"Facts" v. "Truths"

A grinding conviction that France had just been twice betrayed by Britain, broadly for reasons of high policy by His Majesty's Government, narrowly by Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon for vain and personal reasons, embittered Le Senat and La Chambre last week to the point of fury.

Traditional British policy strives to keep either France or Germany from becoming top dog. It was Lloyd George who saved Germany from Georges Clemenceau. This week it is His Majesty's Government who save the Fatherland from odium and much else by sending Sir John Simon to shake the flabby-fleshed hand which has just torn up the Treaty of Versailles.

That Sir John of all Britons should handshake Herr Hitler was what most infuriated Frenchmen. They are resigned to "perfidious Albion" in the traditional role of Justice, upholding Europe's balance of power--with the British Lion couchant on the fulcrum. But even by his closest friends Sir John has long been considered a sincere friend of France, sincerely appalled by Nazidom. In London, as well as in Paris last week, an unflattering impression prevailed that Sir John saw his mission to Berlin in a light so dazzling that out of it he might emerge with the Order of the Garter. Few Englishmen and no Frenchman or Italian believed him when he told the French and Italian Ambassadors in London that he could not find time to confer with Premier Flandin and II Duce before going to Berlin "because of engagements in the

House of Commons" and "political engagements in my constituency."

"Travesty of Truth." In Paris meanwhile tall, blond Premier Pierre Etienne Flandin was answering curvesome, darkling Realmleader Adolf Hitler's decree of Rearmament. Facts may be dull but M. Flandin, opening quietly, opposed facts to Der Reichsfuhrer's emotional outpouring of certain "truths" devoutly believed in the Fatherland.

It is not true, Premier Flandin emphasized, that the new French conscription decree, cited by Realmleader Hitler as though it would largely increase France's fighting effectives, will have any such effect. The decree, as everyone had opportunity to find out months ago, was issued because the number of French males born during the War years was abnormally low. Today these "War babies" are ready for battle, but in numbers so reduced that the groups coming up for compulsory military training for the next few years would not suffice to keep the French Army at its current peacetime strength. Therefore, during what Premier Flandin called "these lean years" the conscript term has been lengthened just sufficiently to keep French forces from falling below the post-War norm.

Such marshaling of facts was far too complicated to make headlines, but M. Flandin vigorously continued: "It is not true that the German people voluntarily laid down their arms in 1918. . . . It was because the coalition peoples who were fighting for the Right were victorious--as they may be again in the future! . . .

"Is it to be forgotten that we have reduced our effectives 50%? ... At sea we have decreased our tonnage from 768,000 to 550,000. It is the same for our aviation. Ever since the Armistice we have been in reality obsessed with a desire to disarm. That we have not done so ... is due ... to the rearmament [of Germany]. . . .

"Need I speak of the long history of our renunciation of essential clauses of the Treaty of Versailles . . . one long list of abandonment of our bills against Germany. It is our taxpayers who pay and will pay for years to come for destruction which was not incidental to war-operations but was planned and willfully executed by the German Army during its occupation of our territory!"

Referring to the visit of himself and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval to London two months ago, the Premier continued: "We outlined a preventive policy ... to resume at Geneva the discussion of disarmament, and it is at this moment that Germany chooses to declare that she is threatened! By whom can she imagine she is threatened? . . " A .travesty of Truth! ... A denial of law and justice. . . . France hates war!"

Aroused & United. With the French Senate at white heat Premier Flandin, recognizing that historic French individualism is menaced as never before by historic German capacity to goosestep behind a leader, launched a paradoxical appeal to Frenchmen to do as the Germans do.

"Let us stop tearing ourselves to pieces!" cried France's Big Flandin, smiting the tribune. "Let us re-establish union! ... If you think this Government can lead, if you have confidence in us, put an end to constant criticism, to these endless ambushes. Give us your full co-operation!"

Le Senat responded with a landslide vote of confidence 263-to-21. Two days later La Chambre gave the Premier and Foreign Minister Laval the phenomenal confidence vote of 555-to-9, ratifying the Laval-Mussolini Rome Pacts (TIME, Jan. 14, et seq.). Thus last week France stood aroused and united as she has not been since the War. But for how long?

To a Russian, a German or an Italian the Premier's moving appeal to Parliament sounded like a swan song of democracy, an indirect confession that Liberty, Equality and Fraternity can no longer stand up and take it. Paris last week was .repeating the bitter jibe "It seems that Briand was a poet and Poincare was right." Senator Henry de Jouvenel, onetime French Ambassador to Rome and a close student of II Duce, told his august colleagues amid a storm of applause: "I don't know where we stand with Great Britain, but I have confidence in Premier Mussolini who knows what he wants and acts accordingly!"

In the Chamber the frantically popular keynoter of the week was Deputy Henry Franklin-Bouillon, famed for his opposition to the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 as "not harsh enough," and zealous ever since in demanding that it be enforced as harshly as possible.

"Do something, say something to save France!" thundered M. Franklin-Bouillon at Premier Flandin. "The declaration of the German Chancellor amounts to a declaration of war!"

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.