"NATIONAL UNION"

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18722, 3 June 1935, Page 7

"NATIONAL UNION"

NEW FRENCH CABINET ALL PARTIRS INCLUDED CONFIDENC R RESTOR ED (EI(V Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) PARIS, June 1. M. Bouisson lias formed a Ministry of National Union representing almost >vll parties. The outstanding feature is the return of M. Caillaux, who is one of no fewer than four Ministers without portfolio, the others being M. Edward Herriot and M.'Albert Martin and Marshal Pctain.

Portfolios have been allocated as fol lows :

M. Bouisson, Premier and Minister of the Interior.

M. Pierre Laval. Minister of Foreign Affairs. M. Pernot, Minister of Justice. General Mauvin, Minister of War. M. Francois I'ietri, Minister of Marine. General DeNain, Minister of Air. M. Laurent-Eynac, Minister of Commerce.

M. Palmadc, Minister of Finance. M. Rouston, Minister of Education. M. Louis Rollin, Minister of Colonies M. Frossard, Minister of Labor. M. Perfetty, Minister of Pensions. M. Roy. Minister of Agriculture. M. La font, Minister of Health. M. Mandel, Minister of Post and Tele graphs.

The press welcomes the new Cabinet and points out that it contains no devaluationists.

M. Joseph Caillaux, after a stormycareer, returns to the arena as supreme adviser on financial and economic questions.

M. Bouisson is 61 years of pge. He is a Marseilles industrialist. He was horn in Algeria and was elected a deputy in I£o9. He resigned from the Socialist Party in 1933. He directed the merchant marine in war-time bringing foodstuffs and munitions to France. Hitherto he has refused a position in Cabinet. He was at one time an international Rugby player. M. Caillaux announced his inflexible determination to maintain the franc, to ruthlessly throttle speculation, and to combat devaluation.

The franc rose swiftly. Forward premiums are down £0 per cent, and now are above the gold export point. Seventeen searches of houses alleged to contain anti-franc speculators resulted in the seizure of numerous documents. Eight magistrates have been assigned to deal witli the prosecutions. It is believed that bankers and brokers' recommendations to clients that they should sell Government stock and buy'gold are sufficient grounds for a prosecution.

CAILLAUX'S RETURN CAUSE OELEERE RECALLED The. return to office of M. Joseph Cailloux revives interest in one of the most remarkable careers in French political history. Entering politics towards the end of last century, he was soon noted for bis exceptional knowledge of finance, and at the age of 36 was appointed Finance Minister in Rousseau's Cabinet. He held a similar position in the Clemenceau Ministry from 1906 to 1909, and in 1911 was Premier for six mouths.

Early in 1914, Gaston Oalmette, director of the Figaro, made virulent attacks on Cailloux, whose fiscal reforms were not popular with the moneyed classes. The attack reached its climax with the publication of letters written to his second wife before their marriage, these documents having been supplied to the newspaper by Cailloux's first wife. Other compromising revelations were promised, and Madame Cailloux, desirous of averting them, went to Calniette's office on March 16, 1914, and shot him dead.

As a result of this Cailloux had to resign, and his wife was tried for murder, but acquitted. Cailloux for some time remained in the background, hut he was soon under suspicion of working for an understanding with Germany, and in December, 1917, he was arrested on a charge of communicating with the enemy. He wtis kept in prison until long after the war was over, and it was not until April, 1920, that he was brought to trial on a charge of treason. TJiis indictment was thrown out, but he was condemned to three years' imprisonment for communication with the enemy, a sentence he had already served. He was also banished from France for five years and deprived of civil rights for 10 years, but in May, 1924, an amnesty* was granted to political prisoners, and he returned to politics.