Bonnet & Billions

Still accredited to the White House as French Ambassador is Georges Bonnet, hastily recalled to rehabilitate French finances (TIME, July 5), and today in Paris styled Acting Minister of Finance. "Oh how I would like to have been left at peace in Washington!" exclaimed M. Bonnet last week. He explained that in Paris he has to work all day from 8 a. m. to 10 p. m., enthused: "You Americans certainly know how to live over there in Washington where everything is finished at five in the afternoon and one can have a two hour horseback ride before it is time to dress for dinner!"

Because he is no Jew, Paris cartoonists feel free to take the greatest liberties with M. Bonnet's sharp nose, sketched him last week calling to a secretary at the Finance Ministry: "Come, Mademoiselle, let us have a little method around here. Put the paid bills on the hook!" (see cut). Since he landed, the Ambassador has cut French expenditures by six billion francs ($222,000,000), imposed ten and a half billions in new taxes ($388,500,000), and last week he slapped "on the hook" a new contract with the Bank of France. Under this the Bank's gold stocks were revalued more nearly to correspond with the depreciated value of the franc, thus effecting a "profit" of six billions earmarked by M. Bonnet as a fund for defense of the franc and Government bonds.

Signs were lacking this week that French investors, who sent a reputed 60 billions ($2,220,000,000) of their capital abroad in flight from the Blum Cabinet's radical measures (TIME, July 12), were bringing it home, although undoubtedly they prefer the new Chautemps Cabinet to its predecessor. On international exchange the franc moved down slightly to 27 for $1, its lowest in nearly eleven years. As M. Bonnet continued to work 14-hour days, slashing expenditures and upping revenue in efforts to balance the Extraordinary Budget--he claims to have already balanced the Ordinary Budget--he prom-ised to leave untouched three and a half billions ($129,500,000) earmarked to be spent on job-making public works.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.