Suspended Sentence

One afternoon last week stocky, stolid Premier Joseph Laniel walked to the rostrum in the National Assembly, ran a stubby finger around his collar to loosen it, and began, in a flat, unemphatic voice, to read a speech. For the second time in eight days, to bolster France's search for peace at Geneva, Joseph Laniel was staking his Cabinet's continuation in office on a vote of confidence. He had survived the first vote (before the fall of Dienbienphu) by a comfortable margin, 311 to 262. This time he realized that his government might fall.

Laniel first took up Dienbienphu: "The defeat must be explained by a sudden change in Viet Minh war methods, brought about with Chinese aid . . . The battle of Dienbienphu marks a turning point in the evolution of Viet Minh military strength. Our garrison had been caught by surprise." Snapped a Socialist Deputy:"We are still surprised!"

To Carry On. Laniel continued:"The government has taken measures to provide our commander in chief with the means to carry on." It would send to Indo-China several more battalions of troops, crews and mechanics for 25 bombers, and two flotillas of naval craft, plus artillery, tanks and machine guns--but still no conscripts. Then he came to the crux of his plea for support: "I refuse to believe that at the present hour this Assembly intends to provoke a rupture of the negotiations . . . What other policy [than ours] do you propose? Some people seem to rely more upon our enemies than our friends, and it has become fashionable in certain quarters to complain more about the U.S., which is helping us, than about the Viet Minh, who are killing our soldiers." This remark drew a heated, mendacious retort from the Communist benches:"We are as good patriots as you are!"

Joseph Laniel survived the balloting by the narrowest margin--two votes--of his 10 1/2-month tenure as Premier. The count showed 289 votes for, 287 against, with 33 abstentions. The French press called the result a "suspended sentence," and many a man in the street concluded that the Deputies, acting in psychic accord, had engineered the two-vote margin as a stinging reproof to Laniel. Bringing down Laniel could have caused new elections, and the Deputies' own seats would have been in jeopardy. Three Gaullists who had intended to abstain changed their minds and voted for Laniel.

Said the right-wing pro-Gaullist L'Aurore: "This confidence vote had nothing to do with 'confidence.' " Said the right-wing independent Le Figaro: "The parties did not want to choke Laniel to death, they merely wanted to make it difficult for him to continue breathing." The left-wing Socialist Franc-Tireur: "By scientifically doctoring its votes, the Chamber has . . . condemned itself even more severely than it condemned the government."

Two to Make Peace. This might well be the last confidence vote that durable Joseph Laniel would survive; and henceforth the government would be unable to take any bold action requiring legislative approval, such as the sending of conscript troops overseas. "A two-vote majority may be sufficient to make peace," said Le Monde. "It is certainly not sufficient . . . to continue the war." At Geneva frail, glum Foreign Secretary Georges Bidault (who has lost several pounds in recent days) went gallantly on with France's search for peace.

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