Evening star., 1938-01-17
Stronger CABINET.
SEEN FOR FRANCE
Crisis Is Expected to Bring
Greater Authority to Aid
Social Peace.
Nv PERTINAX.

PARIS. Jan. II N.A.NA.).-An
probabilities are that the new govern
n1ent that will issue from the present
French ministerial crisis is likely to
have more authority than the former
cabinet to impose social peace, save
the currency. vindicate democratic
institutions against all totalitarian
tendencies and conduct . resolute
foreign policy as required by circum-
stances.
The following indications may help
one to understand how that result
4 about to be obtained:
The crisis was opened by Premier
Camille Chautemps who, in the small
hours Of Friday morning. deliberately
broke with the Communists, that Is
with the left wing Of the parliamentary
majority of the so-called Popular
Front. He acted on the calculation
that he would gain in prestige and
effective power if he could get rid Of
the adopts Of the Third International
.and have them replaced in the gov
ernmental ma jority by such enlightened
representatives of liberal opinion rs
Paul Reynaud and Pierre Flandin
Thus French investors would look to
the future with renewed confidence
and the monetary, budgetary and eco
nomic situation at last would be i'm
proved.
But Socialist leaders and their
troops. the central group in the min
isterial majority. refused to follow
suit and the Chautemps' cabinet broke
up Immediately. Georges Bonnet,
finance minister, who is hostile to
exchange control under any form, was
offered the premiership by President
Albert lie Brun and he tried to resume
M. Chautemps' endeavor with the lat
ter's encouragement. However, he had
to contend with the personal antipathy
OF Leon Blum and M. Reynaud, and.
In addition. he made a blunder in
intrusting the portfolio of foreign af-
fairs to NJ Chautemps, who has often
been criticized among men Of the left
~ rather inclined to be over -concil-
iatory in his treatment of the Spanish
problem.
The two parties Of the left realize
today that their social program must
ha shelved for the time being, that
they cannot insist upon enforcement
OF exchange control without rending
asunder the whole nation and making
1t less capable Of asserting itself upon
the international plane at specially
dangerous moment But in return for
that practical abandonment Of their
social credo and for their decision to
relinquish Office, which logically fol-
lows. they want to get more active
defense Of the system Of collective Sc
curity. while they expect, Of course,
that all violent elements in the coun-
try that have or are believed to have
plotted against democratic and par
lament institutions perhaps with out
side assistance, will be mercilessly
stopped.
Successive checks the Socialists
had inflicted upon M. Chautemps and
M. Bonnet were believed to have
(WHICH pAlCAi ACdNS anu ~ W6o tAlOuSA1I
a. sound tactics to give them an
opportunity to try their hand and
fail. In that spirit the President Of
the republic, who had previously said
he would never ask M. Blum to lead
another government, nevertheless
commissioned him to construct 4
cabinet. M. Blum was greatly en-
barraSsed. On the one hand, he
couldn't decline M. Lebrun's invita-
ton, since his party. the Socialists,
had at the outset and rather on
principle claimed the supreme Office
for themselves as being numerically
strongest in the Chamber On the
other hand, he realized how impos-
sible 1t was to set up exchange con-
troll and take upon himself the re-
sponsibility to initiate an authori-
tartan government.
AZ A clever way Of escape, he i'm
Agined to unfurl the flag Of national
union and to include in the cabinet
the Communist Thorez and the Lib
eral Reynaud. But M. Reynaud coun-
teracted him by putting forward the
demand that. as q setof1 for the pres
ence OF M. Thorez in the ministry,
such men OF the right as Marin,
ChAmperier. De Ribe and Pernot
should become minister. M. Blum
had to turn down that request, since
cooperation with M. Marin would
make 1t dificult to take action against
all the so-called hooded men and
leeguers and straighten foreign policy
Now the path has been cleared for
N. sarraut, M. Chautemps and M.
Reynaud. All political leaders have
been warned by Francois Poncet,
French Ambassador to Berlin, who
Is now In Paris, that the next few
months will probably be critical for
European peace, since Premier Musso-
lini Is not ready to accept quietly
Gen. Franco's defeat in the Spanish
civil war and that Hitlerian Ger
many's designs in relation to Aus-
tria ere speedily maturing. The time
has come to concentrate upon national
defense and brush aside all other
considerations.
tcepyrisht. 1898. By the North American
Newsps per Alliance, 1nc)