The Dissenters

France has its own Titoists. They are a group of "nationalist" Communists who, like Tito, are for Marxism but against the way Stalin & Co. boss the show in Marxism's name. The group, calling itself Mouvement Communiste Franc,ais, was founded a month ago in the northern coal fields by one Charles Lemoine, a stocky ex-coal miner. At a rally of 400 miners, he cried: "The Communist Party, yesterday our hope, has been unconditionally handed over to Moscow . . . For this party, the interests of the French people are subordinated to the interests of the Soviet Union . . . Let's get together, all victims of Communist attack."

Membership so far is only about 500, but the French Communist Party has been worried enough by the movement to put one of its best tacticians in charge of fighting it; for weeks, Red henchmen have broken up the movement's meetings, have sent one of its leaders to the hospital. Last week, as France's election campaign got under way (Frenchmen will elect a new Parliament June 17), the French Titoists announced that they would run candidates in 30 departments, held their first big rally. At the meeting in Paris' gaudy Salle Wagram Communists threw tear-gas bombs. Several people had to be carried from the hall. Said the Communist Humanite about the group: "A bunch of traitors . . . collected from various garbage cans."

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