FRANCE: Would-Be's Parade

FRANCE Would-Be's Parade

The politicians who govern France gathered in the National Assembly last week to perform the familiar French rite of political execution. The appointed victim this time was Premier Antoine Pinay, who in nine months and two weeks had given France its most stable economy since the war (TIME, Dec. 22).

The followers of General de Gaulle greased the wheels of the tumbrel—they served notice that they would throw their votes against Pinay, instead of abstaining as has been their practice. The Catholic M.R.P., whose 88 deputies are Pinay's chief source of numerical strength, decided to drop the guillotine knife—they...