Evening star., 1951-08-12
By Huoh Humphrey

The longest political crisis in post
war France-and one of the most
extended in French history-reached
somewhat uncertain solution yes
terday. After an eight-week struggle
to select new Premier and cabinet
under the Parliament elected June
17-and after month of complete
stalemate-a cabinet was formed by
former Premier Rene Pleven, who
last week was reelected chief of
state with the strongest parliament
tary support given any Premier since
1947.
The vote for Mr.. Pleven was 391
to 102, with the Communist Party
conspicuously alone in It's recorded
opposition. De 'Gaullist followers
registered silent disapproval by alb
staining from the ballot. And yes
terday Mr.. Pleven and his strongly
conservative cabinet won what
amounted to vote of confidence
when the National Assembly voted,
390-222, to postpone indefinitely an
opposition request to debate the
makeup Of the new regime.
But despite his comfortable per-
sonal vote of confidence. Mr.. Pleven
may encounter rough weather in try
ing to pilot the French ship Of state.
American officials close to the stormy
French political scene had expected
some form of cabinet to be assembled
quickly under Mr.. Pleven, one Of
Frances preSent-day strong men"
But it's life expectancy is another
matter, and even the most optimistic
observers are cautious on any predic-
ton that the new Pleven regime will
bring lasting governmental stability.
Six Tried and FoiIed
In the first four weeks of the crisis,
no less than six would-be premiers
tried and failed in their efforts to
please in some measure each of the
many political factions involved in
the complex dispute.
To Americans, secure in their 1862
year-old heritage of relatively stable
government under 80 Presidents and
their cabinets, the multltudinous po-
litical upheavals of France tend to
assume comic-opera air. The un-
certainty of politics in the volatile
Gallo nation is Illustrated perfectly
in the fact that more than 100 pre-
mierS and cabinets have been in
power since the inception of the
Third French Republic in 1870, just
exactly half the life of the United
States Constitution. There have been
a dozen changes of administration
since the Fourth Republic was
founded in 1916.
While many French issues in the
past have been obscure, the basic
points in the current controversy
are rapidly understandable here since
both have been injected into Ameri-
can politics in recent years.
CothoIic School Issue
The government of France. a pre-
dominately Catholic country, for
generations has followed a policy
of recognizing no religion and tolerat-
ing all. But the question of subsi-
dizing Catholic educational institu-
tions now has been hurled into parli-
mentary debate. And since the June
elections, this question has been the
major stumbling block in formation of
a new cabinet.
The Communists, an influential
minority in French politics today, nat
urally have opposed any aid to
church schools. The Socialists, bas-
ically in opposition to the Reds,
nevertheless also fought the proposal.
On the other side. the powerful pro-
Catholic Popular Republican Move
ment is insisting that it is time for
the state to assist parochial schools.
To complicate the situation, the
high cost of living has been thrown
into the argument. Taking their
cue from American labor unions, the
Socialists have demanded a govern
ment-Sponsored sliding wage scale
for French labor with salaries geared
to rising prices; counterpart of the
familiar "escalator" clauses in many
union contracts in this country. Op-
position to the Socialist proposal
has been strong. with other parties
4