Evening star., 1924-06-08
FRANCE NOW FACES
DANGEROUS CRISIS
Militarist Reactionaries and "Red"
Revolutionists Watching
Chance for Action.
NJ WulHAN BIRD.

ny WILxxAA Bird.
By Radis b ne Star.
PARIS, June 7.-Miutarist reaction
tionists on the other arc eagerly
watching >their chance to intervene
in the most dangerous crisis France
has faced in nearly fifty years.
All the last five years of patient
work of rebuilding European peace
may be swept away at any moment
in the fiaring up Of strife unless mod
crate counsels prevail in the quarrel
between the veteran President Mil
lerand and small band of insurgents
in the Chamber Of Deputies, who de-
mand his resignation.
Edouard Herriot, to whom the
writer talked only Wednesday and
who is the most reasonable of men
and personally anxious for concila-
tion, has been swept of his feet by
the fntransigeance of tho extremists
among his followers so that now he
will be obliged to follow them instead
Of leading them.
Against Own Judgment.
His refusal to form cabinet was
against his own judgment, but ne
knew a sufficient fraction of his fol-
lowers would desert him If he took
the portfolio from Millerand's hands
and would throw him over on the
first vote of confidence.
There are at present only three pos
sibilities as political observers see
the situation:
/. Resignation of President Mil
lerand and capitulation to the de-
mands of the extremists. which Is re-
garded as highly unlikely.
2. Appointment of strong man
such as War Minister Maginot to the
q g a mis-
parliament and carry on the govern
ment by virtula Dictatorship
). The cutting on from the present
Socta1tst-R1dtcA cartel enouEht OF the
moro moderate members to form
majority with the bloc national.
HurryinS to Paris.
The latter course is the one on
which N. Millerand Is working at the
moment. Senator Steeg, who was M.
Millerand's minister of the interior
and right-hand man in 1920. and who
belongs to the left group, is hurying
to Paris from a trip to the colonies
and it is predicted that Millerand will
ask him to consult his colleagues and
see if he can gather a majority of the
chamber behind him. 1t is under
stood that his government would be
preponderantly conservative and the
result would be to cheat the left car
tel of It's recent victory at the polls.
II this maneuver fails-as 1t very
well may-then NJ. Millerand will be
forced to the alternative of establish
ing a virtual Dictatorship. 1t Is this
possibility which Is causing the deep
est Apprehension here French public
opinion. which was reconciled with
out difficulty to the prospect OF a
left government would strongly re-
sent any Mussolinian tendency and it
is not too much to predict that in such
event he would precipitate riots and
resistance with possible gravest con-
sequences to internal peace.
Remember street Riots.
There are many Parisians still liv-
ing who remember street riots and
barricades with less provocation.
Needless to say, Germans are
watching these events with the keen
est curiosity and, indeed, whichever
way things turn out, 1t appears likely
that Germany will benefit. The
British labor government already had
stretched the hand Of welcome across
the English Channel to Herriot and
his socialist hackers and, robbing
them ftheir electoral victory by
craft or force will scarcely strength
en- the Anglo-French entente.
Copyright. 1s34.)