M. Gouin's Programme
M. Gouin, who presented his three-party Government to the Assembly on Tuesday, deserves to succeed because of the courage and honesty of the programme outlined in his Ministerial declara- tion of policy. At the back of every party politician's mind is now the knowledge that unless the Assembly proves strong and united enough to master the crisis, there may be only the alternative of a solution by authoritarian means ; the shadow of de Gaulle falls across the Assembly, and in some Frenchmen inspires the hope that he may return again as the saviour of his country. Unfor- tunately, consciousness of the Assembly's responsibility is tempered by awareness that the elections are rapidly approaching ; that the Assembly has only four months to complete its task ; and that the parties must then answer at the polls for the unpopularity of the measures which M. Gouin proposes. His programme is based on recognition that the prospective Budget deficit of over £600,000,000 calls for severe economies in civil and military expenditures ; that the danger of inflation forbids any wage increases ; that Frenchmen must adjust themselves to a period of grim austerity as a result of France's reduced production, lack of equipment and scarcity of man- power. The responsibility for carrying through this Spartan pro- gramme, which the French will find it all the harder to accept after their bitter sufferings of the last six years, will fall mainly on the Socialist M. Andre Philip, who as Finance Minister will also have
direct authority over the key Ministries of Agriculture, Food, Re- construction and Industrial Production. 'While M. Philip tries to restore the domestic situation, M. Leon Blum will undertake a mission to Washington in search of the assistance France desperately needs. It is to be hoped that the mission will be successful. M. Gouin needs all the help he can get.
