M. Pinay's Surprise Packet
So sudden was M. Pinay's announcement of his Govern- ment's resignation that it is hardly surprising that President Auriol showed some reluctance to accept it. It is true that in the first half of December he seemed to be deliberately heading for trouble by driving the Assembly too hard in his attempt to get the Budget through. Some members of his party, the Independents, were already preparing for the Government's downfall and threatening in advance that they would not enter any new alliance with whatever party brought it down. It was a sweeping threat since, besides the Popular Republicans, whose hesitations concerning family allowances caused M. Pinay to resign, Socialists and Gaullists besides the inevitable Communists were all willing to give him the fatal push. But early last week the French Premier decided that he would not force the Assembly to face at once the series of votes of confidence for which he was calling, and in the pause which followed he began to gather strength once more. Organisations of farmers and shopkeepers assured him of their continued faith in his policies. It is still not clear where M. Pinay's decision to resign in spite of everything has got him. It is possible that he is seeking the greatest possible assurance of support for the next and hardest. phase of the Budget debates. What is more, officials of O.E.E.C. have hinted that another devaluation of the franc may be necessary. It may well be. Despite M. Pinay's success earlier in the year in floating a State loan and keeping down the price of gold his economic policy has always been something of a tour de force. And it is on economic polity rather than on political finesse that the welfare of France really depends.
