In the new Government M. Painleve, besides being' Prime Minister,
has become Minister of War. M. Briand is Minister of Foreign Affairs, and M. Monzie, who was Minister of Finance for a few hours under M. Herriot. just before the fall of the Herriot Government, is now Minister of Education. We call the policy of the new Government nondescript because it is indeed impossible to classify it. It does not satisfy any particular party or any cognate group of parties, and all that can be said of it is that it is the result of circumstances. It is the child of crisis. On the whole it is more pleasing to the Left than to the Right, and yet a Government which draws a large part of its support from the Left but refuses to consider the characteristic financial projects of the Left is an anomaly. We take it that the typical Socialistic scheme of a Capital Levy will be ignored by M. Caillaux. Only events can inform us about the future of this interesting but curious Government. It is feeling its way and has so far not committed itself.
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