Evening star., 1936-06-07
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

The new premier finds France in a
state of confusion The government
treasury is empty; his alliance with
the Communists makes him a "Suspi-
cious character" in the eyes of the
wealthy class and the thrifty middle
class; his avowed militarism
renders him undesirable" in the eyes
of the army; and last, but not least,
he is the first man Of Hebraic stock to
assume a high Office in France The
demonstration which took place on
the 10th of May before the Care
Saint LaZare in Paris, when a crowd
began shouting. "a bas les juifs Down
with the Jews)!" wasssuch as has not
been witnessed since the days of the
Dreyfus affair. Leon Blum always has
been aware of the reaction Catholic
France might show to a Jew in
power And this is one Of the reasons
why he has refused Office heretofore.
Blum represents the ultra-radical
| thought. The principles of the Com
munistS are closer to Blum's political
philosophy than those of any other
political party. But the new premier
is not proletarian The son of a
wealthy silk merchant, he never has
known hardship AS lawyer, the
new premier has been Successful-his
annual earnings never went below a
sum in five figures. Neither does he
deSpise the advantages of having a fat
bank account. The apartment in
which he lives is full of rare and costly
antiques. while his table is that of a
| refined epicurean.
Yet, Blum started his political career
as convinced Socialist He has con-
sistently refused a position in the
French Socialist cabinets because he
suspected even his friend Edouard
Herriot was willing to compromise
with the moneyed class on the funda-
mental issues of socialism. His first
speech in the chamber. as deputy from
Narbonne. now is likely to become the
'leitmotff' of the anti-Blum campaign
of the Nationalists and the Croix de
Feu.
Attacked in Pamphlets.
Perorating against capitalism, he
turned toward the deputies of the Gen.
ter and the Right and shouted. Il hate
you, yes, hate you all, from the bot
tom of my heart!" This speech was
made some 80 years ago And now
| hundreds of thousands of pamphlets
are being distributed throughout
| France, saying: Leon Blum, whom
you brought to the head Of your gov
ernment. is Frenchman only by rea-
son of having been born in France
But he could just as easily oe a Rus
sian or a Spaniard or an Italian. He
is an internationalist because Semitic
blood runs in his veins
The present crisis in France is due
more to severe attack of jitters than
| to an unsound economic condition.
When the French lose confidence in
the ability Of their government to gov
ern. they begin to export their boarded
capital. 1t happened in 1925. when
France had its first Socialist govern
ment-the Cartel. under Edouard Her.
riot. And it is happening now, when
the government Of the Peoples Front
assumes office.
When Herriot became prime minis
ter in June, 1924, the financial situa-
ton was satisfactory. 1t was only after
his feeble attempts to introduce mild
socialistic legislation that the big busi-
ness men took fright and capital began
to desert France to seek shelter in
Switzerland, Holland, England and the
United States. The movement spread
rapidly from the really wealthy class
to the petite bourgeoisie-the small
investors-who transformed their pa
per francs and government bonds into
| foreign currency.
This time the owners Of capital did
not wait for Blum to take over the
reins of the government. The fight of
capital began as soon as it became OBJ
vious-months before the actual elec-
tions--that Socialist Communist ad-
ministration would rule France.
Exodus Becomes Rout.
But the exodus of the capital became
rout when the Peoples Front pledged
itself to enact two radical measures as
soon as convenient-the nationaliza-
ton of the arms industry and of the
Banque de France.
| BY making these proposals known,
M. Blum and his associates have chal-
lenged the two most powerful inSti-
| tutions in France-the Comite des
Maitres des FORCES dhat is to say, the
whole of the iron and steel industry
/ riohncf foYT1ilInS in tho
country, who control the Banque de
France. The reaction has been imme-
diate and drastic. The gold of France
| is being transferred at the rate of sew
eral millions a day to New York and
London. And the small investors, hav-
ing read the weekly reports of the
mother of all the French banks, took
fright. They pulled out of their famous
woolen stockings the thousand-franc
notes and changed them into gold, or
dollars and pounds.
| Thus, Leon Blum finds not only a
depleted treasury, but also a bank
unable to discount the treasury bonds
with which the administration must
meet its current expenses.
In 1924 the Morgan bank was able
to help the situation temporarily by
granting the Banque de France a
loan of 500, 900 at a time when
no other banks we're prepared to risk
their money in France.
It is again toward the United States
that the Blum government is looking
| to save Frances financial situation.
The French premier has already start
ed his Irritation with this country by
admitting that the non-payment of
the war debts was, to say the least,
a psychological mistake which should
be repaired as soon as possible. The
principal reason for this mistake"
is the existence of the Johnson act,
which forbids any loan to default
ing country. And Monsieur Blum's
emissaries want to know whether this
country, interested in the maintenance
of peace, would not be willing to save
France from serious trouble by loan
| ing her another billion dollars at an