Evening star., 1928-04-29
BY FRANK II. SIMONDS.

observer, more puzzling to the French
political expert himself than this, the
first returns of which are being counted
now. Moreover, not only are the main
details of the campaign itself puZzling,
but there Is common agreement that
when the returns are In what was In
doubt will still remain in mystery.
On the surface. the issue Of the
campaign seems fairly clear. France
Is voting to decide whether Poincare
will remain prime minister or not.
| And that, means again, whether the
man who saved the franc two years
! ago, who doubled its value in his
| period of Office will be permitted to
complete the task. achieve stabiliza-
tion. finish the job of bringing his
| country back to gold standard and
a solvent currency
No one really undertakes publicly to
contest the statement that Poincare
| has saved the franc; that he, and he
alone, has the confidence Of the
| French public and of the world masters
Of finance. On the basis of the old
| American political slogan that 'one
| good term deserves another" Poincare's
claim is frankly beyond question.
Same Popularity as Hoover.
The moment one looks below the
surface, however. all the real COM
plexities become manifest. To begin.
| Poincare has precisely the same popu-
larity with the practicing politician as
| Herbert Hoover. The mention Of his
name brings about the same spontane-
Gus outburst of loud cheers from the
professional politician. The party
worker warns up with equal en-
| thuSiaSm.
There Is. however. one essential diff
| ference, Hoover belongs to the Repub-
| lican party, which, in theory at least,
| is the majority party. Poincare, on the
other hand belongs to one of the mi
nority groups If he returns to power
| 1t will be the process which would have
a certain resemblance to the transfer
Of Hoover TO the White House by Demo-
crats-and by Democrats who in every
way personally and politically detested
| the man they made President
| Just four years ago all the radical.
socialistic and even liberal elements in
| France by a great, spontaneous and
/ violent effort cast Poincare out of Office.
! They dealt with him thus hars1ly as
/ the man who had been responsible for
! the occupation Of the Ruhr. as the man
/ who embodied abroad the idea of
French militarlsm and at home the no.
| ton Of reaction. Never was there a
more sweeping. a more decisive re-
| pudiation Of a public man.
But the difficulty at that time lay
| In the fact that the various political
groups which combined against the
| former President were totally without
the capacity to agree upon any policy In
| domestic politics. and almost from the
very outset began to disintegrate.
Franc Decline Brings Crisis.
| abroad. Herriot and Painlevs made the
Dawes plan, while BRAND made Lo-
carno. which ended the occupation of
the Ruhr and started Franco German
| relations on a foundation Of co-opera-
| ton, which has held solidly But at
| home no possible coordination was
| possible between Socialists who desired
| TO save the franc by capital levy and
| the more moderate groups which
wanted to save France from the capital
levy.
SO. little by little at first. rapidly at the
| end. the franc began to slide, until one
| day there was every indication that tine
French coin would follow the example
| of the German mark And on that
| day. when the wretched members of
the Cartel were still trying 70 coNtrive
one more Herriot government which
would keep their combination in power,
the crowds In Paris began To march
| over the bridge 10 the Chamber of
| Deputies. where the French lower house
| sits. chanting a little refrain. the
| chorus of which undiSguiSedly suggested
| that the place for Herriot. for Painlevc
for Leon Blum, for all the Cartel chiefs
| was In the river or, more brutaily. deco
| rating lamp post.
| And in that exciting moment the
| Cartel leaders lost their nerve In
| despair they consented that There
should be formed ministry of national
safety. which should have all power to
save the franc.
Poincare Comes Back
So Poincare came back and saved the
| franc, Coming back, too. he included
| in his cabinet Herriot, Painieve and
others OF his opponents. But hence
| forth France was ruled not by partv
| organization but by personal sway
| Moreover. while Poincare did restore
the franc and peg II. balance the
budget. put on the necessary taxation
and pepform all the tasks which the
Cartel had neglected, he refralned from
the final work, which was 10 achieve
stabiiixation once and for all.
In this he utterly wrecked all the
hopes OF the Cartel. They had per-
force yielded TO popular demand but
| they had not unnaturaliy held 10 the
hope that once Poincare had performed
his specific task, once the franc was
| tiXed and founded then they could
| come hack 10 the people in a new elec-
| ton and claim a new lease of power 20
| carry out all their campaign purposes
/ But instead poincare grimly an
/ nounced to the French electorate that
I he could not perform the Stahillaation
| task until France had voted and sAe
| world at large was assured that Tor
four years longer France was To have
, political stability This meant that for
| four years more all the various political
1 leaders who had combined 20 make the
| Cartel, for the naked and undlSguiSed
! purpose ot getting control OF power and
! patronage, would have to stand aside,
| II YOU note the fact that beyond any
| real doubt the Cartel group actually
represents a majority Of the French
voters, that II there were no enmpllcat-
| ing Issue ot the franc. they could be-
| yond much doubt regain control YOU
| viii appreciate how awkward aud un-
! attractive for them Is the roineare
pose,
| Gets Universal support,
| Despite the fact that RoineareS do
| mestic political ideas and associations
| would normally take him With rather
| than against the Cartel, he has heen
| because az his view Of foreign affairs
supported by those elements IN the eoun-
| try which are not only militariStic, bat
| also conservative. not merely clerical
but III many eases even royallstie, Dis.
/ agreeing with all polneareS domestic
| conceptions, they agree with him in his
| views as to foreign affairs and finance
| Hut how does the country feel about
| the mattere There Is the rub All
the Cartel politicians are eager to get
back to ntflce and control But they
remember With anxiety the moment