Word: painlev
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Early last week Premier Paul Painlevé submitted to the Finance Committee of the Chamber a definite plan for the fiscal rehabilitation of France. There ensued seven days of picturesque wrangling and wirepulling, which the French press characterized almost unanimously as "scandalous." As the week closed, the Painlevé bill emerged momentarily to public view in a revised and amended form. Only Le Bon Dieu was aware what further and possibly indefinite modifications it might undergo before passing from the Committee into the Chamber itself...
...seven days were spent by M. Painlevé in endeavoring to parry the efforts of M. Leon Blum and the Socialists to force a definite expression of the "capital levy" (TIME, Nov. 16 et ante) into the bill. Nominally the Painlevé Government is "supported" by the Radical-Socialists, the so-called cartel des Gauches, nominally headed by M. Herriot. Actually M. Blum split off with his Socialists a fortnight ago and had the Government at his mercy, because without his votes Premier Painlevé could not command a majority in the Chamber...
...Chamber, when asked to support the Government on the basis of this purposely vague statement of policy, voted as follows: For, 221; against, 189; abstaining, 174, of whom 100 were Socialist Deputies and the rest scattered as to party. Thus the Assembly of 684 Deputies gave Premier Painlevé a "majority" of 32. On that reed he leaned heavily for the remainder of the week, and promised to reveal his fiscal plans in detail to the Chamber should his Government be spared for a little longer...
Politicians opined that M. Painlevé is shouldering such a crushing mass of difficulties that his worst enemies are not anxious for the honor of supplanting him as Premier. In such circumstances his apparently "unworkable" majority of 32 may "work" longer than seems possible at first glance...
...bolt of the Socialists was, of course, caused by the fact that Premier Painlevé refused to sponsor wholeheartedly their darling project of a "capital levy." M. Painlevé straddled as widely as he could, and it is reported that he will propose a levy on income so "broad" that it amounts to practically the same thing as one on capital. But that would not suit the Socialists. Why then did not M. Painlevé yield completely and veer to the extreme Left, adding to his support the 100 Socialist votes? Answered the politicians: "He knew that...