$250,000,000 & Pillory

Loud protestations members of the Cabinet of Socialist Premier Leon Blum that they did not expect to have to devalue the franc further were followed last week by a thumping event which firmed the franc on international exchange, showed that London is standing with Paris in friendly entente. The event: British bankers loaned $250,000,000 at 3 1/2%, repayable within one year, to the French State railways. "I categorically deny," keynoted French Finance Minister Vincent Auriol, "that our monetary unit will be permitted to move lower."

One drastic expedient which the Socialist Premier has adopted to dissuade, although it does not prevent, French capitalists from shipping funds abroad in another "flight from the franc" likely to lead to devaluation, is the recent law forcing the French to divulge to their Government whatever funds they have abroad. This they passionately hate, for to the logical French mind it suggests that, once the Government knows what foreign funds its citizens have, the day will come when, under pretext of "emergency," these will be forcibly obtained pour la patrie.

Therefore last week the plight of a hitherto unnoticed Mme Drouard-Marquiset fascinated all prosperous French men. Secret agents had discovered in Switzerland at the Banque Commercials de Bale a deposit in the name of Mme Drouard-Marquiset which she had omitted to disclose, as required by law. Result:

Mme Drouard-Marquiset was jailed for three months; she was "fined" 1,000 francs ($46.60) and "penalized" 190,812 francs ($8,896.60) ; she had to pay the costs of the Government's having caught and punished her; and for one month there will remain publicly posted up at the police station of her precinct in Paris a notice proclaiming "THE CONVICTION FOR FRAUD of Mme Drouard-Marquiset."

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