Crushing the Serpent
THE cease-fire in Algeria is a triumph for Presi- de Gaulle as well as for the leaders of the FLN. More important, it is a triumph for moderation in a situation which was anything but moderate. The Algerian nationalists have won the independence of their country, but not at a price which would have meant its economic ruin. France has rid itself of a running sore which had infected the whole of French political life, while maintaining an association with the new Algeria which an outside observer can only hope will be happier than that of the past. The terms obtained by the French negotiators at Evian were better than could, possibly have been hoped after nearly eight years of bitter war, doing great credit to the pertinacity of M. Louis Joxe and his colleagues as well as to the com- mon sense of the provisional Algerian Govern- meht.
The only losers by this armistice are the forces of darkness so adequately represented by the OAS. Before its signature they had made their presence felt by some of the most atrocious actions that even they have carried out. Officers who began with the words of honour in their mouths have ended by condoning cowardly and brutal murder—of men gathered together to discuss children's welfare or of a pregnant woman. To such degradation there can be only One reply. The OAS must now be expected to go on to the end, whether their plans include a wider Campaign of murder or whether they hope to seize a part of Algeria and establish their shadow government there before the referendum of April 9. But this time the French Govern- ment can neither hesitate nor be too scrupulous about the means it employs to crush them. Peace in Algeria and the future of democracy in France Will hardly be assured until M. Satan and some of his associates have been crushed.
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