TROUBLED FRANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 74, 25 September 1934, Page 9

TROUBLED FRANCE

AN UNSTABLE TRUCE

MENACE. OF "THE STREET"

NERVOUS FASCISTS

(Written for "The Post" by A. L.

Williams.)

When, not occupied with events in Germany and Austria political writers now indulge in prophecies of serious political trouble in France during the coming autumn. When the Doiimerguo Coalition Ministry falls, or breaks up, they assert, the violently antagonistic forces of the Eight and the Left will get to grips again. The present Parliamentary truce) they hold, cannot last. It is insincere and unreal.

France, though notorious for shortlived Ministries, has had five changes of administration within eleven months.' It is obvious that the political situation is unusually unstable, even for post-war France. The democratic system has received some rude shocks, and it is a question whether it can survive, or whether it must give place to something different.

When the Coalition Administration came into being following the riots, or near revolution, of February 6 last, it supplanted a Radical Socialist Ministry, headed by M. Daladier, which had ahown'a lack of firmness in handling ihe outbreak. Tho Chamber of Deputies is decidedly Left in its complexion. The last elections wci'o held under a shadow cast by the tragic death of President Doumor at. the hands of the madman Gorguloff. The times called for cnreful consideration by each elector hpfore he cast his vote. The result led to the efiacement of the Conservative Tardicu Ministry, and its replacement by a Radical Socialist Ministry under -M. Herriot.'

M. Herriot and his successors in the Premiership, MM. Chau'temps and Daladier, had the general support of the Socialist Party, led by M. Blum, but when that support was most required, as, for example, when attempts were made to balance the Budget, M. Blum and his friends were found in the opposition camp. They desired tho balancing of the Budget, but they objected to proposed reductions, in the pay of civil servants, who vote Socialist in large numbers, and to tho paring (if war pensions. Successive failures to balance the Budget, and the inability of Radical Socialist administrations to deal effectively, or firmly, with brief but paralysing strike's of protest against pay cuts by minor civil servants, such as post and telegraph officials, rather shook the faith of the bourgeoisie in' those administrations. Bui they carried on, one after tho other,, until the Stavisky storm burst. That event drove tho Radical Socialists from office.

THE STAVISKY SCANDAL,

Tho origin of the February riots is -till obscure. Tho opposition Press ;i scribed them to an outburst of popular indignation against politicians who liad benefited financially by Stavisky's .swindles, arid had given Stavisky their protection, but as tho Coalition Ministry has not been able to probe the Stavisky affair that explanation evidently will not suffice,- 'What is more likely is that forces iii France, similar lo those which, since the rise of the Communists in Russia, have in other countries replaced Left, or merely weak Governments by Governments averse from major changes yin the social system, seized upon the Stavisky affair :is a pretext for securing the control of the State.

No electoral endorsement of the change has been sought,, although it seems that the. majority approves of it. Custom, rather than ' tho Constitution of the Third Republic, permits such procedure. There has only been one dissolution since the Constitution was pro-claimed,--and its results have discouraged similar appenls with views to clearing up political situations. 'M, Doumerguo was called from his retirement to handle a'very grave problem. His success lias been pronounced. The very sight of M. Doumerguo inspires confidence in his countrymen. Known as the "Smiling President" when head of tho State, ho radiates "bonhomie." In sterner trials than presented themselves when he was President he has shown that behind the smile there is firmness and never weakness. The Budget, has been balanced, mid a beginning has been made in reforming tho hoary taxation and budgetary feystem. Unemployment relief luia been undertaken, .though the French problem is not comparable 'with those of Britain, Germany, and America. .Symbolic1 of present-day madness in Europe is tho fact that having in large part balanced tho Budget by cuts in the pay' of its officials and reductions of military pensions, more than the sums so gained were subsequently votfd for additional defence measures. ,

There has been a truce in Parliament. Not so in the country. Outside tho Palais Bourbon —where tho Chamber of Deputies meets —a violent verbal find inky warfare has waged almost unceasingly, deepening, at times, into actual physical conflicts between the forces of the Eight and the Loft. The Socialists and Communists/ constituting the .Left, have recently united in an organisation, the "Front Commun," a unity which arouses grave disquiet.

THE FASCIST GBOUPING,

On the Right is a new factor, the Street. It forced M. Daladier out of office in February. Now, better organised, its several parts are the equivalent of a Fascist force. Most important are the Jeunosses Patriotes (Patriotic Youth) and the Croix de Feu (Fiery Cross). The former is financed by industrialists; the latter, is composed of ex-soldiers, mostly decorated. The, leader of the Croix de Fou contends that the self-sacrifice of his men, and their devotion to France have not received adequate appreciation. Henceforth, he says, they will have their, say in public affairs. Added to the Street arc the Monarchists, organised in the Action Franeaise, who fish in troubled waters in hopes of placing an amiable gentleman, John, Duke of Guise, the Pretender, on the throne of his ancestors. But 'the Royalists are not taken seriously, and they havo lost rather than gained ground of late. Thanks to Hitler, who, supposedly, would least desire it, much of the venom has recently been extracted from the Street. Aghast at Hitler's massacre of his friends on June 30, and at the murder of • Dr. Dollf uss, many Frenchmen who lately were inclined to Fascism have considered their position, and have decided that the muchabused Parliamentary systein~"after all hag many merits. Anti-Fascist campaigns organised by the Radical Socialists have cojlapsed. It was found that thero was nothing to fight. Hitler had done their work for them.

The question is: Will the Coalition Government continue in offico beyond the autumn, or will the various political parties- get to grips again? The Radical Socialists meet in Congress in October, At present it seems probable ,that the same menace—the German danger—so alarmingly prosented by M. Doumergue when, a fortnight ago, he prevailed upon those old enemies, MM.