though Governments come and Governments go, F ? ani * «nd her Empire are run by efficient—often brilliant—civil iervante and administrators.

"Hand it over!" the woman commanded when she and Brett were alone. "Or as soon as we reach Ottawa, you'll be whi&ked to our hangout in the Gatineau hills. We keep rats there, special rats, imported from the Orient and infected with typhus and bubonic plague. They're very hungry and efficient rate!" It was all eo incredible that Brett was speechless. "All right!" snapped the blonde. "I'll find it! If I don't he'll—" she glanced meaningly towards the door. In an orderly way the Slavic blonde pawed over Brett's belongings. By the time she reached the jar of cream Brett had manoeuvred the revolver from her pocket; There was a possibility that the green-eyed man had lied. Aiming at the light, ehe fired. "Little fool!" the woman remarked indifferently, as the light continued to shine. Unscrewing the top of the jar, she sniffed. "What expensive cosmetics you use!" she remarked, putting it down again. At last the blonde stood over Brett, and Brett's immobility broke. The blonde had to dodge her flailing arms. In the struggle one of the mules came off. Brett grabbed for it. So did the blonde, who. captured both the slipper and its mate. "How very amateurish!" she cried, ripping off the ornaments. The little envelope became a focal point for all the light in the compartment. When the blonde left, Brett bolted the door. It would only be a matter of minutes before they discovered that the envelope contained nothing but a snapshot of George, squinting into the sun. Brett's extra envelopes were like the golden apples of Atelanta, dropped as she raced, so she might outdistance her pursuers. With shaking knees, Brett left the train a'. Ottawa. She was expecting to be dumped into a waiting car and whisked away. Actually, nothing happened; to Brett, that was suddenly more ominous than direct action. Following Dyke's instructions, she waited in her room at the Chateau Laurier, but no message came from him. From her window she could eee across the Ottawa River to the Gatineau Hills, rising fax beauty. For her, their blue and purple ahadows cloaked unspeakable horror. Brett began to long for the sweet tranquillity of her life with George. To wait in endless uncertainty was more

"Peace!" gasped Brett, turning t< hurry back to the hotel. In the elevator, going up to her room .she decided to ignore Dyke's instruc tions. There was only one thing to d. —to notify the police. If they acte< promptly there might still be time t< intercept that car before it was los; in the maze of side roads that spreac into the Gatineau hills. She had stepped into her room befon she was aware of the figure of a man outlined against the square of light fron a window. It was the green-eyed man with her jar of face cream. He was jrust opening the little envelope that had been wrapped in oiled silk, the envelope that contained a snapshot of George as * %£Z' ~B rett rUßbe d at him blindly. That likeness of George was suddenly so inestimably precious that Mad Miliken s generator was washed entirely from her mind. J "Put that down!" she cried ing ° Ut! " someone called > in waraJ' ett had • 7 agae im P™ssion of many people about her, but she didn't turn ovoi/T* , " ,37 ? 1 m * n made ■" effort to avoid her, stepped back and tripped. Brett fen over him and bumped her head against a chair. She seemed to be lying on the sea a Tot W Th her Sh ° uld / r8 "S*™* a log. The sound of waves pounded in r^liT+w , ?? ingS caln >ed down she realised that the log was George's arm iis voice was booming out just above Her 63r» "The idea was to give her a run for *et y ° U not to let her "I didn't touch her!" the green-eved man retorted. "She tripped hlrself!" Thr ough the fringe of her eyelashes Brett saw the Slavic blonde emerge from the shadows on the other side of the room and stand beside the green-eved man. "\ "My husband wouldn't hurt a fly!" she corroborated. "If you'll pay us off Mr. Norman, we'll get out of here!" Dyke said: "I'll attend to this He counted out money and gave it to the green-eyed man. Then Brett remembered George and Dyke, clinking glasses in the library at home, and her unanswered question George, she surmised, was at the bottom of this. She wasn't angry with him only tremendously relieved. The green-eyed matt-shoved the money into his pocket and drew out an automatic. "Stick 'em up!" he ordered.