Revolving Door

FRANCE Revolving Door

After 390 days of successful "immo-bilism" (patient compromise, appeasement, moderation), the government of mild little Henri Queuille headed last week for the nearest exit. The events of the week threw, once more, a glare on the weaknesses of coalition government and of the French "revolving door" system.

M. Queuille is a Radical Socialist (in the French spectrum, somewhat to the right of center). For more than a year he had shepherded a coalition cabinet of Radicals, Socialists, and Popular Republicans. He had frozen wages; but prices kept on oozing upward.

By last week the Queuille cabinet had agreed that the lowest-paid workers must have wage bonuses. M. Queuille assumed that the bonus tables would be worked out with himself as arbiter, but Socialist Labor Minister Daniel Mayer abruptly refused to accept this. Queuille had to resign.

President of the Republic Vincent Auriol, tired and ill, wearily conferred with party leaders, then asked Socialist Minister of the Interior Jules Moch to examine his prospects for forming a cabinet. After the Socialists had had their try, M. Auriol would be free to call on anyone he thought could set up and run a working coalition. He might even call, again, on Henri Queuille.