FRENCH CABINET

Greymouth Evening Star, 23 November 1945, Page 5

FRENCH CABINET

GENERAL DE GAULLE’S WIN "LONDON, Nov. 22. “General de Gaulle has emerged stronger than -ever from a crisis which at one time seemed on the point of overwhelming him,” says the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Mail.” “The arrangement of the new Cabinet shows that the Communists had to go more than half way to settle the dispute with General de Gaulle- over the allocation of posts which provoked the crisis. The result in this sense is a success for him, the Communists having failed to get any of the three key Ministries of Foreign Affairs, War, and the Interior.” The Paris correspondent of “The Times” says: “The new Ministry has the broadest possible basis. Every political shade in the Assembly is represented, ensuring a unanimous vote of confidence from the Assembly.” The correspondent, commenting ori the subdivision of the Defence Ministries, says: “The arrangement evolved is not simple and suggests that General de Gaulle regards peace as sure for some time to come.” The correspondent points out that the Army, Navy, and Air Force as such have no civilian head, but retain staffs and chiefs of staff dependent on the two Finance Ministers, while General de Gaulle is arbiter in cases of doubt.” Referring to the economic portfolios the correspondent of “The Times” says: “While the Ministry of National Economy is given to a Communist, M. Billoux, finance remains under the direction of M. Pleven, one of the first men to join General de Gauile. If the Ministry of National Economy has no greater powers than hitherto, itg importance will not be great. If its authority is widened the Communists’ control over the French economy may be real and considerable, within the limitations imposed by Government policy and the short life of the Ministry.”