Word: franc
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...three days and nights of aggressive debate, the Senate and Chamber of France finally authorized the radical Cabinet of Premier Leon Blum to reduce the value of the French franc 30% last week, but at every stage of the debate Socialist Blum was served notice that Parliament had given him no monetary free hand such as the U. S. Congress gave President Roosevelt at the time the dollar was devalued (TIME...
Devaluation and "alignment" of the franc at about 21 to the dollar and at about 101 to the pound sterling was only a fraction of what Socialist Blum, who was strongly pressed by the Communist Deputies among his supporters, had sought to obtain from Parliament. Ignoring the peasantry, the numerous artisans and small shopkeepers and the French middle classes, the Communists got the Premier to write into his bill a measure which would automatically have raised the wages of proletarian factory workers and other small-salaried employees on a sliding scale in exactly the proportion that French living costs rose...
...meant to Frenchmen that the next time proletarians try to seize a factory by "folding arms" inside it and locking out the owner, they will be turned out themselves by French police. Whether or not Premier Blum would stick by this seemed more than doubtful, but with the "Blum franc" established last week he next took the most drastic step of his career. Ever since the World War nations have upped their tariff walls while they talked about downing them. Acting instead of talking this week, Leon Blum slashed French tariffs more deeply than has been done in any country...
...long step forward if for no other reason than it is a getting down to realities," pontificated the Wall Street Journal last week on the subject of the franc's devaluation and the promise of international monetary stabilization. Wall Street's more practical reaction to the most significant financial news of the year was to be found on stock-market tape, where its collective opinion is always best expressed. Share prices turned firmly if unspectacularly upward...
...France, the Blum government seems to be trying whole-heartedly to make the agreement workable, apparently letting the franc reach its "natural limit" between the maximum and minimum stated values in gold. As evidence of its sincerity it cut tariffs yesterday to the extent of 15 to 20 per cent. There will be howls of rage and vigorous pressure applied upon the government as a consequence of this action, but, provided the Blum government isn't unhorsed in the kaleidoscopic changes of French politics, there is some hope of having stable monetary markets. However enduring the present French government...