FRENCH LIVING CONDITIONS NOT IMPROVED

Grey River Argus, 10 September 1948, Page 3

FRENCH LIVING CONDITIONS NOT IMPROVED

PARIS, (By Airmail). More goods are available in France to-day .but money with which to buy them is too limited for the wellstocked shelves in the shops to make life easier and pleasanter. That is the conclusion drawn from the results of a public opinion poll taken here recently. In reply to the question: “Do you think living conditions have improved or not?’” 76 per cent, of those asked answered “no”, 21 per cent, “yes’, and t*ree per cent, expressed no opinion. The negative response was more pronounced in the towns, where 85 per cent, found life was more difficult. People in the country districts, on the other hand were less discontented. Easier access to such foodstuffs as milk, eggs and fruit and a mentality attuned to more simple needs undoubtedly accounted for the differenc of 16 per cent, between town and country voters. A significant feature of the poll was the statement dominating all replies that more consumer good are available. Prevailing opinion among he critics was: “We can find everything, but buy nothing.” Many added that everything was too dear. Some replies reflected the French farmers traditional hostility to the State — perhaps heightened by the withdrawal at short notice early this year of the 5000 franc note. They considered that this step was aimed at the “magot” (nest-egg) which most peasants keep hidden in the prescribed stocking, because they fear that the State would find out too much about their income if they banked their money. One reply from the pen of a disgruntled agricultulalist, declared: "The State wants to poke its nose everywhere and it knows nothing, above all, about farming. Then . it makes decisions, one contradicting the other.” An unhappy counter 7 hand wrote: “For my bosses, things have improved. They have had the shop repaired inside and out.” A rich 55-year-old florist gaily commented: “I’m heading fast for bankruptcy, but it’s a good life.” Another typical reply revealed an aspect of the acute housing shortage which conflicts sharply with the Government’s “more babies” Policy, aimed at restoring the nation’s depleted manpower. A young man wrote “I wish to get married, but it is impossible to save a sou to set up. a home.’’ The high prices asked for flats and houses put them far beyond the purchasing power of the average young couple. The result is that tne French Government’s policy of Keeping rents low has a precisely contrary effect to that intended. Since post-war building of housing' accommodation has scarcely touched the fringe of the real need, the black market “reprise” of “key-money’ system, whereby the prospective tenant pays several hundred thousand francs '(£ sterling equals 664 francs) for the right to start to pay rent, has steadily increased. . Most of those people who considered that living conditions have improved, stressed that the workers are earning more money thatn they were before the war. One, which summed up the attitude of most of those who replied in the affirmative, said: Yes we can now find many things, but, my dear boy, what a price! The privately operated poll, known as the S.S'.S. or Service de Sondage et Statistique—was begun during the German occupation of France to observe currents of public opinion which would otherwise have had to be estimated by guesswork. Results of a survey of a representative ciOoSsection of opinion were sent to London, Algiers , and the headquarters m the resistance movements in various parts of France. Since the liberation the S S.S. has extended its activities and now has 150 agents and specie! investigators working in every part of France.