13 DECEMBER 1913, Page 2

The whole of the Left rallied to the support of

the Govern- ment, in spite of the fact that the policy of the "gradual return to two years' service "—the policy adopted by the Pau Radical Congress—was for all practical purposes repudiated. It is now thought that, though their position involves numerous inconsistencies and recantations, the Government may manage to survive for seine weeks, and possibly even till the general election in May. M. Briand delivered a stormy speech in which be defended his policy of apaisement. He was as much in favour of laicite as anyone, but he remembered that Frenchmen of the Right had feelings, and he wanted to make France a habitable country for all. If the Three Years Law were ever abandoned, it would be a crime.