Evening star., 1920-03-01
FRANCE DROPPING
| ITS RADICAL IDEAS
Analysis of Policies Under
President DeSChaneI and
Premier MiI|erand.
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.

| PARIS. France. February 27.-Paul
| Of France and his immediate accept
ance OF the Millerand cabinet with
| out change gave France her probable
] political orientation for months to
| come. To French and foreign sympa
| thIzers who desire to see the country
| strive with the innumerable post
| bellum problems in a spirit of energy
and moderation the Millerand govern
ment is calculated to give consider
| q bic satisfaction. France for the time
, being has left radicalism far behind
and without having become reaction
airy seems destined to take henceforth
course far more conservative than
that of the last decade.
| NJ. Millerand himself. although So
ciaiist twenty years ago. is now a
| man of distinctly moderate ideas and
is noted as a hard worker with ad
ministrative rather than political
gifts. He has frequently been a cabi-
net minister. but this is his first time
as premier. His present political
strength lies in the fact that. unlike
many of his predecessors. he is a man
who has been active in effecting social
reforms in the last thirty years. Thus
despite his being called a reactionary
by the radicals and socialist. he may
well win the support OF even the
French labor organizations. for he is
said to have real constructive So
cial and l.,bor policy.
For Strike Arbitration.
For example. l am informed that
the ministry is now preparing Il strike
arbitration bill which makes appear
ance before a tribunal obligatory on
both parties befor..a strike is called.
but which does not compel the parties
TO accept the tribunals award, leaving
the actual settlement of a strike to
the parties themselves under the in
fiuence of public opinion. The pas
sage of such a bill would undoubtedly
strengthen the government i'm
mensely.
NJ. NIillerand's ministers. without
being men of great eminence. may be
characterized generally as Intelligent
and Industrious. These adjectives
have been applied repeatedly to NJ.
Lefevre. minister Of war. and NJ. Lam
dry, minister of marine. Premier
Millerand departed from the usual
custom by choosing three ministers
technicians. NJ Marsal. minister of
finance, is young banker who has
had a somewhat brilliant career. NJ.
Ricard. minister of agriculture, is an
agricultural engineer. and NJ. Ogier.
minister Of the liberated regions. is
q government M lSidSp
lister of commerce. was president OF
the Lyon Chamber of Commerce. NJ.
Steeg, minister Of the interior. is the
only radical in the cabinet and Is said
to have been imposed on the premier
by the senate. Finally NJ. Millerand
namely, that Of public health. which
has long been a hobby of his, and
has appointed j. l. Bretonx the head
Of it.
Internal Policy. Moderation.
Generally speaking. the governments
internal policy will be that of modera-
ton as opposed to NJ. Clemenceaus
coerciye methods and social reform
It's principal external preoccupatlon
reinforcement of the French claims
in Syria and strong Rhine policy
with altogether less accessibility to
British influence than characterized
NJ M.s-Clemenceaus government The
only opposition at present comes from
the socialists who are hopelessly in
the minority, but even should serious
|opposition arise the cabinet is marked
lby such elasticity that it may well be
able to weather severe storms.
Just at present Premier Milierand
lis supported by practically all the
groups in the chamber which have
recently been constituted as follows:
Royalists and -2onapartists, twenty
nine deputies: nationalists. forty-six;
the republican-democratf entente.
which is now the most powerful party
in the chamber. 1873: republican-demo-
cratic left. ninety-three; republicans
Of the left. sixty-one: radicals and
70 ucal socialists. eighty-six; inde-
Is dent socialists. twenty-siX: true
Lr..cialists, sixty-eight. the remainder
grouping with that of 1914. strong
conservative tendency is apparent.
The former chamber was dominated
by radicals and radical socialists. who
had 249 members. and by the social
lists who had 103. This combination
was so strong in June. 1914, that on
the pretext that Premier Ribot was
too reactionary it overthrow his
ministry on the day it was appointed
"a thing which had never happened
before.
Radicals Weaker.
In the new chamber the radicals
and radical socialists have only
eighty-six members and the socialists
only eighty-eight The socialist
group has fallen from second to fifth
| in rank. and it is the moderate re-
publican democratic entente which
total of 626 deputies. 371 have never
served before-that Is to say, moro
| than half Of the membership is en-
| tirely new. This also is entirely un-
preCeOenteQ IN tne annals OF tne
| French legislature. Elections to the
| chamber. which are by popular suf
| frage. were on an anti-bolshevist
platform. Elections to the senate,
which are by indirect suffrage, oc-
| CURED two months later. The fear
/ Of bolshevism had vanished and
| some of the electors. observing the
| unforeseen result Of the elections to
| the chamber. had perhaps begun to
! fear reaction more than communism.
In any case, it is apparently true that
the new senate. instead Of being more
| conservative than the chamber. is
| actually less SO. Its groupings re-
| main practically the same as in 1914.
but for the first time two socialists
have been elected to this august and
| venerab BILE body Moreover, the sena-
] tors are younger than usual. Several
defeated deputies were elected to the
| senate.
Thus. on the whole, it may be said
! that if the chamber should fall into
| the danger of becoming too reaction
tary the senate could hold 1T in check.
At present, however, there are no
! indications of such a contingency.
On the contrary, there is every rea-
In to believe that the senate, cham
ber and ministry will work harmoni-
| ously together for the salvation of
France.