Evening star., 1938-02-02
The French Crisis
'Capital Strike" More Acute Than That in u. S.
Blamed on Same Conditions.

in the second and third quarters OF
1887 was unfavorable to the extent Of
$500, 100000 francs.
Wages In France have risen about
so per cent since the Popular Front
government came into power, but the
cost Of living has risen from 100 as
Of the first half of 1886 to 1928, a
rise out of all proportion to any re-
flected in the United States, Great
Britain or Holland.
In Holland, for instance 1t rose in
the same period from 1872 to 1897.
and in Holland the production index
went from about the same level as
in France (around 70) to 102 in the
middle of last year.
The failure Of France to recover is
also reflected in stock prices. and in
bond prices. Dutch government credit,
as reflected in the yield of government
bonds, radically improved In a time
when French government credit de-
clined. French government bonds are
held by the small middle classes and
their purchasing power declined from
100 to 80.
The sophistry which has ruled the
French working classes ever since the
Popular Front government came in is
precisely the one enunciated time and
again by some OF our own New Deal
spokesmen and labor leaders, namely,
that you can increase purchasing
power by raising wages, and solve
unemployment by shortening hours.
without at the same time increasing
the per capita productivity of the
workers either by chronological inn
provement or by more efficient work
This theory has been sold to the
French working classes by demagogic
politicians.
Expansion Of Unions.
1t is as much the economic theory
Of the Confederation Generate du
Travail as 1t is of the c. l. O.. and,
for that matter. OF the A. F. of L., in
this country. The advent OF the Blum
government resulted in an enormous
expansion Of trade union orgapiza-
ton under the aegis Of a friendly
government, an expansion which.
there as here, was overdue. for the
condition OF the French industrial
worker really required an increase of
his collective bargaining power.
But the economic sophistries
pumped into the workers by their
leaders. who knew better but used
the arguments for political and Or
Ranizing purposes, have brought
France to industrial stagnation.
The French worker is not revolu-
tionary. He does not wish to change
the form Of government under whicn
he lives. He wishes to save de-
mocracy" He honestly believes that
by insisting on radical wage in
creases, by applying the universal 40
hour week, and seeking by sit-down
strikes to enforce the stretchout, he
is helping to end unemployment.
spur the economy by increased pur-
chasing power in the hands Of the
masses and thus save democracy from
Fascism. Labor leadership in France
has misled the rank and file to the
point where they cannot control it
any longer.
Cooperation Of Communists.
In this they have the cooperation
Of the Communists The Communist
leadership is better trained theoreti-
cally than most working class leader
ship. They know perfectly we'll that
this is all nonsense. They know that
while they are advocating a stretch
out system in France, Stakhanovism
Is introduced in Soviet Russia. The
strategy of the Communists makes
sense, however. because their object
Is to break capitalism by advocating
measures which are incompatible with
any form Of expanding production
in the hope of inheriting the debacle.
Here. again. they are at one With
the American Communists.
But the situation is serious from
the viewpoint Of the French de-
fense. The French workers. who sup
port the rearmament program and
are second to no calss in France In