FRENCH ELECTION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 804, 29 April 1910, Page 5

FRENCH ELECTION.

GROUP VOTES. • By Telegraph-Press AssociationT-Oopyrieht , . London,. April 27. With reference to. the. French general election,- the Paris correspondent'of "The Times," telegraphing to his paper, gives the following estimate of-'how votes' were cast:— ; For Radical candidates ............ 4,000,000 For Conservative candidates ... 1,750,000 For Republican Left,candidates' 1,250,000 For' Collectivist I Socialist candi- ■ dates ' .'...........: 1,250,000 For Progressist Socialist candi- . dates, , ;.. ..;.... 1,000,000 For Independent Socialist candidates ......;...... 500,000 Of the 360 deputies, elected, 120 are in favour of proportional representation. THE BRIAND MINISTRY, The present French .Ministry, headed by M. Briand, was formed last July in succession .to ( that of M. Clemenceau, in whose Cabinet M. Briand was Minister for Justice; M. Briand is the Socialist Deputy for one of the most important working-men constituencies in France, that of the St. Etienne coalfields, which has returned him in the present election by a large majority.. "In private life," writes tho Paris- correspondent of "The Times," "he is • characterised' by his undemonstrative r personality. He is a man of quiet demeanour, who oarries his 17 >vnr s lightly. He is endowed with no ordinary ability and tact. " Notwithstanding M. Briand's 'Socialist" past and the constant attacks to which he has been subjected as Minister of Justice and of Public Worship, neither his political adversaries nor his political friends have at the present juncture ventured to suggest that there could be any other candidate who was nearly so fit as he to succeed M. Clemenceau. "M. Millerand—who, by the way, will personally control the Post Office Department instead of leaving it to an UnderSecretary—is a Socialist but no longer a Collectivist. He was a member of the Waldeck-Rousseau Ministry. In France to be a Socialist generally means to be peculiarly devoted to what is known as Social Policy. The German Emperor himself once expressly contrasted the practical views of M.. Millerand with-the Utopian schemes of his own Parliamentary Socialists. In all questions affecting property tho Conservatism of the masses in France is proverbial, and French 'Socialist' Ministers, whether they would admit it or riot, are indubitably influenced- and restrained by the predominant tendencies of the nation." M. Millerand is one of those who will have to contest the second ballot.