M. Ramadier Resigns
On -1-...s.sday M. Ramadier resigned from the office of Prime Minister ; and it is expected that M. Blum will present himself to the Assembly as a successor. This is the result of the general unrest which has been increasing in France in the last weeks. Grave disturbances are reported from many regions. In the extreme south the vast port of Marseilles lies like a city under military occupation, with French troops patrolling the Cannebiere and other troops unloading food at the deserted docks. In the north the miners of the departments of the Pas de Calais and the Nord are out on strike, while in Paris itself the workers of the Renault and other car factories have also struck. The total of men on strike throughout France is now estimated at a quarter of a million, and each day brings reports of further strikes. Where is this to end ? M. Ramadier, widely admired for his integrity and his political adroitness, has felt himself unable to continue in office ; and it is likely that M. Blum, with the opposition of 184 Communist deputies, will find it difficult to collect the 310 votes needed for his election to the premiership. Yet, dramatic though the present situation seems, with Thorez and de Gaulle face to face, there is little justification for expecting a quick or spectacular denouement. Although the Corn- nriunists have now been formally accused by the Government of trying to foment a revolution from Marseilles, this does not mean that revolution, or a Gaullist coup d'etat is just round the corner. The Communist-inspired disturbances in France, like those in Southern Italy, are clearly timed to jeopardise or forestall the Marshall Plan. But have they been well timed? Or do they bear the signs of improvisation and of haste?
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