The Jugglers

After almost ten years of parliamentary life, Georges Bidault, courageous and resourceful leader of the French resistance movement in World War II, no longer looks like a man who would rush carelessly into danger--particularly not into the perils of a general election. Knowing that the next Premier will have the power to bring about the Assembly's dissolution any time in the coming 18 months--in the event that an absolute majority of the Assembly should disapprove of his government--France's seat-hugging Deputies were favorably disposed towards Bidault, President Auriol's third Premier-designate in three weeks. After the action-demanding appeals of Reynaud and Mendes-France. Bidault seemed like a tired juggler, but one who would not miss a throw.

Poised, with the juggler's air of bored concentration, Bidault spun the political plates in the air, and deftly caught them:

P: Indo-China: "To hasten the end of the war by all means at our disposal," but not "a retreat that would be incompatible with . . . our dead."

P: North Africa: first, "the rights and interests of France and Frenchmen," then "to lead the Tunisian and Moroccan peoples to the point where they can manage their own affairs."

P: The European Defense Community: commitment, but "after settlement of the Saar question" and "negotiations with Britain."

. The national economy: "Living unquestionably above our means, we are slowly wending our way towards decadence," but no increased taxation, for "the amount of effort demanded of taxpayers is near the maximum."

P: Government spending: certainly a cut in public expenses, but only after a "systematic investigation of all services, all nationalized establishments . . . aiming at fusions . . . redistribution of functions."

To handle these situations, Bidault asked the Assembly to delegate some of its powers to him, so that the necessary measures could be carried out by decree.

The Short Vote. The Assembly members, connoisseurs in the art of balance, were impressed. When it came to the vote, Bidault had the support of 313 Deputies --just one short of the number required to make him Premier. This too was an example of balance. The short vote had been carefully calculated by the Radical Socialist Party, whose candidate, Mendes--France, Bidault had voted against. The Radicals split their votes and altered or withdrew them as the balloting went on, so that Bidault would almost, but not quite, make it.

Old (80) Edouard Herriot, president of the Assembly, was moved to sound a national warning: "We are running the risk of having the world consider that we cannot conduct our own affairs." A campaign, daily increasing in intensity, was rising against the French parliamentary regime, he said. "The present situation cannot continue without terrible risks. Do not rely on this appearance of calm in the country, on this apathy which is the sign of its anxiety, and, I might even say, of its discouragement . . . The country is very unhappy ... I do not recall having known a moment of such terrible anguish . . . The game of party against party has lasted long enough. The moment has come --I hope it is not too late--to try to form a government at all costs."

The Long Chance. The moment had come for President Auriol to call on 55-year-old Andre Marie, a veteran of Buchenwald, a member of Herriot's moderately conservative Radical Socialist Party, and a short-lived Premier (35 days) back in 1948. Said Herriot "We should show no party preoccupations. I beg of you with all my soul, think only of France."

From the sidelines came the voice of one who had thought a good deal about France and many times predicted this particular constitutional impasse, General Charles de Gaulle: "A considerable man has said that France is in agony. I don't believe it. There are unfortunate circumstances, wounded interests, disappointed hopes. But France is not expiring. Our task is to determine the conditions in which the politics of the nation can be remarried to life."

Not a wedding ceremony, but another juggling act--perhaps many others--was what France seemed to be in for, no matter how restive the audience had become.

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