Turning Point in France ?
Despite the demonstrated ability of France to continue indefinitely with a constitution that does not work, a Govern- ment that does not govern and a Budget that does not balance, it is impossible to ignore the signs of growing impatience with a situation of continuous political crisis. That portentous phrase " a Government of national union "—a phrase associated with moments of grave crisis when France turns to its elder statesmen for help—was used during M. Reynaud's brief attempt to form a Cabinet last week-end. In fact this spry 73-year-old survivor from the Third Republic actually talked of a Cabinet of 12 men and an alteration to the con- stitution. The hard words of M. Baumgartner, the Governor of the Bank of France, about the National Assembly's peculiar practice of voting expenditure but not voting taxes to meet that expenditure, also contained a warning. But the main symbol of possible change is the long shadow of General Gaulle. The General is still waiting for the final breakdown of the present party system, still ready to return to office, and still convinced that a new constitution is essential to the recovery of France. The possibility that his followers in the Rctssemblement du Potpie Francais might be willing to join in a coalition with other French parties, including even the Socialists, has become a virtual certainty. It is true that the Socialists have reacted violently against the suggestion, with accusations that the R.P.F. is really the root of the present political troubles of France and that General de Gaulle is an enemy of republican institutions. It is even possible that the Socialists would go into opposition, running the risk of a- new and dangerous liaison with the Communists, rather than remain even neutral towards any Government -including the R.P.F. And in any case the General may yet intervene to restrain his followers from any compromise with the old parties he has so consistently treated with disdain. But if M. Pinay, the moderate Right-wing politician who, when this is written, is still seeking support for a Cabinet of specialists to get France through the present financial difficulty, gives up the attempt, the absurdities of the present constitution will become even plainer, and the Gaullist alternative harder to ignore.
