THE ANXIETIES OF FRANCE: AVERTING A REVOLUTION.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20282, 17 April 1934, Page 8

THE ANXIETIES OF FRANCE: AVERTING A REVOLUTION .

To-day’s Special Article

The Power and Patronage of Deputies : The Haunting Fear of Inflation.

By

Sir Philip Gibbs, K.B.E.

The scandals of the Stavisky affair which began with a revelation of financial frauds by a type of villain not unknown in other countries is poisoning and inflaming political passion in France. Not a day passes without new names being added to those under suspicion of complicity, and they are names of men who were powerful in recent French Governments or in close association with them. Papers of the extreme Right like “L’ Action Francaise” join with those of the extreme Left in using this scandal as a weapon to attack and, if possible, overthrow the Republican form of Government in France, which they denounce in the most violent language as a cess-pool of corruption

JJENEATH those immediate causes of popular excitement there are grave anxieties tn France. They strike very deep at the roots of national character and national stability. I have been talking with distinguished Frenchmen who were able to speak freely because I was not interviewing them in the ordinary journalistic way They did not disguise from me that they are extremely anxious about the outcome of the present situation both as regards internal affairs and French security in Europe. They believe that confidence and internal peace can only be secured by supporting the present Government under Doumergue and that personal loyalty to this old man who represents order and conciliation is the only policy for moderate minds. When Tardieu, the former Premier, was asked whether he would accept or refuse Doumergue’s invitation to join his Government he said, “ I do neither. I obey.” That is the attitude of French intelligence which is neither on the Left nor on the Right but desperately anxious to avert a social revolution French System Must Change. That may happen if the present Government of truce, as it is called, fails to get national support because of political insurrection. France would be divided into hostile camps Paris has a traditional tendency, as the Boulanger affair revealed in the ’eighties, towards a dictatorship of the Right. The provinces seem to remain stolidly Republican with a leaning to the Radicals and Socialists. But in moderate opinion everywhere it seems there is a conviction that the French system of Government cannot remain unchanged. Can the necessary changes be made without “disorders”? The Deputies have too much power and too much patronage. It is the cause of such corruption penetrating the social fabric of France. The executive must be strengthened with the right to dissolve Parliament in the English way. This could only be done by calling a National Assembly to revise the constitution M. Doumergue may be forced to call that National Assembly to vote these reforms, which would be resisted by the full powers of corruption afraid of losing its golden opportunities, its local prestige, its political “ pull.” The Deputy in France is hail-fellow-well-met in local society. He is surrounded by sycophants eager for a place for their sons, their nephews or their business friends. The patron of the cafe where he takes his aperitif shakes him by the left hand—nearest the heart—and whispers into his ear. Women surround him with flattery and cajolement on behalf of their husbands, sons or lovers His patronage reaches down to the smallest official posts and he likes to please the people who support him. It is difficult to change a system like that. If Doumergue is Overthrown. That is one reason why M. Doumergue has already been opposed by Deputies who still protest against economies necessary to balance the Budget. He gave them a fright by telling them that unless they supported him he would not remain another day in office. And then what? They dare not face that answer. It would be answered by a wave of indignation in France by all the forces of the Right and by all patriotic men.

But the Radicals and Socialists are not yet ready to face the new situation. They claim truly enough that they are still in a majoritv in the Chamber and that their Government fell on account of street fighting. They profess to believe that in a little while after a brief innings by this Government of truce they may resume power as though nothing had happened But something has happened—their utter discredit in public opinion. If they overthrow M Doumergue there will be a revolt not confined to the streets of Paris. So I am told by intelligent observers. Afraid of Inflation. There is another cause of uneasiness in French minds and especially in the minds of small tradespeople and the average bourgeois. They are terribly afraid that French money may be devalued or inflated again. Will they be forced off the gold standard by the depreciation of the dollar? Will paper money be increased to pay for the balancing of the Budget? That is a haunting fear. By one of the best economists in France I am told that there is no real difficulty in balancing the Budget and that there is no danger of being forced off gold unless the dollar is devalued to a much lower level. But this confidence is not general, it seems. Any devaluation of French money would cause a political crisis worse than the Stavisky scandals which have brought indignation to boiling point. An Unknown France. Average French opinion, I find, disbelieves utterly in the chances of Monarchy. It is fantastic nonsense. I am told. But there is a chance, it appears, of a movement among the younger men towards Fascist ideals of national discipline, control of big business and the corporate State. Can such things be in France? No one knows how far they have gone and how far the old traditions of individualism —stronger in France than in any other country—have been weakened by new ideas and new dangers. Personally. I believe that France is still the instinctive and undefeated champion of free speech, free opinion and ijersonal liberty. If that goes liberty will have died the death on the continent of Europe. Last Defender of the Treaty. France has other anxieties looking beyond her frontiers. She believes herself to be the last defender of the Treaty of Versailles. All shades of opinion in France are convinced that concessions to English sentiment or Italian policy or German claims on the subject of disarmament lessen the defences of France and bring war nearer. These friends of mine with whom 1 have talked are frankly sceptical of England’s diplomatic courtesies and promises to safeguard French security or to enforce any strong international policy. England, they sav, will not pledge herself to anything. Whatever she says means nothing at all except polite evasion When war comes England may be on the side of France again, afraid again of German domination and the German threat to the Channel ports. But England will be late and unprepared. France stands alone and must defend herself alone. So I have heard my French friends talk with great candour and without bitterness. They reveal the anxieties of France. (N.A.N.A.—Copyright.)