FRANCE: The Last Weapon

As French Premiers go—and they do go ratherfrequently—Socialist Paul Ramadier had lasted a long time; in fact,nearly a year. He was good at compromising and temporizing, at thesmall makeshift remedies which postpone disaster, and he was undeniablya man of good will. In the crunch between Gaullists and Communists, itwas not enough. Last week Paul Ramadier resigned.

Old Man’s Dream. Communist strikes and violence were numbing thecountry. More openly than ever, the Reds admitted that their mainobjective was to block aid from the U.S. In this crisis, who could forma government? President Vincent Auriol asked 75-year-old Socialist LéonBlum to try. But M. Blum, it seemed, was living in an old man’sdream—the dream of a troisième force (third force) which would holdthe democratic bastions against Gaullism and Communism alike. In hisrequest to the Assembly for a vote of confidence, Léon Blum antagonizedthe growing nucleus of De Gaulle adherents. He missed his majority bynine votes.

M. Auriol then turned to a highly regarded man of the M.R.P. (PopularRepublicans), 61-year-old Finance Minister Robert Schuman. M. Schumanroundly denounced the Communists and no one else. Consequently no onevoted against him but the “Cocos” and a few mavericks. Py a vote of 412to 184, Robert Schuman became France’s new Premier.

After some strenuous haggling, M. Schuman announced a cabinet composedof Socialists, Popular Republicans and Radicals (centrists), plus onemoderate Independent Republican. Foreign Minister Georges Bidault waskept at his post; the important Ministries of Interior (police) and ofSocial Affairs (labor) went to Socialists Jules Modi and Daniel Mayer.

Sprig of a wealthy Lorraine family, Robert Schuman has been a parliamentmember since 1919, got his first ministry in 1940. A hard-workingwidower of frugal tastes, he lives in one room, takes all his meals atthe Assembly restaurant, where the prix fixe is 120 francs ($1). TheNazis arrested him in 1940, but he escaped after seven months in aGerman fortress.

The Stranglehold. Communist Benoît Frachon, secretary-general of theC.G.T. (national labor federation), was up every night until 3 a.m.,directing his army of 5,000,000 workers. Less than a third of thisgreat mass is actually Communist, but the Cocos hold three-fifths ofthe top executive jobs in all major unions. At the strike-bound port ofMarseille, where Red violence exploded last fortnight, U.S. seamenrefused to unload U.S. ships. To them Benoît Frachon, who concealsunlimited brutality beneath a mask of affability, telegraphedappreciation of their sympathy with “French workers in their courageousfight against the imperialism of the Marshall Plan.”

What this means, most of the French union workers know. Last week, wheresecret strike votes were held, the rank & file voted against striking.In the northern coal fields, where 200,000 miners were out at the timeof France’s acutest need for coal, some thousands of men shoulderedtheir way past Communist pickets and resumed their work.

Yet the Communist stranglehold was such that 1,000,000 or more workersin all were idle this week, and the number was not dwindling butincreasing. With France’s bread ration smaller than it was during theNazi occupation, a national strike hit the flour mills. Another wasscheduled this week in all seaports. The Paris-Lyon-Méditerranéerailway, main artery from Paris to the south, ground to a stop, andservice on several other systems was crippled.

Brave Words. Said Premier Schuman: “Force is the last weapon in anyone’sarmory. But, above all, it is a weapon which must remain in the armoryof the law. As long as I head a French government, force will be on theside of the law.”

These were brave words but, in Washington, M.Schuman’s premiership was regarded as a gouvernement d’attente—aninterim government which might, at best, hold on until Charles deGaulle comes to power. In his country house at Colombey-les-DeuxEglises, Charles de Gaulle, watching and waiting, quietly passed his57th birthday. He shared a bottle of champagne with his family.