The Times | January 15, 1936

M. Laval’s Chances The new Session of the French Chamber, its last before the General Election, began formally yesterday in an atmosphere of uncertainty. The major Parliamentary com- bats of the last few months are over. M. LAVAL’S Government, challenged in turn on their Budget, their foreign policy, and the ques- tion of the political leagues, have escaped defeat -narrowly enough on the second issue-but are still faced by the determined hostility of the Socialists and Communists and by elements among the Socialist-Radicals whose one desire is to defeat the PRIME MINISTER.

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Fall Of French Cabinet FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT PARIS JAN. 22 The existence of the Laval Govern- ment came to its expected end to-day. At a Cabinet meeting held at the Quai d’Orsay this afternoon M. Herriot and three other Radical Ministers-M. Paganon (Interior), M. Bonnet (Commerce), and M. Bertrand (Merchant Marine)-handed their letter of resignation to M. Laval. The other two Radical Ministers, M. Regnier (Finance) and M. Maupoil (Pensions) had refused to sign the letter. M. Laval then went to the Elysee, accompanied by his colleagues, and placed the collective resignation of the Cabinet in the hands of the President. M. Lebrun immediately asked M. Laval to form another Ministry, and M. Laval declined to do so. Later in the evening M. Bouisson, the President of the Chamber, also declined to form a Government. After his resignation M. Laval issued a statement for publication which the Radicals will find difficult to answer. It reads as follows:- I have handed the resignation of the Cabinet to thc

The Times | January 23, 1936

President of the Republic, and I hav_ declined his proposal that I slhould form anothcr Ministry. I did not seek power: I accepted it last June as a *duty to my country. I believc that I have fulfilled my mission. The franc, which I was appointed to defend, is intact. Thc Budget, diminished by one-fiftlh, has been passed. The measures taken in every direction are beginning to bear fruit, and thc first signs of a recovery of industrial and agri- cultural activity are apparent. In the course of the debates in Parliamcnt the divisions between Frenchmien were appeased. Wc saw the dawn of national reconciliation. During the last few months, in the foreign field, grave diflicultics appeared.

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The Times | December 28, 1935

M. Laval Hard Pressed FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT PARIS, DEC. 27 The debate on the policy followed by M. Laval in connexion with the Italo- Abyssinian war began in the Chamber of Deputies this afternoon. The atmosphere inside and outside the Chamber was one of unusual excitement. Not only were the galleries of the Chamber crowded to suffocation, but the neighbouring streets were encumbered with motor-cars and filled with groups of people whom the police kept moving with some difficulty. Police cordons were thrown across the principal approaches as the tide of excite- ment rose. It was known from the beginning that the debate would not finish to-day, but would be adjourned this evening until to-morrow.

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The Times | December 19, 1935

Duce’s Speech Of Defiance FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT ROME, DEC. 18 Inaugturating to-day the third of the townships created on the reclaimed Pontine Marshes, Signor Mussolini told the labourers and country-folk of Pontinia that Italy would persist in her Abvssinian policy until she issued victorious. Addressed as it was mainly to r ustic hearers, the speech was expressed in simple terms, but its political import was none the less obviously directed to a wider audience. It was at once interpreted by several of the invited guests as forecasting if not a total rejection at least a demand for the radical modificdtion of the Anglo- French proposals.

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The Times | December 21, 1935

Hard Thinking In Paris IROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDEN-T PARIS, DEC. 20 For Press and public alike yesterday’s debate in the House of Commons has proved of absorbing interest. Not a word of the unusually full reports published here escapes a keenly critical examination. On one thing there is general agreement, accompanied by resentment or regret according to belief in its truth. It is that the main line of the British Government’s defence was French reiuctance to honour the pledge of mutual assistance contained in Paragraph 3, Article X\Vl., of the Covenant. It would be hard to say wvhich of the two main speeches attracts greater attention. For while Sir Samuel Hoare’s declaration throws a greater light on the motives which inspired him to agree to M. Laval’s proposals, Mr. Baldwin’s utter- ance is taken to reveal the trend of future British policy.

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