Evening star., 1924-06-04
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

bued with untried theories and vaga-
ries, and given power to discard the
wisdom of statesmen, tried and ex-
perienced
On the other hand, say the radicals.
the Statesmen" grow to despise the
ernment of. by and for the people
not for the "reactionaries," who. they
charge. too often fall under the con-
troll of special interests
+ y 4 x
1t is impossible to draw parallels
too closely between the conditions in
France and in America, for condi-
tions of today are always founded upon
conditions OF history and race character
istics. Socialism has long been a more
active disturbing influence in France
than in our country. During the war
it h1rassed the responsible govern
ment, even to the verge of treason.
Some Of its leaders were tried and
convicted as traitors, Callaux, q for
mer premier, was banished, but has
now returned and may resume lead
ership OF radicals. even with pos
sibility of again becoming premier
NJ. Herriot has been most conspicu-
Gus and has been expected to be Of
fered the premiership by President
Millerand. but with the present re-
fusal Of the Assembly to indorse any
Millerand nominee, he will not dare
accept the nomination
What has been the sum of the Of
fense Of the Poincare administration?
As war president he selected Gle
menceau as premier and the allies Sc
lected his chief marshal, Gen. Foch, as
supreme commander-and Premier CIe-
nenceau and Gen. Foch won the war. At
its close there were 5000. 600 acres of the
the soil SO riven, that many agri-
culturists said il could never again
raise crops, and should be abandoned
as no-man's land--an eternal mon
unent TO the savagery of the enemy.
There were $4,000 homes destroyed.
Up to last June five-sixths of the
red zone-s, 100000 acres-aud $50. 900
homes had been redeemed, and NJ Rel
bel, minister of the devastated regions,
said that by 1925 all the reclamation
will have been accomplished
True the rebuilding has been done
with French taxes, subject TO reim-
bursement by Germany, under the
Versailles peace treaty. Germany
has not yet paid, but both Premier
Poincare and Socialist Herriot (his
qualified approval of the Dawes re-
port on methods of forcing German
reparatons payment
A loan of s100,000.oo0 from the
Morgan banking syndicate of Amer
lean money has been agreed upon,
with a. view to stabuizing the franc
Terms OF security are strict. and
when NJ Herriot attacked the sever
ity of those terms last week, while
il appeared that he was about 10
10 aF,sa
of the franc fell TO almost its lowest
point
4; X
Even the most radical pause when
confronted with actual responsibility
Will the Socialists plunge France
into bankruptcy and chaos now that
they behold the brink?
LOpinion. the organ or radicalism,
asks solemnly: "Allons nous vers une
dictature?" Care We going into d
dictatorship?)
The question is upon all lips"
says L'opinion. Only a few mem
bers of parliament committeeman
and candidates don't dare to put it
openly. We hear it everywhere 1t
Is not a conspiracy, nor the result of
propaganda
every one knows from his school
has been able to survive financial de-
mora.iZauon. The revolution started
from Calonne. and Bonaparte was
the product OF the assignats
The day when the fall of the Ira
endangered Italy, Mussolini crossed
the Rubicon. 1t was the decline of
the peseta that called forth the pro-
nunciamento of Primo de Rivero. The
debacle of the mark put Germany IN
the hands OF Gen. Won Seckt The
Moscow dictatorship is based on the
ruin of the ruble. Austria has not
been able TO heal the ravages of the
monetary debauch, except by estab-
fishing a respectable dictatorship
under a Dutch official"
The French franc. at par worth 20
cents, is today sold In the markets
of France at about twenty-one or
twenty-five francs for dollar: il
dropped under the reported threat of
Herriot to oVerturn the American
loan because of the security demand
ed. although NJ. Herriot has since de-
clared that he supports the loan.
Copyright, 1924. by Paul V. CoIlins.)