Evening star., 1961-01-08
DeGouIIe Pins His Future to ResuI
0fNote I Todoy on Algerian Policy
by CROSBY S.yNOYES

Il
Foreign Correspondent Of The Star
PARIS, Jan. T. French
voters-go to the polls tomorrow
in ahneod Of anxiety, and doubt
that President Charles de
Gaulle's last-minute appeal for
massive Endorsement of his Al
gerian policy has done little to
dispel, - ~ 80 X.
Not sit1ce ! he returned to
powersmOfe than two years ago
has Gen. de Gaulle +or france
as Whole-faced sa vote so
critical! Quite apast from the
question Of peace or. war in AL
geriA the future Of, France it
self is directly inyblved, Gen.
de Gaulle has limited broadly
that he will resign If he fails
to getrkhe itidorsenent he seeks.
SurVfSal ofa the Republic and
democracy IN France could well
hang in the balance.
THIS ~ to say the least, a
state Of affairs that was not
foreseen when the referendum
was announced last November.
At that time, there seemed to
be little risk involved in seeking
public approval of the govern
ment's policy for self deter
mination in Algeria and the
creation Of provisional govern
ment institutions of a semi
independent nature. The over
whelming backing that was ex-
pected seemed sure to strength
en- President de Gaulle's hand
in dealing with the extremists
in France and Algeria and in
the ranks Of the French army.
Picture Is Changed
Two factors, however, have
radically changed this picture.
The FIRST, was the outbreak of
Nationalist rioting in Algerian
cities last month which serious
ly shook public confidence inI
the. governments program. The
second has been the singularly
unconvincing performance dur
ing the pre-referendum cam
paign by Gen. de Gaulle him
self. a -...
The result Of the Algerian
riots was to. strengthen Gen.
de Gaulle's opponents on both
ends Of the political spectrum.
The sudden outburst of Ma
tionaliSt feeling convinced many
Frenchmen that the program
based on the cooperation of
the Moslem third. force" in
Algeria. was in fact doomed in
advance:FThe critics on the left
are more. than ever persuaded
that the only way to peace lies
through direct negotiations with
the rebel leadership in Tunisia,
while the right wing is pro-
claiming more loudly that only
complete integration of Algeria
TO France can save the day.
Gen. De Gaulle himself, !
meanwhile. has stuck Stub
hornly to his original plan with
little apparent concern for his
critics on either side. In the
course. Of three Nationwide
speeches, there have been hints
that a,ilew effort, at negotia-
tions would follow the referen-
dunn with "all tendencies" in
volved in the conflict. Therel
have also been references to
guarantees for Europeans and
pro-French MoslemS in inde-
pendent Algeria. But both ideas
have been left so deliberately
vague and ambiguous as to
satisfy no on while arousingI
new suspicious and doubts
about the generals real inten-
tions. 'r
Faced with growing evidence
Of hesitation and indecision inl
the country Gen. De Gaulle' 81
final appeal yesterday was an
attempt to reduce the referen-
dunn to something simple and
clear" To vote for the project,
he said, was to want France
to be able to win in Algeria, for
Algeria, with Algeria the cause
Of peace and reason" To vote
against would be a vote in favor
of chaos and abaSement."
Appeal Is Personal
But more than this, it was a
passionate personal appeal of
a leader to his people lover the
heads of Intermediates" which
Gen. De Gaulle apparently was
counting on to rally majority.
Far more than an Endorsement
Of any particular course of ac-
tion in Algeria the referendum
IN its closing stages has be-
come a general vote Of conf