THE STABILITY OF FRANCE
Commonwealth and Foreign
By WILBUR BURTON
IT is usually the lot of a wandering journalist, even one with a pessimistic turn of mind, to find conditions in any country he visits a little worse than he had anticipated. In my wanderings over most of the countries of Asia and Europe during the past year, I have found but two exceptions to this gloomy truism : England and France. England is neither better off nor worse off than I had expected, but this proves nothing, for an Anglo-Saxon, even though an American, should be able to gauge England fairly well at any distance. France, on the other hand, confounded all the gloomy antici- pations previously entertained quite plausibly on the basis of developments there in recent years. For France, in a word, revealed itself as safe for a democracy that may go farther and farther leftward in economic readjustment, but without danger of a dictatorship, either of Left or Right.
I can claim no exhaustive knowledge of France. I knew it in 1924 ; I knew it in 1931. In both periods France was as serene as the Third Republic has ever been. But since 1931 there have been barricades in the streets, a rising Fascist movement, and the inauguration of a " Popular Front " Government as Left as the regimes that provoked Fascist coups in both Austria and Spain. Further, the technique of Franco might also be used in France ; there were both Moorish troops and a Foreign Legion of lumpen-proletarian mercenaries that could conceivably be employed for Fascist conquest of the homeland. And, of course, aid could be anticipated from two foreign countries.
So, in visiting France again in December and January, I looked carefully and pessimistically for signs of impending disaster to a civilisation which has meant more than any other-, not excepting that of even England and the United States, in the long and .still far from completely successful "liberation war of humanity." And superficial signs were not lacking : there was a distinct tenseness in cafes and restaurants when newsvendors cried out the headlines of the latest editions, and the justly renowned night life of Paris seemed more hectic' than gay—" cat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die." But not far below the surface were other and more hopeful signs, both tangible and intangible, of the fundamentally healthy condition of French democracy.
In the category of tangibles was the fact that France is economically on the up-grade. Devaluation of the franc— which has been carried out in co-operation with the other two great democracies of the world, England and the United States--has been successful in the main. It has definitely helped the peasants without appreciably hurting the proletariat. Prices in terms of francs are lower than in 1931, although higher than before devaluation: However, the wages of workers have gone up at least almost as much as prices have, and so there has been no decline of consequence in real Wages. And meanwhile the workers have scored such a definite gain as the forty-hour week.
The approximately five-and-a-half million peasant proprietors of France, who with their families represent about half the population of the country, are the largest single group to be considered in any political survey. Their paramount interest is their land ; it has always been so ever since they first obtained it in the French Revolution. Once they got it, they did not care whether Paris was Jacobin or Royalist. Because Napoleon _confirmed their land tenure they did not object to sacrificing two generations of their sons for his grandiose military adventures. They played little part in the Paris Commune, since neither its success nor its suppression concerned their land, but they have always loyally supported the Third Republic because it has always so far been considerate of their interests. Today they stand as a solid bulwark against any leftWard develop- ment that would appear to lead to agricultural collectivism on the Russian model. The Fascists doubtless have hoped to profit by such peasant fears, but the Blum Government so far has helped instead of hurt the farmer.
The petty bourgeoisie have also been more helped than hurt. Not that all is rosy—far from it—but as one remarked to me, Conditions are bad, although not as bad as in Germany or Russia, so . . " ; he concluded with a Celtic shrug.
The greater bourgeoisie, such as the famous " two hundred families " whose power in the Bank of France has been
curbed though not broken, are not so kindly inclined to the Prime Minister, but whatever Fascist aspirations they may entertain do not appear easy of attainment. For a coup would hardly be possible without large defections in the army, and all observers agree that the loyalty of the rank and file of the troops to the Government cannot be questioned. That would inevitably be the case as long as the Government retained the support of the peasantry, the pro- letariat and the petty bourgeoisie, since an army recruited by universal conscription reflects with complete fidelity the social classes from which its overwhelming majority is drawn.
Among the intangible factors that seem to me very powerful in France are both French conservatism and French respect for the rights of man. Conservatism in France, let it be emphasised, means democracy—just as it does in England. The Blum Government, like the Baldwin Government, is of the " national " variety, but nevertheless democratic, and while the faults of democracy are too numerous to mention, what other brand of regime today offers as much for either the body or the spirit of civilised man ? This, I think, is the general attitude of the French ; they are both an alert and a hard-headed people and they believe in hanging grimly on to what they have, which is by no means inconsider- able compared to what most other people have, especially in Italy, or Germany, or Soviet Russia.
The average Frenchman also, I think, has no less profound a conception of individual liberty than the average English- man. Further, his interpretation of it is usually somewhat broader, except among the quite strictly Puritanical middle bourgeoisie. Therefore, he is appalled alike by the trials and rightist moral tendencies in Russia, and tVe suppression of both art criticism and much sexual liberty in Germany. Neither economically nor otherwise is either Moscow or Berlin a good advertisement for its peculiar ideology to the average Frenchman. A very typical French view is that of a cabaret dancer on the Montparnasse who told me proudly that " only in France are we completely free " after we had discussed at some length both Herr Hitler and sexual taboos in England and the United States.
Whatever the future may hold, there has certainly been a striking decline in Fascism in France during the past year, and today evidences of both the CroiX de Feu and Fascist psychology are negligible. The Nazis, it may be argued, were often at a low ebb before their eventual victory, but they were certainly never as inconspicuous as the Croix de Feu now is. Further, there can be no doubt that the Blum Government has strengthened its position enormously in recent months, as indicated by the recent precedent-shattering unanimity of the votes in both Chamber and. Senate on the question of French volunteers in Spain. A few months ago the Right would never have consented to what is in effect a threat to encourage volunteers to go to Spain unless Italy and Germany cease from intervention there.
The full effects of the Spanish situation on France have yet, of course, to be revealed, but two things already stand out : if Franco's technique cannot win in seven months in backward Spain, it is hardly adaptable to France, and as time goes on the Fascist victory there—if any victory there be—will be of a Pyrrhic character, not only for the Spanish Fascists, but also for their German and Italian allies. So, short of a general war with its completely unpredictable consequences, or an economic crisis • worse than any in the past, I think the French will continue to be the good Panta gruelists of Rabelais and " never trust those men that -alwaya peep out at one hole," whether it be Fascist or Communist.
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