FALL OF M. DALADIER

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 100, 25 October 1933, Page 8

FALL OF M. DALADIER

; ' The Pauline precept, "Let him that ! thinketn he standeth take heed lest he fall," is one which no French Premier has any excuse for overlook-1 i ing, and there is no reason for supposing that M. Daladier had over- ; looked it. During the last few weeks at any rate it must have been constantly before his mind. As ! Shakespeare says: Men must endure Their going hence, even as their coining : hither: r Ripeness is all; v : and that the Daladier Government ! was-ripe for a fall was obvious on broad grounds even to the outsider 1 who had:no knowledge of its special :. difficulties, of the atmosphere of the 1 lobbies, and of the wire-pulling, the bargaining, and the kaleidoscopic changes proceeding among the Parliamentary, groups. One of these • broad grounds was that M. Daladier ' had been in office nearly nine months [—a period nine times as long as that .of his immediate predecessor, M. i Paul-Boricour, and even longer than that of the Ministry for which M. i Herriot had received a mandate L from the electors in May, 1932. I There is always a strong"'.presump-' I lion that a French Ministry which , has survived for so unconscionably [ long a period as nine months must [be nearing its ehd.\ Other general [ grounds for expecting trouble were , that M. Daladier had revealed a , strength equally surprising to the i foreigner who knew nothing about . him and to his own countrymen; l that Europe is in the throes of a , grave crisis in which the help of ! France is indispensable; and that it is at such a time that a French . Government which has won the con- : fidence both of France and of Europe .is apt to fall. When to these broad , grounds of apprehension was added ; the declared intention of the Daladier Government to balance the Budget defeat seemed almost inevitable. In his article on "France's New : Cheerfulness" in the September "Contemporary Review" Mi\ Sisley Huddleston, who has represented English and American papers in Paris for many years, does full jus- ! tice both to the skill which M. Daladier had displayed in his i handling, of a difficult situation and ,to the dangers that he had still to face. . : When M. Daladier took office at tho beginning of the year, says Mr. Huddleston, no political prophet would , havo given, him, a long lease of life. Ho has succeeded beyond expectation. iHe has shown remarkable Parliamentary ability, arid while retaining the confidence of tho Left has not in- ■ disposed tho Bight. He has won a 1 reputation for firmness without actually achieving anything. Something much , more positive is now due. It is not sufficient to be an expert in the art of 1 keeping alive. The conviction that ! Parliamentary methods have /failed is i growing in France, where Parliament [is notoriously extravagant and dominates the'Executive.. 'Few Governments last even as long as the Daladier GovI ernment has lasted; and while they , last their principal energies are. devoted to tho struggle for existence. Among the difficulties confronting . every French Government, Mr. i Huddleston mentions "a multitude iof commissions which are always in some degree hostile," incessant i warfare both in the Chamber and iin the Senate, the interference of • "outside syndicates which they have : unwisely encouraged," the delays ■ caused by waiting till this party con- ; gress or that has made up its. mind,

and, finally, "the impatience of those who—not in opposition but ostensibly on their side—would'take their place." The lot of any political leader in these times is not a happy one, but surely Mr. Forbes, or even Mr. MacDonald, may be able to persuade himself that he is living in clover if he can spare a minute or two for the contemplation of the appalling catalogue of M. Daladier's troubles. The "New Cheerfulness" of France which Mr. Huddleston made the title of his article was admittedly based upon the great improvement of the foreign outlook which had resulted from the widespread reaction against the madness of Germany. But he made; no attempt to conceal the financial and economic anxieties of France, or the perilous responsibilities of her Government in regard to maintaining the franc and balancing the Budget. When Parliament meets again in the autumn, said Mr. Huddleston, it is possible that an adequate project will be brought forward. If it is not, then the franc will be in danger. If it is, then the Government will be in danger. . But before dealing with the franc the Government has now fallen itself— and, as the figures of the division are 241 to 329, it may be said to have fallen heavily—on what was at any rate a gallant attempt to balance the Budget. It may be that its fall would have been less heavy, or might even have been averted, if it had not refused to raise a loan for the purpose —a proposal which, it is astonishing to find, has received a good deal of support. It was indeed in strict accordance with the irony of the French tradition to which we have referred that Thursday last should have brought us both the admirable'comments of M. Daladier on Germany's rude defiance of Europe and the report from Paris which foreshadowed his defeat on a domestic issue. His clear, logical, and pointed but quiet and dignified reply to the fire-eating German Chancellor—au achievement which in point of form neither Mr. MacDonald nor Sir John Simon'could rival—must have calmed "jumpy" nerves all over Europe, but the invincible repugnance of one of the thriftiest of Western nations to bringing to its public finance the same common sense and economy for which its members are individually proverbial has put him out,of office. Civil servants, war veterans, motorists/and all classes of taxpayers are strongly protesting, said Thursday's report. A veterans' meeting resoWed to fight the reduction in pensions until thq Government inado departmental economies. The combination has proved irresistible, and the Finance Bill has been rejected. But somebody else will have to take over the task which', M. Daladier was not allowed to finish, and fortunately there is no reason to fear that in foreign policy he will depart from the lines which his predecessor had so ably and faithfully followed.