The Washington herald., 1920-01-11
By JOHN LLOYD BALDERsToN.

Paris, Jan. 10. After US the de-
luge." said Madame Dubarry when
warned that the excesses of the court
of the. aristocracy must bring about
revolution. Today. the aristocracy
and the profiteers and the politicians
do not say, After us the delpge."
They would be thankful IL they could
comfort themselves with such q
phrase.
The dimmest eye can see the clouds
on the horizon of France, and amid
the present unheard-of orgy of pleas
ure and extravaganza in Paris there
are few who doubt that the deluge
will descend, not as in Madame Du-
barry's day upon the shoulders of the
next generation, but upon those OF
this one.
Let us eat, drink and be merry.
for tomorrow we die" With the
warning of the fate Of the aristocrats
of Petrograd before them this seems to
be In part the motto of the Frencs
upper classes. 1t will not be ''tomor-
row we die" but perhaps tomorrow
we lose all our money"
From Bad to Worse.
The precipitate downward course of
the franc Is a plain sign-board on the
road to ruin. Several months ago.
when I pointed out the prospective
collapse of French credit, an official
ournal here termed my story the va
porings of an ill-informed alarmist.
The predictions made in that story
have unfortunately proved, not too
pessimistic, but too optimistic.
France, unlike Great Britain. appears
totally unable to pull herself together
after her ordeal. and her economic life
is going from bad to yorse. Past his
tory indicates only one end to the
drama how unrolling itself.
At the same Ume-and this II is that
SO puzzles the observer; Bolshevism
in France is in the discard. Not only
was extreme Socialism swamped in
the elections. but the liberal and re-
form elements went down too. France
is I'm the hands of stand-patters who
desire to keep on standing pat even
when they feel the ground slipping
under their feet. And there are for
the present no murmurs of that revo-
luton which a year ago, even six
months ago, half Paris thought would
break out during the winter that is
now upon us.
Thus the situation remains Curl
ously complicated. A year ago j
expected a red revolution today
that seems impossible. and yet the
condition of the country in the
meantime has not improved. For
month have been here study
ing opinion and conditions. and j
find that a complete downfall of
the governing group of the coun-
try. the cliSarchy. of bankers and
politicians and financial interests.
is expected by most conservative
and well-infermed Frenchmen. How
this is to be brought about they
have no idea. except that 1t will
not be done by the Socialists.
A regeneration of politics. a
weeding-out of the crooks in high
places, who notoriously abound.
This, and not the usual Partisan
holiday in the streets with tbar-
ricades and bloodshed. will regen-
crate France. The old-time rev.
olution is out of date. for it would
be identified with Bolsheyism. and
most Frenchmen hate Bolshevism
like poison. as the elections proved.
Old Order Doomed.
So the old order appears to be
doomed but not yet. The indict-
ment against the presenting gov
erning clique that is drawn against
it by the public opinion. which.
| however. kept it in office rather
than substitute Bolshevism. can lie
summarized thus:
During the war there were no
excess profit taxes and the income
tax was not collected. These
abuses were due to the power ex-
ercised by rich manufacturers.
England. and even America with her
vastly greater resources. introduced
taxation which prevented many men
getting rich out OF the agonies Of