Monstrous Conspiracy

In the French Republic today the Minister of the Interior, commanding the police and charged with maintaining public order, has the beard of a bushy Bolshevik and the name Rene Marx Dormoy. The beard is of Socialist Dormoy's own choosing but, while M. Dormoy says that he stands for "militant Marxism," he regrets that his Socialist father went so far as to tag him "Marx" after Karl Marx. Communism as today conceived in Russia is, according to the Minister of the Interior, "a despicable compromise with the principles of The Revolution." Himself no compromiser, Bachelor Dormoy once had half his great beard torn off in a political argument. Last week as Minister of the Interior and as a militant Marxist there fell to Marx Dormoy a delicate task. He must explain before the bar of French public opinion the meaning of large quantities of small arms and munitions seized by the police recently in various parts of the Republic (TIME, Nov. 29), and he must not seem to be simply a Left politician attempting to smear the Right.

Smearing by Rights of Lefts and vice versa has for years been such a feature of French public life that Paris correspondents and their editors abroad leaned over backward on the story last week. Veteran Paris correspondents, usually proud to cable a deft summary supplemented with wise comment, suddenly crossed their fingers and transmitted verbatim the statement presently issued by the Minister of the Interior. The editors of the New York Times were among those who affirmed that "perplexing questions are not answered by the data available." Data supplied by Marx Dormoy:

"A real plot against the republican regime has been brought to light.

"A search at the headquarters of the

Caisse Hypothecaire Maritime et Fluviale, 78 Rue de Provence, of which the managing director is Eugene Deloncle, a consulting engineer at the Penhoet shipyards, has established the existence of a secret paramilitary organization modeled on army lines. It consists of a general staff, four intelligence departments and a sanitation service.

"The formation of effectives in divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions and so forth shows beyond doubt that the organization is intended for civil war. Documents

"Republican laws are sufficient. . . ."

seized prove that the leaders intended to replace the republican form of government by a dictatorial regime that was meant to precede restoration of the monarchy.

"The conspiracy was minutely prepared. During the searches discovery was made of material for forging identity papers, instructions for the transportation of arms, information on the strength of the Paris police force, as well as that of the adjoining departments of Seine-et-Oise and Seine-et-Marne with the names of their commanding officers, also card-indexed information concerning a large number of military officers and the material of certain regiments.

"In addition, there were blank order sheets and memoranda stolen from army officials, a list of buildings having several exits, an exact plan of the Paris sewers with passages leading to the Chamber, plans of the interiors of buildings occupied by Leftist newspapers and plans of the apartments of Socialist Deputies.

"There were also photostats of the signatures of certain Cabinet Ministers, a list of Cabinet Ministers and legislators marked for arrest at the outbreak of the rising, a file detailing meaus of seizing garages and busses belonging to the Paris street-bus system and municipal garbage trucks, to be converted into offensive weapons, plans to seize the supply of arms stored at the Mont Valerien fortress, and so forth.

"These preparations miscarried because of the vigilance of the Government.

"The republican regime has nothing to fear from the plotters' activities. Investigations will be pursued unremittingly by loyal servants of the State and the Republic. The guilty will be severely punished.

"There is no need to invoke emergency laws. Republican laws are sufficient to insure the security of the republican regime. The Government is in a position to thwart any criminal attempt against the Republic."

Laugh it off? Although Marx Dormoy had used a most discreet tone, his stated revelations were just about the most alarming which an official of the French Republic could make with any semblance of discretion. Significantly the French people last week gave no sign of having been alarmed. "The man in the street," correspondents soon cabled, "seems inclined to laugh the whole thing off."

If any group of Frenchmen were about to spring full-armed from the sewers of Paris, seize the Chamber of Deputies and make use of the facsimile signatures of Cabinet ministers, such a monstrous plot was no laughing matter. The key to Last week's riddle in French popular psychology was, of course, that strong nerves and shrewdness are leading French characteristics. Jean Frenchman figured that if the Reds, Pinks and Pale-Pinks--i.e., the Communist, Socialist and Radical Socialist supporters of the Popular Front Cabinet of Premier Camille Chautemps--were content to let Justice and the police take their course against sewer-jumping Royalists, then he could safely laugh.

After Paris police had confided to the press that their chief Royalist plot-suspect, Eugene Deloncle, was apparently in Rome, having "fled to the Fascist Capital," they observed him strolling across a Paris square, arrested him forthwith. A flying squad of detectives dashed from Marseille 120 miles to raid, at Cannes, the jewelry shop kept by a brother of M. Deloncle, discovered and seized three sabres. Papers seized by the police, who have been calling their suspects collectively Les Cagoulards ("The Hooded Men"), mentioned a Comite Secret d'Action Revolutionnaire or C.S.A.R. Promptly Les Cagoulards became Le Csar in news stories.

At the same time, a warrant had been issued for Count Hubert Pastre. "I am at your disposal, Messieurs," he remarked, walking into a police station. "You will find that for the last four months I have been in Hungary on a hunting trip from which I have just returned." Accused of having been Banker Deloncle's military adviser was General Edouard Arthur Duseigneur, onetime French air staff chief. Police used the flimsy, technical charge of "associating with malefactors" to hold the 26 they arrested, and eleven prisoners including General Duseigneur loudly demanded to be charged with "treason" so that they might clear themselves.

Not arrested last week was long-famed French Fascist Leader Colonel Franc,ois de La Rocque, recently involved in libel suits (TIME, Nov. 15 et ante). In court last week de La Rocque's onetime henchman. Duke Pozzo di Borgo, raised bedlam by shouting that Premier Chautemps' wife had told a woman who told the Duke that de La Rocque had betrayed the names of members of Le Csar to the police.

"De La Rocque betrayed me!" roared the Duke, one of those arrested last week, but permitted to appear in court. His charges amounted to accusing the Popular Front Cabinet's police of having Fascist stool pigeons, and soon the courtroom was full of Frenchmen shouting at each other, "Fascist Liar!"; "Dirty Communist Dog!"; "Physical Coward!"; and "Filthy Animal!"

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