There was an exceptionally unruly debate in the French Chamber
on Tuesday, when M. Briand was called upon to explain the action of the French Government in the recent railway strike. At the beginning the Socialists caught sight of M. Lepine, the Prefect of Police, near the President's chair, and made such a din by shouting and banging their desks that the sitting was temporarily suspended. The most important speech against the Government was made by M. Colly, who pointed out that M. Millerand, the Minister of Public Works, and M. Viviani, the Minister of Labour, had both in their Socialist days hotly defended the principle of a "general strike." M. Barthou, the Minister of Justice, in particular had insisted on the legality of a railway strike in uncompromising language. There is no question, we may say, as to the accuracy of the quotations attributed to these Ministers, and if the right to strike as such had been challenged by M. Briand and his Ministers, they would undoubtedly have found themselves in an untenable position. It was necessary for M. Briand to show that he had taken summary action against criminal practices, and against them alone.
