The Language of Flowers

One of Charles de Gaulle's favorite maxims is that "power does not retreat" --by which he means that his government does not hesitate to take tough decisions. But last week, enmeshed in a showdown struggle with Antoine Pinay, the economic miracle worker of France's Fifth Republic, De Gaulle hesitated before the eyes of the whole world. Twice Pinay was summoned into conference with Premier Michel Debre, twice into discussions with President de Gaulle himself. At last, after a flurry of ambiguous communiques, came the laconic announcement that despite De Gaulle's "appreciation" of Pinay's successful economic policies, Pinay was through as Finance Minister. To replace him De Gaulle named Wilfrid Baumgartner, 57, longtime governor of the Bank of France.

To waiting newsmen, peppery, popular little Antoine Pinay gave his own blunt version of his ouster. Torn between awareness of the public confidence that Pinay inspires and impatience with Pinay's questioning of De Gaulle's loyalty to the Western alliance, De Gaulle had sought to keep Pinay in the Cabinet by offering him the job of minister in charge of "longterm national policy." Snorted Pinay: "They wanted me to supervise our future but keep hands off the present . . . In the end they heaped me with flowers and chucked me out."

Too Many Saviors. Pinay's ouster, as both he and De Gaulle clearly realized, marked the beginning rather than the end of a battle. Insisting that he was leaving "without bitterness." Pinay said he was temporarily withdrawing from politics--but in a phrase deliberately reminiscent of De Gaulle's self-imposed political retirement in 1946, Pinay proclaimed that he would "always remain at the disposition of the French people."

"God help our country," cracked one cynical Parisian. "Now we have two saviors." Obviously, Pinay was aware that De Gaulle's term as President has six more years to run. But by forcing a break, and by posing it as a question of preserving France's monetary and economic stability, Pinay was setting himself up as the focal point of future conservative opposition to De Gaulle. One of the four remaining Independents in the Cabinet, Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Max Flechet, resigned later in the week.

No More Games. By naming Wilfrid Baumgartner to Pinay's old job, De Gaulle adroitly sought to reassure France's business community that the Fifth Republic was not about to plunge into economic statism. Member of a famed French Protestant family, Baumgartner won the coveted title of inspecteur des finances at 27, has long been known as a "sound-money" man. He said that he had "formal assurances" that he could continue the policies "now underway."

But he is also a lifelong economic technician without political experience, who took the job "without joy," is less likely to stir up Cabinet debates than Pinay. His appointment was a clear sign of the way the De Gaulle government is trending. Fired up once again with his old contempt for "political games," De Gaulle was steadily cleansing his government of men with independent political strength, replacing them with technicians who are able--but technicians.

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