Bluff & Blum

For the third time since Socialist Leon Blum formed his Popular Front Government (TIME, June 15, 1936), scared money was in flight from France last week, rushing to other havens at such alarming pace that the Bank of France, striving to tempt its return, had to jack up the already high Paris central bank discount rate of 4% to the "panic rate" of 6%. The Blum Cabinet for the third time in nine months was desperately short of cash. First time this happened (TIME, Oct. 5), Finance Minister Vincent Auriol devalued the franc by 40%, carried on with the "profits" of this operation. Next time the Treasury cupboard was bare M. Auriol borrowed eight billion francs (TIME, March 22). Last week government economists figured that another 20 billion francs will have to be found by the Treasury this year. It was believed in Paris that the Cabinet's exchange equalization fund had been almost exhausted, and only friendly support from Washington and London kept the franc from slipping. After almost a year of Popular Front rule the Blum Cabinet found itself still unable to agree what basically should be done when it met one morning last week in emergency session at the Palace of the President of the Republic.

The last French election gave the Popular Front a "safe majority" in the Chamber composed of Radical Socialists, Socialists and Communists. These last have no Cabinet seats. At the emergency session it was the Radical Socialists and Socialists who fell to quarreling, with luckless Premier Blum fluttering between them in his accustomed role as the dove of Popular Front peace. After almost two hours' wrangle it was decided to ask Parliament to grant the Cabinet dictatorial powers over French economy and finance for six weeks. Once these had been voted, the Cabinet could then in a more tranquil atmosphere decide what should be done, and do it by decree.

That afternoon Premier Blum and Finance Minister Auriol went at 3:30 p. m. to ask the Chamber of Deputies for "full powers." Frenchmen have long memories and everyone recalled how, when Premier Aristide Briand made a similar request in 1926, it was Deputy Leon Blum who cried: "Rather than grant such powers, I would prefer that this country had a king!" No less than six French Premiers who have asked for "full powers" were fought on this issue by MM. Blum & Auriol. In 1934 they accused that mild political tabby Premier Gaston ''Papa" Doumergue, who died last week (see p. 28), of asking for full powers ''as the opening wedge to Fascist Dictatorship!" Last week when Orator Blum asked exactly these powers for his Government he cried: "We are backed by the masses of this country. . . . Too often have we seen the policies demanded by the people overthrown by shady maneuvers! . . . My Government not only has the support of the people but the enthusiasm of the people."

It did not have the enthusiasm of the Communist Deputies. Their 72 votes are indispensable to the Blum Cabinet, and instructions had come from Moscow last week to make the Premier acutely conscious of this fact. Therefore Communist Deputies who usually cheer Blum & Auriol sat stone-faced last week through their appeals to a Chamber in which only the Socialists cheered.

After four hours of debate, with the hands of the Chamber clock crawling past midnight, Premier Blum showed by his weary, haggard demeanor and weak replies to questions that the Communists genuinely had him worried. It seemed impossible that they could persist in a course which threatened to upset the Popular Front regime, but as late as 4:30 a. m. the Communists were still adamant. In the Chamber they claimed to be afraid that Premier Blum, if granted full powers, would raise the taxes on matches and cigarets, both dear to the French proletariat. Behind the scenes they haggled, trying to get, as the price of their votes, promises from Blum of more French aid to the Popular Front in Spain, which was just losing Bilbao (see p. 20). During the night there were seven Communist secret caucuses in the Chamber building. After one of these it was given out for the first time in French politics that the Reds were ready to slip out of their traditional role as critics, assume the responsibility which would go with handing several Cabinet portfolios to Communists.

This was big talk. As dawn neared political Paris was taut. Swank folk had come from nightclubs to cram the galleries of the Chamber, and Premier Blum was wearily continuing to refuse to commit himself one way or the other. Earliest morning papers headlined at 5 a. m. that the Communists were deserting the Popular Front, that the Cabinet must fall. Finally at 6 a. m., after 20 hours of debate, a spokesman for the Communists announced that they would join in voting full powers to the Government after all. The result was laughter, a Gargantuan bellow which went up from most of the Chamber. In French eyes the Communists had hauled down their bluff, made themselves ridiculous. By a vote of 346-to-247 the Chamber voted "full powers" for six weeks to the Blum Cabinet, sent this bill to the Senate.

Up was the dander of Senators by this time. In committee and on the floor they flayed the Popular Front as squanderers unfit to be given dictatorial financial power, and as bunglers who had failed to reap for France the possible benefits of devaluation, so neatly reaped in Belgium. Senator Pierre Laval emerged from a year of political silence to accuse Premier Blum of having forfeited the friendship of Italy and by this means added millions to the sums France must spend on Rearmament to keep herself secure. "As for M. Auriol, he is unworthy of his high office!" declared Senator Laval. To this the Finance Minister retorted by identifying his critics with speculators, hoarders and, as he said, "Blackmailers!" Best Paris political dopesters predicted that the Senate would not dare actually to vote down the full powers asked by the Popular Front, but the Senate fooled the prophets, rejected Blum's bill by a smashing 188-to-72. Had the Premier made this vote one of confidence his Cabinet would have had to resign, but M. Blum had taken no such risk. He took his demands back to the Chamber, got them approved again by midnight 346-to-248.

Leon Blum thus squarely deadlocked the Chamber against the Senate, himself closed the week exhausted and fluttery but all the same Premier.

In post-mortem cables on why the Communist bluff failed to move Socialist Blum last week, leading Paris correspondents agreed that the execution in Moscow of Marshal Tukhachevsky and seven generals of the Red Army (TIME, June 21) has profoundly jolted French political opinion, even to some extent among French Communists. It has always been a question in Paris whether the Red Army was good enough to make the present Franco-Soviet military alliance a worthwhile check to Germany--the eternal enemy. If the news from Moscow means that the Red Army has been immensely weakened by execution of its ablest leaders--and such in French General Staff headquarters was the opinion last week--then Paris must think somewhat of conciliating Berlin, and it would have been suicidal to yield to Communist demands that Premier Blum bestir himself to help the Spanish Popular Front. Last week for the first time since the World War a high German Staff Officer, General Ludwig Beck, was welcomed in Paris, conferred with General Marie Gustave Gamelin of the French General Staff, reputedly shared with him the German Secret Service's dossier on what is actually happening in Russia. Cabled veteran Paris Correspondent John Elliott of the Herald Tribune: "Political circles here are convinced that . . . the visit to Paris of General Ludwig Beck . . . and the dramatic about face of the 72 Communist members of the Chamber . . . have a direct bearing on each other. . . . There can be no doubt that the General's visit was inspired by the British Foreign Office, anxious to break up the Rome-Berlin axis and establish co-operation between Britain, France and Germany."

This week Premier Blum took his "full powers" demand back to the Senate and both legislative chambers again excitedly prepared to keep open all night. With two successive Chamber votes of confidence behind him, the Premier had every opportunity to make the kind of fighting speech so much admired in France and force the Senate's hand. Even his Senate enemies admitted that if he made the vote one of confidence this time he could probably force a victory--since the Senate would not want to upset a Cabinet so strongly backed in the Chamber. Instead of showing spirit or spunk, the Premier made a plaintive, hesitating speech, failed to make the issue one of confidence, and was rebuffed by the Senate 168-to-96. In the Chamber aroused Popular Front Deputies waited for their Blum to rush back to them and make a great public issue of "full powers." Instead, he closeted himself at 1 a. m. with assorted politicians, finally announced at 3 a. m-- that his Cabinet had resigned, begged France to remain "perfectly quiet."

Although Socialist Blum had resigned this did not destroy the political majority of the Popular Front. Mindful of this fact President Lebrun asked another Popular Front statesman before dawn to try to form a Cabinet, picking for this effort a Radical Socialist who had twice before been Premier, Camille Chautemps. Names notwithstanding, the Radical Socialists are more conservative than the Socialists in France, and thus the selection of Middle-of-the-Roader Chautemps meant a shift toward the Centre and away from the Communists. To form a Cabinet on this basis was ticklish work this week. Premier-Designate Chautemps, who had been Minister of State under Premier Blum, not only asked Deputy Blum to become Minister of State in his attempted Cabinet but observed to reporters: "I have just been talking to M. Blum, my predecessor and perhaps my successor!" Down but not out was Leon Blum, hailed this week by confident Jewish and Socialist friends as "the first Jew and the first Socialist to become Premier of France--but not the last!"

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