LETTERS
Anti-establishment
Sir: Douglas Johnson (The high cost of French politics', 27 July) makes no mention of a major reason for so many French politicians and business leaders being put in prison. This is the change made a few years ago in the auditing of public accounts. The body responsible for this in France since 1807 at national level has been the Cour des Comptes, a committee of top lawyers and civil servants. Its published annual report to the President of the Republic highlights the errors of civil servants and others, gleefully commented upon by the press. Typical was the architect castigated for putting balconies on the south façade of a hospital so that tuberculosis sufferers could enjoy the sun, forgetting that Tahiti, where it was being built, is in the southern hemisphere.
But in 1982, as part of the regionalisation of local government, a network of chambres rtionales of the Cours des Comptes was created, specifically charged with the task of auditing local authority accounts at com- munal, departmental and regional levels. It is their reports which have initiated the convictions of so many important people. It is also significant that the students who rioted in 1968 are now reaching the top of their professions not only as auditors, but as investigating magistrates and public prosecutors. These men and women, now in their fifties, generally have no great love for the existing French establishment. So it is no surprise to see the downfall of people like the Medecin family, who ran Nice for three generations.
Henri de Montcalm
Gablezac, 33860 Marcillac, France
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