THE PgTAIN ADMINISTRATION
Sin,—You write : "there would seem to be no justification for the suggestions rather freely made in this country that the Government, (of Marshal Petain) is not constitutionally representative of the French people, or that it has acted unconstitutionally ".' but, when Reynaud resigned, and President Lebrun called on Marshal Petain to form a nEw Government, did Petain and his new colleagues stand before the Chamber of the Deputies and before the Senate? Did they give an exposé of their general policy? And did they get a majority of votes in both assemblies?
Governments may change but they have to receive the approval of the elected representatives of the people. Where, when and how did the Government of Marshal Petain receive this approval? How many deputies and senators even reached Bordeaux? Through the panic of some, the treachery of others, France found herself suddenly saddled by as unrepresentative a Government as ever existed, and even if technically constitutional—which I doubt—it would have been upset within a week—by constitutional or unconstitu- tional means—except that French men were unable to act. Thousands lay dead on the battlefields, thousands lay wounded, thousands were in prison camps in Germany, others were still fighting with their units, or patrolling the high seas. They did not know of the changes in the Government ; today, July 1st, they do not yet know the conditions of the Armistice, sued for and agreed to in their name. Constitutional or not, the Pet= Government is in no way repre- sentative of the French people. They are bound by its decisions for as long and only as long as they are not strong enough to upset them. LUCIE H. GRIFFITH.
Durnsford House, Mildenhall, Marlborough.
[What we were discussing was not whether it was desirable for the Petain Government to secure a vote of confidence from the Chamber and Senate—it obviously is—but whether it is an unconstitutional Government till it has done so ; it obviously is not.—En., The Spectator.]
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