FRENCH POLITICAL CRISIS.

Evening Star, Issue 20314, 24 October 1929, Page 10

FRENCH POLITICAL CRISIS.

Haunted by the old fear of Germany, the people of France watch all international movements and gatherings with an anxiety that cannot be hidden. This causes sudden upheavals in the political arena of the country. One is in‘progress now, the Government just having received a rebuff in the Chamber of Deputies, for which the. Nationalist and militarist section is respon-. sible. . There are two underlying causes apparently. One is the result of the recent meeting at The Hague, and the other is apprehension in the matter of the Five-Power Disarmament Conference to be held in London in January next. In the case of the reparations adjustment under the Young plan the unreasonable apportionment that was proposed was defeated by the determined stand of Mr Philip Snowden. France had been accustomed to the complaisant attitude of his predecessor, so that the stand of the new British Chancellor came as an unpleasant shock, and the. feelings of chagrin that, were entertained were reflected in the Paris Press. In connection with this latest development in the Chamber, the suggestion is made that at The Hague M. Briand suffered a diplomatic defeat as a result of concerted action by Mr Snowden and the late Dr Stresemann, and the resentment is shown in the present political events in. Paris, Concern is also exhibited about the coming London conference, though the French Government’s attitude need have occasioned no alarm, for though it has intimated its willingness to be represented at the conference its communications to the British Foreign Secretary have been as guarded as it was possible to make them. In the meantime there are speculations about the outcome of the crisis in the Chamber, of Deputies. A period of confusion is suggested with M. Briand’s return to power. This trouble is inopportune at the moment when, as the London * Times ’ suggests, the work of the pacification and settlement of Europe is about to be brought to completion. It is a striking tribute to M. Briand’s character that ho should have dug so deeply into the affections of the French people, whoso military- fears must have often been roused by the p-ciirc do durations of the real originator of the Kellogg Pact. Lord D’Abernon (formerly British Ambassador at Berlin) writes of him “Among the statesmen of Europe who have played leading parts since the war none has attained—and none deservesa higher fame than Aristide Briand . . . What man more than he—ex ccpt, perhaps, Stresemann —has run equal political risks for the advance of Europe towards pacification ? Who has been bolder in advocating a policy of reconciliation, more prudent in refusing to be diverted from this policy by secondary issues? It is said that philosophy has no martyrs. But Briand has endured much for his conviction that Europe can be pacified. He might be deemed the St. Sebastian of pacification but for the perpetual smile and the perpetual cigarette.” It was in July last that the present Government was reconstituted on account of M. Poincare’s illness. There is a suggestion that he may take up the reins again if his health is restored, but he and M. Briand have repeatedly expressed their desire to spend the evening of their days away from the hurly-burly of politics. These two, so dissimilar in many respects in their views on international problems, have a firm hold on the confidence and imaginations of the French people, and their permanent retirement from the councils of Stato will be accepted very unwillingly; but it is doubtful if either figure will be seen on the political stage much longer. Vital issues lie immediately ahead, however, particularly in relation to disarmament and the Rhineland evacuation, and the call on these two experienced statesmen is likely to be insistent so long as health and strength permit them to carry on. '