Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1942-11-20
luvuI Takes the Reins

elevation of Pierre Laval to virtually
supreme power in a France now
wholly under Axis domino ton. With
the whole country militarily occupied
by German and Italian troops the
last vestige of even qualified indie
pendence has vanished from the
Vichy regime. 1t is fitting, therefore,
that Laval, willing accomplice of the
Axis, should head the phantom gov
eminent which, presumably, deceives
none except those who wish to be
deceived
The chief uncertainty regarding
the current changes at Vichy is
whether Marshal Petain acted spon-
taneously or under duress. Nothing
could be more pathetic than the text
of the decree issued in his name
which reads: I'VE, Marshal of France
and Chief of State by virtue of the
constitutional law of July 10, 1910,
decree that the head of government
LavaD outside of constitutional laws
has the power on his simple sigma
ture to make laws and issue de-
crees." That magniloquent man
ifesto, beginning with the royal
We" is a tissue of absurdities. The
constitutional law" referred to was
promulgated arbitrarily by Petain
and his associates and has never
been ratified by the Legislative as
semblies" which the so-called law
itself requires, because the Parlia-
ment of the Third Republic has been
abolished by Petain and no new leg
islative bodies have been created. To
the 86-year-old marshal, sitting in
his hotel residence and surrounded
by German bayonets, it indeed must
have been a bitter pill to see
himself abandoned by Admiral OAR
Ian, and obliged to put in the ad-
mirals place the swarthy Auvergnat
whom he had ANONYMOUSLY deposed
a scant two years ago for plotting
against him. Thus does Petain drink
the cup of humiliation to the dregs.
Laval has now attained the posi-
ton to which he aspired when his
intriguing was discovered in De-
cember, 1910. The aged marshal is
seemingly relegated to dignif1ed i'm
potence, since the new decree en-
powers Laval to do virtually every
thing on his own initiative The
only qualification is that he under
takes Ito keep the Chief of State
(Petain) informed" about his doings.
Yet, in reality, Laval's triumph is
a hollow victory. Two years ago,
Vichy France meant something tan
gible and possessed a certain degree
Of bargaining power for a place in
that New Order" which the vic
torious Axis was striving to establish.
Today, Vichy has lost control of it's
overseas empire, while at home it has
been stripped bare by Unsuitable con-
querors. The upshot is total bank
ruptcy, moral as we'll as material,
since the hold it once had on the
confidence and loyalty of large sec
tions of the French people is de-
stroyed Even the DEGREES coming
out of Vichy will henceforth bear the
signature, not of Petain, but of La
val, the despised Axis stooge The
mess of pottage for which Laval has
risked his neck must be unsatisf1ng
fare for one proverbially so shrewd,
However, Laval doubtless had no
choice. Too hated and compromised
to go over to the Allied side, it
was this or nothing. Had he hesitat-
ed or sidestepped, the nest of avowed
German partisans in Paris, headed
by Doriot, Deaf and others, we're only
too eager to take on the job Con-
sistently, they have demanded COM
plete Identification with the Axis and
open war against the Allies. This
final step Laval has not yet taken.
The iron logic of his situation indi-
Gates, however, that he will have to
take the plunge, at Berlin's COM
mand. And there would seem to be
no longer a reason why Berlin should
find it useful to keep up the pretense
of Vichy neutrality. The play is
over"