The French Government Bill determining the conditions under which French
Civil servants are to be allowed the rights of combination, and providing regulations to put an end to favouritism, was laid on the table of the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday. The Paris correspondent of the Times says that the paramount question, from the point of view of the State employees, is that of regular and normal promotion. They also demon i that entrance to the Civil Service shall not depend on personal influence or Parliamentary recommenda- tion. The Bill, therefore, deals primarily with the recruitment of the Civil Service and with promotion, while the question of combination is treated as of secondary importance. Combina- tion is to be recognised in any form or under any name. Associations of fonctionnaires may use the title of Syndicat, Mutualite, Association, or, indeed, any name they please. The Associations will have a corporate existence and civil rights, but each must be peculiar to its own Department of State. Confederations of the various Departmental Associations will be prohibited. At the same time, the power of the Dis- ciplinary Courts is to be increased. In the event of a strike all the guarantees of the Bill will be automatically cancelled.
