Evening star., 1936-08-13

PoIdI4'SAy AA6iA1t tAAoAA ~ tAAC OAAASON
States, Is the reduction Of the age
limit for pensions.
France has a large army of officials.
The dream of most law school grad
yates is to obtain government job.
That means lifelong security, a
pension at the age of 65 or 70 and
the certitude of marrying some young
lady with an adequate dowry. But
the number Of university graduates
has, in recent years, exceeded by far
( the number of available jobs. And
these young intellectuals are poll
ticians. When the government does
M provide for their living they be-
coAe soap-box orators and, as such,
are dangerous for every administra-
ton. BY curtailing the limit of age
for pensions Blum hopes to satisfy
the older men, who will be glad to
retire sooner at rs per cent of their
salary, and also to satisfy the young
graduates, who will see more jobs at
$1,000 year-a handsome salary for
Frenchman who begins his bu-
reaucratic career. It commands at
least an equal amount of dowry.
If Frances problems were only Of
a social and economic nature, it is pos
sible that her governments, Blum's or
another's, might cope with them.
France still is wealthy country. But
Frances problems and dangers are of
an international character. For years
che has heo,, tryfno m dominate E,f
rope with her army and her aviation.
For years she has been adamant over
any changes in the treaty of Ver-
sailles. Now she is confronted with
two powerfully armed neighbors-
Italy and Germany-whose militarism
exceeds by far that of the French.
And Blum has been among the first
to concede that his predecessors have
been blundeYing in the field of inter-
national politics more than in the
field Of national affairs.
Desire for Peace Cited.
When I saw him he had just re-
turned from London where, among
other things, he had helped bring
about an agreement among the three
signatories of the deceased Locarno
treaty, France, Great Britain and Bel
GUM.
"We have a sincere desire to see
peace re-established on solid founda-
tions," said Blum. "I have no doubt
that Germany and Italy cannot refuse
to come and discuss this matter with
us some time next Fall. We must
put an end to this armament race
which ultimately will bring about
war and spell ruin throughout the
world. People must be mad to think
that they can repeat the 1914 folly
with IMMUNITY. France wants peace
and nothing else And when say
this. do not represent only the views
of this government, but the passionate
desire of the whole country regardless
of political creed. We shall 60 to the
next Locarno conference with an open
mind. willing to accept formula
which will give Europe q period of
tranquility and lessen the back
breaking burden of armament ex-
penditure. There will be no legalistic
tricks in our proposals; only an out
right proposal for peace and limita-
ton of armamentS"
Blum has a sincere admiration for
America, and an equally sincere desire
to see relations placed on a more sat
isfactory basis.
II have repeatedly stated that the
debt question should be gotten out Of
the way as soon as practicable" he
said. "Of course, the present chaotic
situation of the money markets and
of international trade makes it diff
cult to find an adequate solution.
There must be freer economic inter-
course between countries before the
question of debts can be settled. But
we are making progress toward that
goal, too We have signed trade
with the United States this
Summer, but that is not enough. As
soon as the situation allows 1t, we
shall endeavor to study the possibility