Wobbling

Britain's socialists had no monopoly of crisis. In France, Premier Paul Ramadier's Government was wobbling; French economy was heading toward collapse. Industry was hamstrung by coal shortages, strikes and absenteeism. With exports for the first half of 1947 $500 million less than imports, the French dollar reserve was down to $400 million. Drought had shriveled half the wheat crop. Scarce dollars must be diverted to buying food.

In Paris, Brest, Avignon and elsewhere there were demonstrations against the Ramadier Government. Marchers carried placards which said: "Ramadier--Demission--Resign, Ramadier". Some of the demonstrations ended in scuffles with the police. Some appeared to be led by Communists of the French General Confederation of Labor. The Communist Central Committee charged Ramadier with "practising De Gaulle's politics without De Gaulle," and called for a left coalition to beat De Gaulle's French People's Rally in the October elections.

Cried the leftist Franc Tireur: "Ramadier does not govern; he compromises. He does not act; he maneuvers. He does not decide; he parleys. He cuts the pear in two, gives the worse piece to his friends and the better to his enemies."

What most Frenchmen feared was that the day Premier Ramadier was turned out, the showdown between De Gaulle and Communism would begin. A former Resistance worker voiced the mood of many plain men last week: "Now we enjoy our food and our wine and the sunshine on the coast--as long as we have them to enjoy--and we can only hope that our children can learn enough to do better. We are finished. It is sad, but it is so."

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