A Hope for France
The French coal strike is running down after four weeks of sabo- tage and occasional outbursts of bitter fighting. It is not ended yet, because the leaders of the Communist-dominated C.G.T. are deter- mined to do as much damage as possible before they give up. Their behaviour throughout has been distinguished for the blatant and brutal fashion in which they have tried to wreck the French economy. At this moment Communist miners are still terrorising those of their own comrades who want to return to work. It may be days before all the mines are open and it will be weeks before they are all in working order again. But at least the worst seems to be over. There is, of course, no guarantee that France will now be able to steer a straight course to economic recovery. The miners have secured an increase of wages, and every increase in wages in France accentuates inflation. It is true that food prices are not going up so rapidly now as they were a few weeks ago, but nobody knows whether the present trend will continue. The Government argues that the purchasing power of the lowest-paid workers is increasing, but the C.G.T. denies it. There is a slight revival of confidence in the Government, but it could be extinguished overnight. In short, no fundamental ques- tions have been answered. But it has at least been confirmed that it takes two sides to make a civil war. The Communists did every- thing in their power to turn local rioting into general insurrection. The Government acted with determination but with restraint. The police and troops at no time resorted to unnecessary force in the face of extreme provocation. Who would care to say that, in similar circumstances, the followers of General de Gaulle would have acted as wisely if they had been in power ? There is hope for France yet if Right and Left can be kept from each other's throats.
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