The Gaullists Advance
Before Sunday's elections the representation of General de Gaulle's French People's Rally in the Council of the Republic, the French Upper House, was nil. At present the Council contains 43 councillors who are members of the R.P.F. and of no other party. By the time the elections are complete, it is possible that the R.P.F., together with its open stjpporters in other groups, will command nearly half the 320 seats in the Council. All the reservations in the world—and most of them seem to have been paraded in the past few days cannot reduce this result to unimportance. The elec- tions, it is true, took place in the shadow of one of the most blatant attempts by the Communists to sabotage the French economy. The complicated system under which the Council is elected, by the decision of 103,588 electors who represent the particular sentiments of localities rather than the spirit of the whole electorate, no doubt robs the result of some of its apparent significance. The Council is in essence only an advisory body, which may be overruled by the Assembly. And in any case the balance of representation of the political parties is not a reliable index of the condition and intentions of the people of France. But there comes a point at which the recital of reservations becomes a form of tecantation designed to produce the impression that the facts are not there. Common sense stops short of that point. Last Sunday the Gaullists advanced. Until then, in claiming that his Rally was something more than a party, General de Gaulle had only succeeded in giving the impression that it was something less. It is still something different. It has always made itself felt through public demonstrations which may be even more significant than the number of its representatives on elected bodies. On Sunday it killed two birds with one stone. It impressed the public and it won the seats. The forces of the Centre may stop it yet, before the battle with the Communists is joined. If they do, well and good. But they will have to work hard to do it.
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