General de Gaulle's Victory
This week the French Government survived one of its recurrent crises, which arose from the debate on the National .Defence Budget, but was intensified by the permanent conflict between General de Gaulle and the Assembly over the powers and responsibilities of the executive. The Socialists had proposed an amendment to the defence budget, demanding a reduction of 20 per cent. in the total expenditure of 42,500,000 francs. The Government made the rejection of the amendment a matter of confidence, and after 35 hours of debate and three speeches by General de Gaulle, a compromise was adopted which, as the General remarked, did not differ significantly from the Government's own proposals. The Socialists' amendment was based on the necessity for Governmental economy, and also on the failure of the service chiefs to remedy abuses in all three ser- vices ; General de Gaulle asserted that a reduction in the Budget was impossible and would have to be made up for by supplementary credits later on, and that the Government had already drawn up proposals for the reform of the armed forces. Since the Communists, though reluctantly, agreed to vote with the Socialists, there was a majority in the Assembly against the Government. The Socialists were forced to withdraw the amendment by the knowledge that, if the Government resigned on this issue, they would lose even more of their declining strength. Fundamentally, there is only one sub- ject on which France is united, and that is the necessity of General de Gaulle as head of the Government. The Socialists complained, however, that in making the amendment a matter of confidence, the General was exceeding his constitutional powers, as he is only re- quired to resign after a formal vote of censure. The General replied that the Assembly must choose between governing itself or entrust- ing the executive power to the Government.
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