BELGIUM: Again, van Zeeland

Belgium's young King Leopold last week entered the third week of his search for a Premier. He had lost a good one in able, young Premier Paul van Zeeland when the Belgian elections made the Socialists, instead of van Zeeland's Catholics, the Chamber of Deputies' biggest party. Van Zeeland's men had lost many seats to the Rexists, wild, new, Catholic-Fascist party of young Léon Degrelle. When van Zeeland resigned, he precipitated a partisan brawl among the National Union parties (Catholics, Christian Democrats, Liberals and Socialists) who had supported his effective program of devaluation and controlled inflation.

King Leopold offered the Premiership to Socialist Leader Emile Vandervelde. The Catholics refused to support him. Last week the King turned again to van Zeeland. The "folded arms" strikes sweeping France had been copied by Belgian stevedores, diamond cutters, miners, munitions workers. Less tolerant than French police, Belgian police threw the strikers forcibly out of mines and factories they had occupied. In this atmosphere, Socialists and Liberals still refused to support van Zeeland. The King asked him to try again. Again he failed. The King spent a day talking turkey to Belgian politicians, told van Zeeland to try once more. This time the National Union pulled itself together and Premier van Zeeland formed a Cabinet with six Socialists, four Catholics, three Liberals.