The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1924 AN ELECTION SURPRISE IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 196, 14 May 1924, Page 6

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1924 AN ELECTION SURPRISE IN FRANCE

M. Poincare’s defeat at the polls —am event, according to one of to-day’s cablegrams, that has astounded Briton and Frenchman alike—has occurred in rather peculiar circumstances. The reality of the defeat is evidently not in question. The Bloc Nationals, the combination of parties at whose head M. Poincare went to the country, is in a minority of twenty or more to the combined parties of the Left. M. Poincare has, or had, the support of the parties of the Right and Centre—the Conservatives and moderate Republicans. On all issues but that of the monarchy he was supported also by the Royalists, and he had the support also of a few Radicals. From this combination power has now passed to the parties of the Left—Radicals, Socialists, and a small group of Communists. M. Poincare’s defeat is for several reasons somewhat unexpected. Right up to the dissolution, his foreign policy was supported by an overwhelming majority in the Chamber of Deputies. Then, again, the Left Bloc is a rather loose combination. An agreement between the Radical Party, the largest section of the Bloc, and the Socialists of various shades provided for co-operation at the election, but it was stipulated that the parties afterwards’ should be free to pursue their respective policies in the Chamber. Decisively as M. Poincare has been defeated, his opponents may not be well placed to turn their victory to account. They are likely at best to experience some difficulty in pulling together, and at the outset are faced by some awkward problems of policy. Towards the end of last year M. Poincare allowed the national finances to get out of hand, and the natural result was seen in a collapse of the franc exchange, which occasioned general alarm. Before he left office, however, M. Poincare had instituted taxation reforms and economies-some of them forced through against heavy opposition-and by these measures and others had arrested the fall oi tIW The leaders of the Radical Party are in the awkard position of having promised to reverse some of these economies, notably by granting salary increases to Civil servants. Should the new Government allow expenditure again to get out of hand, and so bring abou another fall of the franc, its popularity certainly will be short-lived. All things considered, it would be unwise to base undue expectations on the change of Government that is about to take place in France. The foreign policy of the Poincare Government (and the main item meantime in foreign policy is, of course, reparations policy) has not been strongly challenged by any of the parties that presuma y are about to take office, and these parties have no easy path to follow in domestic policy. . There are nevertheless good grounds for believing that M. Poincare’s defeat will ease the general European situation, and d something to facilitate a reparations settlement. As the election result " meaMin® ddM, there are better majority of the people of France are dissatisfied with M. than that they were animated by any strong desire to establish the present Opposition parties in power. The result reads like a verdict cast specifically against M. Poincare, and it is reasonable in the circumstances to believe that those who cast this verdict wish to see every effort made to reach a reparations settlement in co-operation with the Allies. , , • It mav be hoped that any Government that now takes office in France will be readier than M. Poincare has ever been to seek and reach working agreement with the other Allies. The desire agreement of this character has been expressed freely by some sections of French opinion. The Oeuvre, for instance, an organ of the Lett, observed recently that unless the internationally-agreea reports of the experts were merely dismissed, which would be a catastrophic 10l j, France was committed to the evacuation of the Ruhr; that France was indeed ready to make concessions and such sacrifices as were compatible with "our existence and our dignity ; that this policy would now be carried out, whether M. Poincare remained or whether, as the writer of the article considered certain, he was defeated at the ques tions M. Poincare’s integrity or sincerity, his defeat, which the Oeuvre confidently foresaw and foretold, may prove to have beneficial results. There is no doubt that the I‘rench Premier has done much more to impede than to forward a reparations settlement, and he has persistently and stubbornly refused to consider the claims of the other Allied Powers—particularly those of Great Britain. His defeat may fairly be regarded as indicating the growth in France of a spirit of reason and conciliation which in itself must assist a settlement of European problems. The event from this standpoint is the more remarkable since it follows on an election in Germany which disclosed a definite, though limited, swing to the Right.’’ It is very possible that the Allies are not at an end of their problems where Germany is concerned, but it is fairly clear that in any case the French people are losing faith in the resolute, but barren, policy with which M. Poincare’s name is associated.