3 JULY 1926, Page 6

On Tuesday, M. Briand struck the right note by telling

the Chamber that the life of the nation was at stake. "The time," he said—we quote from the Times—" for dispute is past. It is not a question of debating, but of acting and acting quickly." He pointed out that everything depended upon stopping the continual fluctuation of the franc. This can be done, we imagine, only by creating in effect a new currency, as Germany and Austria have done. M. Briand confessedly hopes for international aid, but he remarked that the Govern- ment would never permit the slightest infringement of the full sovereignty of France. In other words, any scheme resembling the Dawes Scheme is ruled out.