T H E T A B L E T , J u n e 7th, 1962

THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

VOL. 199, No. 5846

PRO ECCLESIA DEI, PRO REGINA ET PATRIA

LONDON, JUNE 7th, 1952

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NINEPENCE

FOUNDED IN 1 8 4 0

PUBLISHED AS A NEWSPAPER

BERLIN The Focal Point of the Cold War EGYPT AND THE SUDAN A Constructive Approach. By the Rt. Hon. R. R. Stokes, M .P . THE AUTHOR, THE ARTIST AND THE TAX-GATHERER

The Case for a Change in the Fiscal System. By Douglas Jerrold PORTUGUESE IMPRESSIONS THE ITALIAN ELECTIONS III: Oporto and the North. By Douglas Woodruff Successes on the Right. By Bernard Wall

CULT OF THE INCOHERENT The Morality o f André Gide. By Arnold Lunn

THE BARCELONA CONGRESS BENEDICTINES ON HORSEBACK

The Week’s Closing Scenes

At Weingarten. By Michael Derrick

M. PINAY’S DECISION

L AST week M. Pinay’s Government conducted th e most vigorous police operations against the French Communist Party th a t have been seen since the D aladier Government outlaw ed th e Party in 1939. An issue o f VHumanité was seized under a law o f 1848, which forbids incitem ent to rio t and revolt. The “ non-Parliam entary” director o f th e paper, M. A ndré Stil, was arrested—the first application o f a recent law which provided the newspapers should have a “ responsible d irec to r” against whom legal actions might be taken w ithout being hampered by delays involved in having parliam entary immunity lifted. The occasion o f these measures was the campaign in the Communist Press against th e arrival o f General Ridgway to take over command o f SHAPE in succession to General Eisenhower. General Ridgway has been viciously slandered in the F rench Communist Press as the organizer o f “ bacteriological warfare,” and l ’Humanité and Ce Soir urged the French Communists to dem onstrate “ as in Tokio,” and published a tim e-table o f G eneral Ridgway’s engagements on his arrival in Paris. The r io tous dem onstrations duly to ok place, and in the course o f police operations M. Jacques Duclos, the Communist Parliam entary leader, was arrested. The Communists have called fo r “ sitdown” strikes as a protest against these measures, though their earlier orders for strikes among the miners have been largely unsuccessful.

The background to this campaign is not exactly new in the history o f th e French Communist Party o r its relations with the Governm ent in office, as the parallel with 1939 shows ; and M. Duclos has been in many more delicate situations in the course o f his tum u ltuous career. But this is th e first occasion since th e L iberation th a t a F rench Cabinet has acted with such open vigour against the Communist Press and political leaders. It is th e latest surprising example o f the unexpected flair for leadership o f th a t quiet gentleman, M. Pinay. The fact th a t the police raid on the Paris headquarters o f th e Communists was evidently expected is not surprising e ith er ; there is reckoned to be a fairly extensive infiltration o f Communists in the police and civil service, which could give advance warning o f such intentions. The police found the doors shut and smoke poured from chimneys, presumably as incrim inating documents were burned— as in an enemy Embassy a t the declaration o f war.

The simile is not inept—and it also spotlights one o f the major handicaps o f the French police in dealing with these Communist activities. F o r though M. Duclos is known to be the most influential and tru sted executive o f th e Cominform in Western Europe, the channel o f communication and the political direction o f the undercover agents is maintained th rough a foreign Embassy. The Plan of the Cominform

A recent article in Ecrits de Paris, signed by the excellentlyinformed “ X .X .X .” , summarized what is known to French and Allied intelligence services from various sources. France is destined by the Cominform to be the theatre o f sabotage of the anti-Soviet rear areas in case o f war. In th e execution of p ropaganda and sabotage tasks the French Communist Party has, o f course, a vefy im portan t p a r t to play ; but this is thought to be secondary to the role of the netw ork controlled by MVD officials a t the Soviet Embassy. In this organization, which is reckoned over 1,000 strong, agents have been placed among form er displaced persons and infiltrated in to France. This corps is charged with operations against political leaders, air bases, means o f communications, power-plants and foreign bases in F rance. As this organization is controlled by leaders placed in the Soviet and satellite Embassies, and none o f these may reveal himself to the F rench Communists, security is pretty water-tight through norm a l native French Communist channels. Such inform ation as is available about Com inform plans for F rance has to come mainly through escapees from Soviet organizations from beyond the I ro n Curtain itself. Possibly this is a blessing, for leakages from among the F rench Communists would be quickly enough stopped by reason o f the la tte r ’s infiltration in to the official F rench services, both civil and military.

The French sûreté has in its cells the man who is known to have disciplined the British Communist Party, prom p ted a bloodless purge o f the American Communists (an article signed by Duclos in Cahiers du Communisme led to the sacking o f Earl Browder), was a member o f the old Comintern, and is now considered one o f the key men for controlling Communist Parties in all the E .D .C . countries.

In fact, the problem s raised by the arrest o f M. Duclos seem alm ost endless. This tubby, jolly-looking little man,