MAY AFFECT THE SCHUMAN PLAN— French Government Is Likely To Fall

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 June 1950, Page 5

MAY AFFECT THE SCHUMAN PLAN— French Government Is Likely To Fall

PARIS, June 23 (Rec 10 a.m.). —The nine-months-old Bidault Cabinet—the eleventh since the Liberation—is regarded by most French observers as practically certain to fall tomorrow. The Assembly will vote tomorrow morning on the confidence motion which the Premier, M. Bidault, sought yesterday after the Assembly had refused by 351 votes to 201 to support the Government’s opposition to a Socialist Bill to raise civil servants salaries. The Socialist deputies today announced that they would vote against the motion of confidence, unless the Government made some new proposal during the continuing efforts between- the parties to reach a compromise.

A change in the Government might have repercussions on the coal-steel merger talks in Paris. Constitutionally, the Government is forced to'resign if 311 deputies actually vote against it. If the Government loses tomorrow by a lesser majority, M. Bidault may demand a full debate on general policy on Tuesday and stand or fall by another confidence vote, to be taken on the broad issues of his programme rather than on the narrow issue of adjusting civil servants’ rates of pay. A substantial number of the Centre and Right-wing deputies who voted against the Government yesterday were, in fact, voting against the Schuman Plan. There is a movement in the Assembly against the Foreign Minister, who has also aroused opposition over what the moderate and conservative groups regard as his inept handling of the position in Tunisia and in the matter of the former Italian colonies in North Africa. Observers think that whatever the next Government the six-Power talks will continue, but some of the driving

force behind the French delegation may be taken out of them. The Schuman Plan Talks

The Associated Press Paris correspondent says that M. Jean Monnet, French economic planner, who is credited with hatching the Schuman Plan, said today that the first two days of the talks about the proposal had produced neither accord nor disagreement among the six nations taking part. The talks on the proposal to link the coal and steel production of the Western Europe were formally opened on June 20 by the Foreign Minister, M. Schuman.