Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, NOV. 10, 1934. THE FRENCH CRISIS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIV, Issue 295, 10 November 1934, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, NOV. 10, 1934. THE FRENCH CRISIS.

Another political crisis—of a type everyone is familiar with—has taken place in Erance, and after nine months of strenuous office the veteran Premier, M. Doumergue, who emerged .from retirement after the grave events of last February to head a Government of National Safety, has been forced by the Radical Socialists to resign. Political instability is notorious in France—the Government of M. Doumergue was the seventh to hold office in twenty months—but with a balanced Budget for next year framed, public works initiated, the railways reorganised, economy measures instituted, and exorbitant taxation that defeated its own ends reduced—problems which arose out of the February crisis—the veteran Prime Minister had felt secure enough to turn his attention to reform of the French Constitution, his object being to bring it into line, as far as possible, with the British Constitution. His main purpose was to secure greater stability for French Governments, and to confer on the Premier a real authority that would enable him to appeal to the people when the need arose. The present position is that the French Chamber cannot be _ dissolved until its term has expired, unless the President exercises his prerogative with the Senate’s consent. It is elected for four years and the Deputies are generally assured of that period of representation, for only once lias there been a dissolution of the Chamber since the Third Republic was established in 1875. Not so the Cabinet which, on an adverse vote of the Chamber, fickle as it often is, must find refuge in resignation. In this way Administration very often succeeds Administration at short intervals, the only real difference being the substitution of one Premier for another, the new Cabinet containing as a general rule a number of the Ministers in the previous one. Each Ministry must therefore face the uncertainty of office that is the cause of severe criticism of the system and the warrant for reform. M. Tardieu, himself a member of M. Doumergue’ s late Ministry, has made an earnest contribution to the arguments in favour of a change, his most important suggestion being the conferment upon the Premier of a right to advise the President of the Republic to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies in accordance with British practice. M. Doumergue announced his proposals for reform several weeks ago. He was determined that the head of the French Government should be possessed of authority he does not now enjoy. But while a majority of members of his Coalition Cabinet were prepared to accept the proposals, the Radical Socialists refused to entertain the section dealing with the method of dissolution. M. Doumergue proposed that in the first year of a new Chamber the President must have the Senate’s prior consent before he could dissolve it; but thereafter action could be taken without referring it to the higher Chamber. The Premier decided to demand a vote of confidence on the issue, but it quickly became evident that the fate of his Ministry had been sealed by the refusal of the Radical Socialists to give way. Their selfishness is bitterly assailed by Ministers of the Coalition Cabinet who remained unswerving in their allegiance to M Doumergue, for the Radical Socialists held the balance of power in the Chamber. As L In transigeant has pointed out, when the veteran statesman was sent for the “ship was about to

sink, and he stoically consented to resume an exhausting and perilous job.” Now, it adds, they cannot blame him for the dangers his departure involves. M. Doumergue was “attempting a great task, but immediately he wanted to work, he was ceaselessly harassed by unimportant questions,” adds the journal in condemning- French political morals as bad. The Radical Socialists have done an ill-service to France. There is fear of rioting and events as grave as those which resulted in M. Doumergue being called to the helm. The leader of an ex-servicemen’s organisation has warned the nation against the perils of the old party intrigues, and the new Premier, M. Flandin, in a recent political address said the Republic was menaced not so much by the attack of its few adversaries as by the silent disaffection of the masses. The purification of French political life is one of France’s most pressing problems, but the growth of many parties and political groups hampers the reform to a point of grave danger within the State.