FRANCE: Brave Old Wheelhorse

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When he was elected in 1947, Auriol fitted in comfortably with the modest concept of the presidency. Since then, he has grown a bit in political stature because the precarious coalition cabinets that have served under him called forth his considerable technical skill as a compromiser. By personality and training, Auriol is a good balance wheel; however, the chief ingredient needed in French political life in 1951 is not balance but clear direction and drive. Auriol is not equipped to supply that kind of leadership. If he were, he probably would never have become President of the Fourth Republic.

The Flour of Socialism. Vincent Auriol grew up in the quiet 14th Century town of Revel, in the hills not far from Toulouse. His father, a staunch conservative, wanted Vincent to take over his bakery, used to snap impatiently at his shy, studious son, "We make our bread with flour, not with books." It was only after steady pressuring by Vincent's teachers that he allowed Vincent to enter the University of Toulouse.

There, like many a student before and since, Vincent talked and read himself into Socialism. While still at the university, he became the editor of Le Midi Socialiste, which was written at a café table. Auriol, who seldom had money for his meals, would grin at friendly restaurant proprietors, "Never mind, I'll pay you when I'm a cabinet minister."

In the evenings he went for coffee and conversation to the house of Michel Aucouturier, a prominent local Socialist. Aucouturier's ten-year-old daughter, Michèle, used to irritate the young student when she came banging in with the coffee to interrupt a discussion. Later, as Michèle grew older and prettier, he found her less troublesome. In 1912 she became Madame Vincent Auriol.

For 26 years beginning in 1914, Auriol represented the constituency of Muret in the Chambre des Députés, always a dependable man for wheelhorse party jobs. In 1936, when Léon Blum formed his Popular Front government, Auriol became Finance Minister.

Like many of his countrymen, Auriol belongs to two very different Frances. For instance, in 1912 Auriol, as a youthful Socialist, supported woman suffrage. Prudhon Masset, a Radical Socialist newspaperman, opposed it. Controversy between them led to a double duel in which Auriol and Masset fired four times at each other, then attempted to settle the issue with swords. (Neither was hurt.) With an effort, Americans can understand duelists, or Socialists; much greater effort is required to understand Socialist duelists. This merger of a proletarian philosophy and an aristocratic code of honor is a perfect example of the contradictions of modern French history.

Enough Wine in the Mairie. Like many deputies, he had also been elected mayor in his constituency. Almost every other week, Auriol would make the ten-hour trip to Muret. On hot summer days he would convoke the municipal council in the mairie only long enough to make the session legal, then adjourn to do the real business over a glass of wine at the Café Roussel. "Enough wine," Monsieur le Maire liked to say, "and the opposition sags low."