Evening star., 1935-11-24
FRANCE FEARS INTERNAL
STRIFE, WAR, IMITATION
Political Situation at Home Is Marked
by Complex That Both Hates
and Admires DictatOrs.

communism as a possible factor of
dictatorship in France has rallied to
the cause of democracy.
That leaves the so-called leagues"
or right organizations, like the Croix
de Fue, which, in sense, may be said
to correspond. idealogically. to the D.
A. r. and the more reactionary Sec
ton Of the American Legion. From
their point Of view, the trouble is, as
I have said, that they are, first,
minority without enough strength to
capture power, and, second, that they
lack dynamic leadership. The French
people, on the whole, are leftish today
and might In a time of crisis accept
a dictatorial leader from the left, as
they accepted Clemenceau in 1917, but
they would rise and fight against any
attempt at dictatorship from the right.
That, in point of fact. was the under
lying significance of the 9Th of Feb
ruary last year.
Contradiction Flsgrant.
Thus arises the contradiction in
present French politics and the fear
of internal strife. On one hand the
fact that democracy as practiced in
France has become so dlffused and
confused as to be almost impractical
BILE, and the fact that there exists
an organized Fascist, or dictatorial,
movement here. On the other hand,
the average Frenchman is determined
to fight, if need be, for the ideals of
freedom and democracy.
Finally, there is the economic crisis
and the fear of imitation. After meet
ing the world depression more success
fully than other major countries,
France finally succumbed two or three
years ago and today feels sick and
sorry about it. Paris at present is the
most expensive city in the world, with
the natural result that foreign visitors,
who played so important a role in
Partisan economics, avoid the city as
if 1t were plague-stricken.
The deflation measures and attempts
to balance Frances revenue and ex-
penditure have lowered wages and SAL
aries, but they have not cut the cost
of food. Rents and the price of COM
modities have been slightly reduced
but, to the man in the street, and to
the working masses, as the Rus
slams call them, food is the principal
item in the monthly budget. Food
prices in France have been held high,
somewhat artif1cially, in an attempt to
aid the farmers who, after all, are an
extremely important part of the
French electorate. At present, with
an election pending lin the early
Summer of next year, !: not sooner)
no French government can think of
reducing food prices.
Savers Shy at Imitation.
An easy remedy would be imitation;
that Is to say, further devaluation
of currency. But this meets a new
and grievous obstacle in that the
French are saving race, and that,
while devaluation might improve
conditions at least temporarily, it
would at the same time deal a bitter
blow to the boarded francs in the
peasants mattress or the "bas de
laine" of the petit-bourgeois class,
which is so large in this country.
All this sounds very perplexing, and
that is the right word. The key word
of France today is ''perplexity." They
don't know what to do or how to do
it, yet they feel--with good reason
that something must be done, and
done quickly. The Laval government
is neither popular nor efficient. In
some quarters it is suggested that M.
Laval is thinking of a monstrouS al
lance with the Croix de Feu, a sort
of hybrid dictatorship. which may be
possible, because almost anything IS
possible in these days, but which is
about as likely, from the standpoint
of practical home politics, as solid
and lasting Franco-German agreement
in the foreign field.
Laval's ministry may be upset next
month, when the Chamber meets, or
it may linger on. less by its own
strength than by the reluctance of its
adversaries to assume the burden OF
power. There may be a temporary
ministry, headed by Mandel, or some
one else, to tide over the period until
the elections. Or perhaps even cut
ting the Gordian- knot solution in the
form of a prorogation of Parliament
and general election before the end
of the year.
No one knows and it is folly to guess,
but, in estimating probabilities, one
may venture to suppose that foreign
affairs, namely the Italo-E Ethiopian
conflict and the more ominous effects
of Anglo-Italian antagonism, will
prove the determining factor.
(Copyrieht. 1885, by the North American
Neusnapar Alliance Tpe