BATTLE OF THE FRANC.

Shannon News, 26 February 1926, Page 1

BATTLE OF THE FRANC.

\ PEASANTS' PROSPERITY. COUNTRY VERSUS TOWN.-. "France is by no means ruined," writes Professor Charles Sarolea in •'The Scotsman." So far from being ruined, the large majority of the French people, namely the peasant, class, are more prosperous ,than they ever were before the war. They have been abl e to buy up millions of acres Hundreds of thousands of petty farmers have recently become peasant proprietors. "Their standard of living has enormously improved. On any market day in the little agricultural town you may witness a' strange spectacle which before the war Would have been undreamt of the spectacle, namely, of scores of farmers coming to the market place in their motor-cars. The French peasant has an infinite capacity for thrift. But he will not save in order to pa-V his taxes; he will ' only save in order to buy a cow or a piece of land. v i "When the tax-gatherer arrives, the [ year's profits have vanished and have been turned into capital. Let us remember that etymological!*- the word cattle" and...'cheptel', have the same meaning ak capital. For the 'cheptel' is pre-eminently the working capital of the peasant. Let us further remember that the difficulties' of the French tax-gatherers are not of tojday. "No French Government is neith e v strong enough or staple enough to enforce unpopular measures. French parties are too divided and political majorities were large and if the Government were strong; su ch a strong Government would still have to -depend on the votes of the peasants. Even .then it could not afford to elieuate 5Ls constituencies. No ■democratic Government is prepared u> commit political suicide. "It will be objected that the menace of national bankruptcy ought to I have opened tlie eyes of the peasant, even though his horizon is bounded by the limits of his village. But here again one ought not to forget that Jacques Bonhomme does hot believe himself to be immediately affected by bankruptcy. On the contrary, he believes that a national bankruptcy may prove to be his golden opportunity. ;..-■■■: . "For he is the master of the situation. In times of crisis agriculture is generally found to , triumph over iridustry, the country over the town. No doiibt the cost of living may rise, but this only means that the peasant will receive a higher price for his food-stuffs. "The simple truth is that, the French Socialists do not want to save the franc. They want it to oollafse For the col'apse of the franc gives them their chance.. It means the immediate destruction of the bourgeois class. It means that they will achieve at one stroke what it has been for generations their one aim to achieve."