NEW DEAL FOR FRANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 56, 4 September 1944, Page 2

NEW DEAL FOR FRANCE

GENERAL ELECTION

QUESTION

NEW YORK, September 2. ■ "France, in her hour of liberation, is united as she may not be again for many years," and therefore General de Gaulle's governmental task is simplified," says a "New York Times" correspondent in Paris. "To the average Frenchman, General de Gaulle stands as a symbol of all that was best in the old Republic and as a promise for the future greatness of France. "One issue that may prove troublesome is how soon a general election should be held. Some would like it postponed till all the prisoners held in Germany have returned home; others favour an election as soon as the last German is driven from French soil. As matters stand, the earlier the election is held the greater the likelihood that General de Gaulle will continue in power. "The situation . and the atmosphere are revolutionary. . The people are demanding justice for those regarded as being responsible for the betrayal four years ago. They are insistent that the old bureaucrats and officials who helped to bring them to defeat shall never again have power. If Paris is any sample, the people of Kjrance, having thrown off the Nazi yoke, do not intend to bow their necks to any native regime which has not as its primary aim a new deal for France. "Of all the parties the Communists are the strongest and most vital force, but it. is absurd to anticipate a Communist . France. It seems most likely to this correspondent that France will have a, democratic regime with Socialistic Labour tendencies."