Foreign News: Great Little Gaston

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"Public opinion will not accept a situation that stops his beneficial work. It will be severe toward those who do not do everything to assure for the future what the wisdom of the efforts of today already is permitting us to hope is being achieved."

Stewardship. Little notice has been taken abroad of Premier Doumergue's manifold stewardship. In the realm of diplomacy his Government has all but isolated Germany, won Russia's strong support and obtained the backing of Britain and Italy for the Eastern Locarno Pact (TIME, July 23). When Premier Doumergue took office France was embroiled in bitter tariff and quota disputes with Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland. Now all of these have been ironed out by trade treaties. Only in arming France has Gastounet been extravagant. He has forced through supplemental appropriations of over three billion francs to complete the French system of superfrontier defenses by 1940. But in this present year he has saved over four billion francs by discharging 85,000 superfluous Government employes, slashing Government salaries and veterans' pensions, and paring down the State Railways' chronic deficit by drastic reorganization and coordination of rail and road transport. Recognizing that prices must be forced down if the franc is to remain on gold, Gastounet has attacked cautiously the fantastic artificial price of wheat, fixed in France by a previous cabinet at $2.07 per bu. The new fixed price is $1.95 and Premier Doumergue has only begun his price lowering campaign. Whether such a policy can be put through without a dictator remained last week one of the biggest question marks in France.