FRENCH CABINET

Press, Volume LXXXV, Issue 25932, 12 October 1949, Page 5

FRENCH CABINET

President To Meet Party Leaders AGREEMENT SAID TO BE NEARER (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 8.15 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 11. The Paris correspondent of the “Daily ] Telegraph” says that France’s Presi- i dent (Mr Vincent Auriol) is to inter- < vene personally this morning in an effort to break the French political ] crisis. He will see Mr Paul Reynaud, leader of the Right Wing Inde- ] pendents, as well as representatives of r the Right Wing Party of Republican Liberty. This decision was made after a meeting last night between Mr Jules Moch, the Socialist Minister of the Interior, and the President. Mr Moch reported on his efforts to find an agreement on which a new Government could be formed. Earlier last night Mr Moch presided over a meeting of the heads of all the non-Communist groups in the Assembly. He presented to them a programme on wages and prices, and suggested that agreement was possible among all the parties of the coalition. It was a dispute ovei' these issues which caused the Queuille Government to fall. Mr Moch’s plan is that prices should : be reduced by subsidies and that they ■ should be fixed at the lower levels. He suggested cuts in the price of olive oil, butter, domestic coal, wine, and : sugar. Other reports say that Mr Moch’s chances of preparing a programme on | which the divided elements of France’s Government can reunite are considered I to have improved. It will be Mr I Auriol’s aim to-day to win over the . Moderate and Right Wing groups I whose support Mr Moch has failed to I ' enlist. j Correspondents say that the labour situation is clearly deteriorating be- I j cause of renewed agitation by Left exj tremists. Miners have walked out of I 15 pits in the north, where the Coms munists are strong. NO FUTURE SEEN ! FDR DEMOCRACY I AUSTRALIAN BISHOP’S ' OPINION TRIUMPH OF COMMUNISM PREDICTED 'Rec. 11.30 p.m.) ADELAIDE. Oct. 11. ■ Communism will eventually crush I «^ oc F ac y» according to the Bishop of j iWillochra, South Australia (Dr. Rich- I j ard Thomas). Writing in a church I magazine. Dr. Thomas said there was j ,no future for democracy. It had shown itself to be a breeding place for incompetency, discontent, and cor- i ruption. “Democracy is incapable of making I a successful stand against the powerful force of Communism; it will eventually be crushed by it." he said. Communism appealed strongly because it had a definite plan, but no gospel able to save mankind. Dcmoc- ■ racy, on the other hand, had nothing to proclaim but vague generalities. It was unable to arouse enthusiasm for its cause. and could exist only by i pandering to self-motives. N.Z. ELECTORS IN ! BRITAIN INFORMATION SOUGHT ON VOTING RIGHTS (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) LONDON. October 10. I The authorities at New Zealand j House have received no reply from i Wellington to their question whether arrangements will be made for New I Zealand visitors to the United Kingdom to record absentee votes in the . New Zealand General Election. j Several hundreds of inquiries have • : been received, and the complete lack I ; of information is causing much irri- • tation. particularly as Australia House ' last week announced detailed arrange- I ments to enable both Australian civ- I ilians and Australian servicemen in I Britain to vote in the Federal elections on December 10. A special elecI toral officer has been installed at Australia House and the arrangements have been set out in several publications circulating among Australians in I the United Kingdom. ! At present the only information ' I New Zealand House can give is that I i presumably arrangements can be made ' ’ by those whose names are still on the , Now Zealand electoral rolls to send postal votes to New Zealand. BUCKINGHAM PALACE ' PRECAUTIONS AGAINST INTRUDERS I (Rec. 8.30 p.m.) LONDON, Oct. 11. ; Security measures to guard Buckingham Palace are being swiftly revised as a result of the discovery of a man hiding in a room of the palace last Saturday night. Scotland Yard yesterday issued the statement: “We arc taking steps to prevent a recurrence cf the incident.” This was the fourth time that intruders had been found in the Palace grounds in less than two years. The police said that Saturday night’s intruder entered by climbing a wire i fence and a wall, and then using a • workman's ladder to enter the building. I A 10-foot wall surmounted by rc- ! vqlving iron spikes along Constitution . Hill is now being rebuilt. | Scotland Yard officials, on inquiring i how the man could climb the wall unseen, were told by a spokesman for the Guards Brigade that while the sentry would naturally have given the alarm if he had seen the intruder, lie should stand with his eyes to the front. U.S. Legionaries to Tour Britain. — Two thousand members of the American Centennial Legion, whose forebears fought in the American War of Independence, will visit Britain next April on a goodwill tour Their com- : mander, Brigadier-General S. E. Dock- - ! rell, arrived in London to-day to make : preliminary arrangements for the visit, j The legionaries will arrive dressed in their picturesque red and blue uni- ’ forms, with tri corned hats and tight- . fitting breeches. They will bring with j them long-cherished relics captured » from the British at the Battle of r Lexington. These they will present to . British units.—London, October 11.