TROUBLE FEARED IN FRANCE

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21124, 27 March 1934, Page 9

TROUBLE FEARED IN FRANCE

PNREST AND TENSION r REPORTS THAT PARTIES ARE ARMING i DISCORD AND SQUABBLES IN THE CABINET (VOTED TRESS ASSOCIATION—BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH —COPYRIGHT.) (Received March 27, 12.45 a.m.) PARIS, March 26. M. Leon Blum, the Socialist leader, writing in the "Socialist Populaire," reveals that a confidential letter from the General Staff has been sent to factory managers in the Amiens district, asking for the names of persons who should be telephoned to in case of political tension. The letter added: "Any factory which does not reply to the query will have its telephone automatically disconnected when political tension begins." M. Blum asks if the document means that in the event of disturbances the political and military authorities contemplate seizing full power. The Paris correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph" says that alarmist reports are in circulation that both Conservative and Socialist parties are arming. It is already known that many Parisians are equipped with revolvers, knuckle-dusters, and life preservers, but the authorities ridicule the report that any party is really arming. The Paris correspondent of the "Sunday Referee" states that the boulevards are buzzing with alarming rumours that another big outbreak of rioting is planned for early next week. The authorities arc taking elaborate precautions to prevent a clash, but the unrest and tension are unmistakeable.

Manifestoes appear on hoardings inflaming the passions of the public. France is ready to go Fascist, but lacks a leader, who may emerge in the next upheaval. The Premier, M. Gaston Doumergue, is making a heroic effort to keep the team marching in unison, but recently he told intimates: "I am heart-broken. All the discords and squabbles of which the Chamber is now rid seem to be revived in the Cabinet." Some of the Ministers want to defer indefinitely the cuts in civil service salaries, which the Chamber dare not vote, as no deputies would then be safe.