Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-23
By FRANK II. SIMONDS.

/
| WI situation in France is be-
coming unstable The fall of
the Poincare cabinet in the
next few weeks is at least a posi-
! bility. And back of this lies the
| equally good chance that there will
| be new BRAND cabinet or a combina-
| ton in which NJ. BRAND will direct
| foreign affairs under the nominal
| leadership of some one like NJ.
! Sarraut.
AT the bottom of the present unrest
| lies the fact that NJ. Poincare depends
| for his majority upon a Chamber of
! Deputies which is very strongly OPP
| posed to the former President Of the
republic. The present chamber was
| chosen in 1924 in the great political
| revolt against Poincare after the
| Ruhr occupation. It is dominated by
Radical and Socialist elements which.
/ when they can act together, consti-
tute an Overwhelming ma jority.
Last Summer at the height Of the
franc crisis a panic suddenly broke
| out in the chamber. 1t had been plan
ned to permit NJ. Herriot to replace
] NJ. BRAND. This would have meant
merely a change in leadership, since
both Herriot and BRAND belong to
the same anti.Poincare group. But
at this precise moment Paris was in
| uproar and crowds formed before the
| chamber. These crowds shouted such
| pleasing threats as that of throwing
| Herriot in the river.
Turn to Poincare i'm Peril.
In the face of this popular hostil
| ity Herriot gave up his undertaking
| and there was a common agreement
| to turn to Poincare. There was more
| than little irony in this sudden ap-
peal of the Left TO the man whom
| they had driven out of office two years
before and had continued to assail
| as Poincare-la-g uerre. But the fear
| was very real and the danger great.
Today the danger has passed at
least for the present. If Poincare has
not yet formally stabilized the franc
he has restored it to an unexpectedly
/ high level and it has remained fixed
at this level for some weeks. 1t Is
actually today worth twice what IL
was when he took office. And at
this level it is probable that the franc
could now be stabilized. although
many experts hold the value too high
BY imposing new taxes. by insist
ing upon rigid economy, by actually
governing. Poincare has restored order
in French finances. On the other
hand his success has been on the
whole almost too complete. The rapid
rise Of the franc has brought business
depression. degree of unemployment
and a variety of difficulties incident
to the fact that while the franc has
risen. prices have not fallen.
Thus there is real and growing
agitation against the French prime
minister based upon his success in
saving the franc. The heavy in
dustries. steel and iron, are feeling
the strain. After years in which the
cheapness Of. French money enabled
them to compete advantageously with
Britain and with Germany, they now
find their situation becomes difficult.
And naturally they blame Poincare.
Workers Also Dissatisfied.
This dissatisfaction which is felt by
the owners of industrial establish
ments is similarly experienced BY the
workingmen, who see their employ
ment diminishing. And these work
ingmen are able easily to make their
protests heard by the Radical and
Socialist ma joritX of the French Cham
Der of Deputies.
Since Poincare was an emergency
measure since he was called to
power not merely by his political OPP
/ ponents, but by his personal foes,
| nothing was more certain than that
he would find his situation precari-
Gus if at any time public sentiment
changed. He was literally called to
| office by the voice of the people in
| the face of the opposition of the
| great mass of the politicians.
While. moreover. there is measur-
able agreement still over the neces-
| sity to continue to support the f1nan-
| cial policies of Poincare. his known
! opposition to much if not all of BrI-
and's Locarno policy makes the re-
| lations between the prime minister
and the foreign minister excessively
! difficult. Thus Poincare's criticism
of all of Brands words and acts at
Geneva and at Thoiry last Fall was
/ a matter of common knowledge.
But BRAND has the solid backing
of the majority in the. Chamber of
| Deputies for his policy of concilia-
! ton. And, so far as one may judge
| by recent elections. the French peo-
| pie are still committed to the idea of
| Locarno Thus any real attempt of
Poincare to modify foreign policy
would precipitate an immediate and
| enormous crisis. And he would in
| the end be turned out.
Friendlier Toward Berlin.
French feeling with respect to Ger
many continues to modify The Ger
mans have come back to Paris and
| to France in large numbers. War
and postwar bitterness seems very
| largely to have died down. French
and German business cooperation
! continues to develop. 1t is perhaps
possible to exaggerate the depth of
! the change. New incidents might
easily provoke a recrudescence of the
| old feeling.
But at the moment France is pro-
| foundry peaceful and such resent
| ment as the people felt is much
| stronger in the case of creditor ma
| tons than wartime enemies BRAND
| has been completely successful in pop
ularizing the policy Of Locarno. The
| French army is being reduced stead
| lily and the whole French spirit is to-
day lacking in any interest or enthu-
siasm for policies which have been de-
| scribed as militaristic and imperial
istic.
| But while Poincare can momentar-
| ily concentrate his attention upon
| financial matters, he remains nation
alist. He has not and cannot change
| his views with respect of the Ger
man. His opposition to all proposals
| to hasten the evacuation of the
Rhineland must be assumed. And at
a point this opposition is bound to
| find public expression.
Yet this evacuation cannot long be
delayed now without danger to the
whole Locarno conception. While un-
der the treaty of Versailles the allied
troops can stay on German territory
until 1885 legally, such continued
occupation would certainly have very
evil consequences in Germany. After
all, Stresemann's success so far has
| lain in the fact that his policy of con-
Citation has raised hopes for the re-
| firenent of allied troops