The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-07-25

SEES DALI
! \ y 4 80
And Fall AZ
By FULTON THATCHER GRANT
CHAPTER EIGHT
PART I
Ny notes viii no longer serve. The
history Of the next six days can only
b written and understood In retro
spect. That week Of the Daladier
government viii 60 down In the his
torical annals Of France - . moment
Of SHIFT, q sudden transition, . turn
ing point. The whole parliamentary
system Of the Third Republic fell,
that week, Into desuetude. Imper-
ceptibly to US who lived there and who
Witnessed those tragic days, Edouard
Daladier steered Q vehicle laden with
old formulas into sure oblivion. We
saw the causes, tho facts, the mighty
obtuSeness, the treacherous blind
ness Of well-meaning. We could not
interpret. We saw Poor Marianne
weeping, her children slain By stupid
ana brutal lovers, Jealous Of her favors.
But We did not understand the full
significance Of her tears. We did not
know that In the blood Of those slain
children the old ikons would be BATH
ed and their meaning washed away.
Herod did not know that the blood Of
the Innocents would coagulate into .
living force which would rise to &C..
lipse and toss to oblivion his puny
selfishness. Nor could Daladier, Frot.
Cot and company foresee that Bloody
Tuesday and the noise Of its spatter-
Ing bullets would play tho funeral
march Of Z deceased dynasty.
And a. I write these lines today,
some months later, tho press reports
rioting and trouble in France. It may
be the rumblings Of . great social war
to come, but even II greater bloods1ed
comes, even II . second terror u re-
produced, and Dantons or Marats or
Robespierres arise to plunge France
into monetary chaos, We know now
that those events had their origin
and their roots In that week Of Feb
ruary 1894 which saw the precipitous
rise and fall Of Daladier'S unfortun-
ate and mistaken One.Week Cabinet.
Seed Was Stavisky Ambition
And the seed from which those
roots had sprung was the blind am
bition Of stavisky.
"Vite ct fort, will act quickly and
strongly" said Edouard Daladier to
the people Of France g he took over
the government. Those were good
words. They were calculated to
assuaee tho fears Of the French peo-
pie. He referred to the crying need
Of his country for . balanced and
workable budget that was to put m
end to an impossible financial crisis
and to reestablish confidence In the
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity"
Of the Third Republic. They were
calculated to assure his people that
the full truth concerning, not alone
the stavisky case itself, but the In
tertwining Of public officials in this
and other scandalous operations,
would be made public, and that the
laws Of the country would be revised
to prevent and to anticipate further
pillaging Of the Household Pocket
book.
Daladier,s first error, paradoxical
Is it may seem, was one Of magnify
ing the Importance Of the stayisty
swindle. This importance cannot and
could not be denied, but 1t was far
less than the need Of demonstrating
clear, sagacious thinking and coher-
ent action.
On the night Of January 81 Daladier
sat In conference with his two minis
ters, Eugene Frot Of the Interior, and
Eugene Penancier, Guard Of the Seals
and Minister Of Justice. Together
they decided upon q vigorous plan Of
action. It comprehended ~ . Par
liamentary Commission Of Inquest,
and a. to sanction and to remove
from their present offices certain i'm
portant government functionaries.
notably Jean Chiappe, Project Of
Paris. and NJ. Thome. director Of the
surete. They thought that the pub
lie which had been roaring In the
streets was more concerned with the
scandals and their non-solution than
with anything else. They thought
that by making these vigorous ges-
lures they could restore confidence
and calm Immediately. They may con-
ceivably have been right In prin.
ciple but they were wrong In execu-
ton. And they underestimated the
public's penetration into what was
really the matter. They mistook
righteous indignation for mob hys-
terra.
As for the Parliamentary Commits
sion, very good.
As for the sanctions, It was there
that they erred. You cannot sanction
until you prove guilt.
Police Chief Had Hands Full
Jean Chiappe, the most popular po-
lice chief Paris has known, had his
hands full. what with the rioting I
have already exposed and . strike
Of I'll the taxi drivers In Paris (some
10000 against . new gasoline tax.
Barring the brutalities Of his men, for
which he can hardly be held person.
ally responsible. he had handled both
situations with surprising ability, he
had kept his head and had acted In
. vigorous, energetic and professional
manner. He knew his job.
On the evening Of February /.
Edouard Daladier called Chiappe TO-
his private office and congratulated
him on his activities. urging him TO-
continue his good work and to do his
bit to help the neV.fOCmed cabinet
In this hour Of great need. Not only
that, but Daladier showed great per-
sonal esteem for the man and real
warmth saying to him, "You are not
only friend, but the friend in need."
But on Saturday, February 5. he
callAd lean Cf1ianra nv tAlAn1,ny1a and