Winter in Paris

With the turning of the Autumnal equinox, Frenchmen observed that the cycle of natural events was moving forward as usual. In Nice, on the southern coast, leaves carpeted the countryside with flaming reds and yellows. The streets of picturesque Normandy towns echoed emptily to the sound of native voices and accents; gone were the bronzed tourists who had turned the sun-drenched marketplaces into polylingual Babels. Parisians turned up their collars and bent their heads into the chill winds as the first startling drops of snow descended from the sky. And, with the insistent regularity of the changing season, another Government fell before the serried hatchets of the French National Assembly.

The defeat of the Faure Ministry, predictable as it was, produced some unexpected parliamentary fireworks. For Faure, unlike his nineteen predecessors, tourned on his tormentors. Applying an obscure law that enables a Premier to call new elections when two successive Governments fall within an eighteen month period, Faure dissolved the Assembly and ordered a snap election for January second.

When they go to the polls next month, the French voters will face a chance between supporters of two middle-of-the-road candidates: Edgar Faure and Pierre Mendes-France. Despite the improvement of the French economy during Faure's reign, Mendes-France is undoubtedly the most able candidate for the Premiership. During his brief tour of duty on the Front Bench, his record was admirable. He removed the French from the seething crisis in Indo-China, placed his nation preponderatingly within the Western Defense Alliance, opened the way to settlement of the North African situation and, most important of all, proposed a new economic program which promised to restore France as a financial, agricultural, and manufacturing power.

But the odds on Mendes-France are slim. In the course of advocating his sweeping reforms, Mendes made many enemies among the old guard politicians in the Assembly. Mendes, moreover, continued to argue for his policies while out of office and fought a bitter battle with Faure for control of their Radical Socialist party. His eventual victory split the ranks of his own party and isolated possible allies, leaving him without the necessary coalition and election machine.

The inability to mold a well-oiled machine between now and the January elections may ultimately prove disastrous to Mendes-France. Despite his great popularity in the provinces, the short time before the voting will work in favor of the well-organized political groups. Indeed, the party benefiting most by the election call may well be the Communists whose machine functions continuously, election or no. A further factor against Mendes' success stems from another peculiarity in French electoral laws which allows parties to form alliances during elections. Without the backing of a strong coalition and without election reforms it is unlikely that Mendes can succeed.

There are, however, several things in his favor, not the least of which is his great popularity with the mass of the people. The French seem somewhat weary of the title "sick man of Europe." Only the bold program which Mendes-Frances advocates can save them from becoming a second-rate power. If, as expected, next January's returns show that the French people have rejected Mendes-France, their country may truly deserve the epithet.