When we went to press yesterday week M. Ribot had
formed a strong Cabinet. A few hours later he had resigned as the result of a hostile vote in the Chamber, which by a majority of forty-four declared its want of confidence in an Administration unrepresentative of the Radical groups of the Left. M. Poineare again sent for M. Viviani, who succeeded in forming a Cabinet, committed to a programme practically indistinguishable from that of M. Ribot, but with a distinctly more Radical complexion. Thus his colleagues include M. Augagneur, who proposed the resolution which proved fatal to M. Ribot. M. Viviani, who combines the portfolio of Foreign Affairs along with the Premiership, has devised a new "formula" on the burning question of the Three Years' Law, which accepts the principle of its "intangibility," while im- plying that, after an unspecified period, it may possibly be relaxed. At the same time, he clearly stated in his speech in the Chamber on Tuesday that, if in office when the men now under training will have completed two years' service, he will notdischarge them. The Radical and Socialist interpellations aimed against the Three Years' Service Law were both rejected, and what amounted to a vote of confidence in the new Ministry was carried by 362 votes to 139 in a House of 501 members.
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