The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1917. POLITICAL UNION IN FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3189, 13 September 1917, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1917. POLITICAL UNION IN FRANCE

A SATISFACTORY outcome of the SO- - political crisis in France is now practioally assured'. It is announced to-day 'that M. Painleve, who_was Minister of War in the late Cabinet, is forming a Ministry in. which all parties aro represented in a great union for national and military action. There is thus every likelihood that the present occasion, like others of a similar character which havo preceded it .in France during the war period, will mark a definite forward stride towards improved efficiency in political organisation. . The best proof that the change of Government is a matter of orderly development, as distinct from political conflict, is that M. Eibot's principal colleague has been selected to lead tho new Cabinet. .The most promising feature of the situation is that tho Painleve Government is to represent all parties in French politics. It would appear that France is reviving and emphasising the idea of the Sacred Union, which first found expression when M. Viviani reconstructed his Cabinet in August, 1914. The subordination of party issues in order to concentrate on the war has been the dominant note in French pol:- ' tics throughout the war period, hut the Ribot Cabinet_ represented a departure from the idea of the Sacred Union to .-the extent that it was not by any means representative of all parties. Its formation, indeed, was considered to mark a decided return to government by political majority in Parliament. It practically excluded tho Conservative elements of the Right, and, except for M. Ribot himself, the Moderate Republican group. The Socialist Party was represented by M. Albeut Thomas, tho able Minister of Munitions, but the Socialists did not by any means yield tho Government unquestioning support, and on a number of occasions a considerable section of the party voted against it. A great improvement on these conditions, and a much more perfect expression of the principles of,the Sacred Union, is foreshadowed in the announcement made to-day. The change in leadership gives no occasion for surprise. M. Painleve was a commanding figure in French politics before the Ribot Government was formed, and his administration as Minister of War has added to his reputation. His refusal to take office as War Minister under M. Briand was the determining factor in compelling that leader to resign., and when M. Ribot formed his Cabinet six months ago it was suggested that M. Painleve was perhaps in training to succeed him at the head of the Government. M. Painleve was the Radical candidate for the Premiership on thatoccasion, and the faot that the Socialists have decided to co-operate with other parties in supporting tho new Government has possibly now turned the scale in his favour. (

it is not unlikely that M. Ribot may take office under his late AVar Minister, but if he elects instead to retire, sufficient reason for that course will appear in his advanced age and in the heavy working load he has carried since the outbreak of war. His leadership of the Government during the last six months has certainly done nothing to impair his distinguished reputation. M. Eibot is 75 years old (he was born on January 7, 1842), and began his public career under the Empire. In pro-war days ho was on a number of occasions Premier, besides filling other Ministerial positions, and he was one of the principal authors of the Russian Alliance. After the outbreak of war ho held tho portfolio of Finance continuously from August, 19M, until he became Pre-

mier in March last, and his brilliant conduct of the finances of tho country in war timo added greatly to his prestige. In his latest period of office ho 'discharged the arduous dutios of Premier and foreign Minister in what .aro now recognised to have been exceedingly critical days. Whether or not ho is now retiring into the background, tho" aged French statesman is a figure to command universal respect and admiration in his own country and abroad. An idea of tho problems with which tho Eibot Government successfully grappled was given by M. Painleve in a speech delivered recently in the Chamber of Deputies. The speech is at the same time an indication of tho quality and character of the man who has now been appointed to control the Government of France. At the outset, tho War Minister, as he then was, emphasised the fact that revolutionary disorders in Ilussia, and the consequent weakening of that country as a fighting member of tho Entente, had enabled Germany to throw her'whole weight upon tho Western Allies. "Let us not tire of repeating," he 6aid, "for it is the truth, and it is a truth which is our glory of yesterday and our certainty, of tomorrow's victory—it is the entire forces of Germany which the French and English armies have had to face during these last months." After alluding to the landing of the first legion of the American Army, and all that tho event implied, M. Painleve went on to frankly 'admit that too dear a price had been paici for tho results gained in the April offensive: "Yes, losses, and heavy losses, were undergone—oh! not those colossal figures of killed and wounded and prisoners which miachievous_ tales, started no ono knows where, circulated through Paris and France—but yet losses too cruel, because they might havo been avoided, and must ho avoided henceforth." He concluded with,'an eloquent declaration that France must conquer or submit to degrading serfdom. To-morrow (ho said), let our will Beem to givo way, let a crevice seem to show in tho solid block of our military force, and you will see at once, instead of the winking sinilo of Scheidemann, the PanGerman grimace. There would not be one future hour when the French peasant in his field and the' French workman in his workshop would not he labouring;, as an expression that is old has it, for the King of Prussia. Look around you; anionp; our friends as well as among our enemies—no nation has shown more perfect order than that which has reigned in France, or greater liberty. This must last to tho supremo hour of victory, no matter how hard may bo tho trials wo still have to enduro. And if ono of those weak hearts of whom Korensky speaks in.the- burning words of his proclamation should ask me: "Whither aro you dragging us, and when will you say that you havo reached tha aim?" I would answer in the masterly words of the President of the United States: "Wo shall attain our end aiid cease to fight tho day democracy is safe!"