Evening star., 1937-06-27
CONTINENTAL DOMINANCE
OF FRANCE is DECLINING
Chief Military Allies, Poland and Yugo.
slavia, Have Fallen Away
From Paris.


ment dictate to her citizens, as Hitler
and Mussolini are doing Until he
resigned with Blum. the French
finance minister. Vincent Auriol, had
been having a severe headache He
was no longer struggling to balance
the budget, but he was concerned
about where to find the necessary
funds to meet this years expenditures.
How much the French treasury needs
until the end of the year is uncer-
tain. According to sources close to the
French government, s500,0O0,000 will
do the job. The financial experts
of the opposition maintained that
$4,000 100000 is more truthful fig
ure. Which Of these amounts would
stand an audit is immaterial The
principal fact is that huge sums are
necessary and the present revenue Of
France cannot provide it. Hence. any
adiminstra ton will be compelled to
find other sources of income. The
latest loan. which has been subscribed
in full, practically exhausted the bor-
rowing channels. Direct taxes are
difficult, since all the people with tax
able incomes are surrendering a major
part OF them to the government. All
that remains available is an increase
in the indirect taxes-a source Of
money raising which the people de-
test. Indirect taxes would work seri-
Gus hardships on the lower classes,
who have already shown a good deal
of 1mpatience.
Prestige Has Diminished.
While the internal situation In
France once more has become diff
cult, her prestige in the concert Of
International powers has diminished.
Since the formation of the Berlin
Rome axis and the abrogation Of the
Versailles treaty. the steel ring around
Germany has melted away.
One by one. Frances worthwhile
allies from the military point Of
view-Poland and Yugoslavia-have
deserted her. Rumania Is on the
fence and Czechoelovakia has become
a liability To meet the potential
menace from Berlin and Rome, the
French government has turned toward
her most powerful asoocia iates-Russia
and Great Britain.
There is q great parallelism o. in
terest been the French and the
U. S. S. R. They both have nat
ural and instructive fear of the Reich
and both want to maintain the inde-
pendence of Czechoelovakia, a state
almost as racially heterogeneous, for
its size, as was the Austro- Hungarian
empire.
The French politicians and the in
spired press have been singing the
praise Of the new Russian army with
greater enthusiasm than in 1914. At
that time it was the French press
which coined the expression "the Rus.
sian steam roller" and the world ex-
pected to see the huge armed masses
of the Gear crush Germany in few
weeks. When that famous steam
roller proved to be totally 1nefncient.
the French sighed and decided they
had made mistake. The power was
there all right. but those who handled
the roller were inexperienced and cor
rupt. But the new Russian army i.
"Oh, lala," the French exclaimed.
you should see it," French cabinet
ministers and members Of Parliament
returned from Moscow with tears in
their eyes, so great was their enthu-
siasm for the things they had SEEN
In the Red Square in Moscow they
had been shown the strong, powerful
young Communist soldiers and their
fine tanks: they were shown the IA
nous parachutist regiments which
would drop from the skies behind
German lines with tanks and machine
guns to attack Hitler's divisions from
the rear. They had seen more than
that and it was enough for the SEN
timental and emotional French poli-
ticians. Some of Frances soldiers
had some doubts about the actual
efficiency Of that new army, but even
they believed that the revolutionary
spirit had entirely changed the stu
alton which existed in 1914.
Trials Cast Gloom Over Paris,
The Moscow trials which culmi-
mated In the execution Of Russia's 8
foremost military officers cast 4 gloom
over Paris. When those eight generals
fell three weeks ago under the bull
lets Of firing squad, the last portion
Of the steel wall which encircled Ger
many disappeared, too.
There is little wonder that Maxim
Litvinoff's recent suggestion that the
general staffs Of the two countries es-
tablish closer relationship and CO.
ordination by exchanging information
and plans was turned down cold by
the French minister OF national de-
tense, Edouard Daladier.
Politically, France enjoys the
friendship of ill the democracies in
the new and old worlds But Is m
associate In the event Of 4 conflasra.
ton she has today. with the excep-
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