France and the Saar
When M. Blum broke a deadlock by presenting France with a Cabinet drawn entirely from the Socialist Party he gave as his reason that there was urgent work to be done. It has since become clear that he was right and that the present Government are not shrinking from the task. The Finance Bill has been passed, cuts in prices have been announced, a clear and strong policy has been followed in Viet-Nam and a customs and security barrier has been thrown round the German frontier of the Saar. This last action shows a determination which may still prove beyond even the reviving powers of France. Its reception outside France has been by no means cordial except among the Sarrois themselves, and their reactions, in view of their enthusiasm for union with Germany only eleven years ago and their evident appreciation of immediate French favours, can hardly be regarded as stable. It is true that the State Department has refused to support the American Deputy Military Governor for Germany in hi: contention that the French action was purely unilateral. But the Russians have never made the slightest getture of recognition of any Ft ench claims in this area. And Great Britain has asked for a statement of the exact nature of the French customs arrangements. In fact, it appears that M. Couve de Murville's conversations with the Foreign Ministers in New York on this matter were of the most tentative nature. The real test will come in Moscow, where the French repre- sentative will have to play a more positive part than at any of the earlier meetings of the Council of Foreign Ministers. It is pointless to ignore the fact that the ultimate French aim is annexation and that recent moves represent a step in that direction.
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