Democratic Deadlock

The 3,000 district leaders of the French Communist Party who were summoned to Paris recently by No. 1 French Communist Maurice Thorez (TIME, March 28) returned to their homes last week primed to execute his orders: "Arouse the masses!"

The French masses are not easily aroused but soon some 18,000 workers in five factories of Citroen Motors ("The Ford Of France") went on a sit-down strike and, without stating specific grievances, hoisted red flags. While they continued to sit, quarter-hour sympathy sit-downs were staged at the Farman, Caudron and other vital French warplane factories. All this was extremely peaceable, without riots or even the summoning of police, but everyone remembered that in 1936 over 1,000,000 workers walked out as a means of: 1) pressing the first Popular Front Cabinet of Premier Leon Blum to legislate promised vital concessions to Labor; 2) coercing his political enemies of the Right into abandoning some of their opposition. Last week the workers appeared in an unorganized way to be again trying to drive and lead Leon Blum, who now heads his second Popular Front Cabinet and was encountering firm opposition last week in the Senate. The workers were by no means under the leadership of Communist Thorez, but he bid violently for that leadership last week by demanding a nationwide General Strike.

Meanwhile, the Premier engaged in a personal duel of words with the president of the Senate Finance Committee, Joseph Caillaux. Blum was trying to get authorization to borrow another $270,000.000 from the Bank of France to keep the country going for three and a half months, but the Senate thought that was giving the Premier too much rope, hauled him down to $150,000,000 hoping he would resign in a huff, but instead the Premier took what he could get. "Watch out," angry Blum told irate Caillaux, "lest in manifesting prejudice against our Government and distrust of it you do not alter the present political circumstances and render impossible the very solutions you wish!"

In what amounted to a democratic deadlock, with a few more strikes of short or long duration starting daily, it occurred to the thoroughly aware and alarmed Socialist Premier that War veterans might try to resolve the situation by turning his Cabinet out by violence. In his newspaper Le Populaire he stirringly asked them not to "descend into the streets."

At week's end 30,000 workers jammed Buffalo Stadium in Paris, booed moderate French Labor Union Boss Leon Jouhaux completely off the stage with hoots and cries demanding French aid be sent to Leftist Spain.

In efforts to divert the public mind, Joseph Paul-Boncour. the new Foreign Minister and great League of Nations apostle, announced that German agents are busy in Alsace-Lorraine fomenting "Hitlerian intrigues" and that orders have been given for their arrest.

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