Narrow Choice

"Every hour counts, every hour lost may be paid for in blood and disorder," cried Paris' Combat. Last week the fate of France's empire in North Africa continued its lurch toward decision. Both sides--the Arabs, who impatiently demand a measure of independence, and the French colonists, who would deny it to them--knew it.

Into Tunis stormed aroused colons (overseas Frenchmen) from neighboring Morocco and Algeria. They came to join their Tunisian counterparts in angry protest against Premier Edgar Faure's agreement with Habib Bourguiba, leader of Tunisia's moderate Arab nationalists, which would grant Tunisians substantial control over their country. "There can be no French grandeur without French North Africa!" the colons proclaimed.

Speakers loudly condemned Resident General Pierre Boyer de la Tour, who had summarily deported the Tunisian leader of the diehard Presence Franeaise for his defiant utterances. Cried Dr. Georges Causse, head of the Moroccan Presence Franc,aise: "Tunisia is being sold out by a gang of rascals and traitors ... If France abandons us, the love we have for her will turn to hatred. We will fight by all means in our power, and we will come out into the streets even if it means being killed." Down From The Hills. Impatient Arab nationalists also recognized that their fate was tied to the success of the Tunisian settlement. In Algeria and Morocco, terrorists stepped up their activities.

They stormed through Casablanca's native quarters, firing sporadically at native troops and French police, hurling bombs at French homes.

In Algeria, which Frenchmen fondly imagine they have made a part of metropolitan France by simple administrative fiat, rebels emerged from their Aures mountain stronghold, went marauding through the Constantine countryside in bands of 80 to 100, cutting telegraph lines, tearing up railroad tracks, and on three occasions boldly attacking police and army patrols. Hopping about the troubled area in a helicopter, Algeria's Governor General Jacques Soustelle admitted: "The situation is serious." All week long in Paris, Premier Faure conferred worriedly amidst a din of newspaper alarm. For Morocco and Algeria he could offer only promises for the future, enforce stern measures for the present.

He ordered ten infantry battalions, a reconnaissance regiment and 2,000 policemen to Algeria, bringing the French forces there to 100.000--20,000 more than the French expeditionary force remaining in Indo-China. "Repression will be pitiless," warned Minister of the Interior Maurice Bourges-Maunoury. Grappling with the Tunisian problem, Faure talked Bourguiba into postponing his scheduled triumphant return to Tunis after three years of exile, and ordered negotiations for a final settlement resumed immediately.

Point of Departure. Faure was well aware that his field of choice was narrow. Fail to satisfy the colons' demands, and he might bring his own downfall at the hands of the 50 Deputies, headed by ex-Premier Rene Mayer, who represent the rich pro-colon lobby in the Assembly. Fail to satisfy the demands of the Arab moderates, and France might eventually lose all North Africa.

Warned the usually mild Bourguiba last week: "The agreements are a point of departure, and I'm for them as such. But they must work in practice and they must eventually go all the way to independence. Otherwise, there'll be trouble in North Africa, and it won't be just a matter of extremists. We'll all be extremists, and I'll be leading them." He added dramatically: "When a man is ready to die for an ideal, he can always find a gun."

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