Evening star., 1935-12-01

NARIS.--The situation in France
- Is mot interesting-and preg-
nant with dangers for the
u peace of Europe. Pierre Laval's
cabinet is ruling through liberation.
The Common Front and the National
lists (Col. Francois de la Rocque's
Croix de Feu) are ready to fly at each
others throats.
France is more revolutionary today
than she has been since 1889, when
the third republic was formed, accord
ing to Edouard Daladier, leader of the
"Young Turks" of the radical party
which Is the largest single political
group in the nation. 1t is only be-
cause Of his horse-trading ability,
both in domestic as well as interna-
tional politics that Laval has been able
to remain in office as long as he has.
He is the tenth prime minister to hold
office in the present Parliament, which
has existed a little more than three
years, and is the ninety-ninth head of
the government since the republic was
founded 81 years ago.
Perhaps no French premier since
the armistice has had such a difficult
row to hoe as has Pierre Laval. For
merly a Socialist, he foreswore al
legiance to any particular party and
became an independent. He was made
prime minister after Doumergue's s
resignation largely because the cham
Der could not agree upon any one else.
Flandin and Buisson had been set up
and knocked down in two short DAYS
before the crafty AuvergnoiS agreed 10
come to the rescue. When the French
Parliament reassembles the middle of
November the odds are even that
Laval will find himself all dressed up
with no place to go.
Unable to Meet Demands.
The thing that will bring about
LavalS overthrow will be his inability
to meet the Common Fronts demands
that the Croix de Feu (Cross of Fire
organization which resembles the Ku
Klux Khan, the German Nazis and
the Italian Fascists combined) be dis
armed. France today, politically, re-
sembleS two armed camps. The Croix
de Feu, with its 100000 members, is
known to be heavily armed. The
Comite des Forges French steel trust)
is the financial hacker of Col de la
ROGUE. The colonel himself is pretty
much of mystery man. His organi-
zation, officially, has no platform. 1t
consists of war veterans chiefly, or
ganlzed into compact units numbering
anywhere from 100 to 10000 members
each. These have been standing by"
ever since the Stavisky scandals and
the February riots of 1884 aroused the
country against the present chamber.
As result of the Stavisky scandals
most of the leaders of the radical
party went into seclusion. Daladier,
Chautemps, Pierre Cot and others laid
low while Edouard Herriot. the only
chieftain of the radicals who was not
q suspect, carried the standard Her.
riot joined up with ex-President Dou-
mergue's national coalition and re-
Gently the left element of the radical
party has sought to deprive him of
the leadership. When the chamber
meets-unless the international sit
uation is so dangerous that they dare
not precipitate a cabinet crisis-they
probably will vote to withdraw their
support from the Laval cabinet. That
will mean that Herriot and five other
cabinet members will have to resign.
Thereafter the cabinet will collapse.
Points to Mediterranean.
Realizing the seriousness of the sit
uation Laval is capitalizing upon the
danger of war in the Mediterranean
to keep Parliament in check. He has
also raised the Nazi bugaboo and has