FRANCE 997 



mier intervened and made the vote one of confidence in the Ministry, with the result 

 that the Chamber rejected the proposal. 



Parliament next voted (Dec. 21, 1909) the purchase of the Western Railway 

 (see above), and then settled down to revise the customs tariff (Law of March 29, 1910). 



The new taxes strengthened the protective system of 1892; duties were 



raised all round and differences increased between the general tariff on 



all imports and the minimum tariff on goods imported from countries which 

 have concluded commercial treaties with France, or can claim the benefit of " most 

 favoured nation " treatment. These differences, amounting to twenty or twenty-five 

 per cent, were increased to fifty per cent. The arguments in favour of higher duties 

 were that foreign countries were adopting similar measures, and that fiscal and social 

 legislation were laying new burdens upon home industries. 



The budget of 1910 was only promulgated on April 8th. The revenue estimate was 

 167,423,000 to meet an expenditure of 167,411,000. The revenue was made up by 



an increase in succession and legacy duties, by taxes on automobiles and 

 1910 advertisements, and finally by issuing bonds (obligations) at short date for 



6,380,000; parliament preferring to have recourse to this questionable 

 method rather than increase the duties on wines and spirits on the eve of the general 

 elections, as the Finance Minister had proposed to do. 



The General Elections of 1910 found the state of the country as follows: Since 

 the religious enactments (Law of Associations, July i, 1901; Law of Separation of 

 situation Church and State, December 9, 1905) were passed, the Radical-Socialist 

 at Elections party who were masters of the political situation had started on a series of 

 otl9lO. social reforms which were resulting in heavy additions to the financial bur- 



dens of the country, and in encouraging the masses to make further demands. While 

 the proposed income tax, the increase of existing taxation, and the constant business 

 difficulties, set the capitalist classes reflecting, the masses of wage-earners and small 

 clerks, aware that the Government was yielding under pressure, were putting their 

 claims still higher, and often lost all sense of proportion. The result had been troubles 

 in the South (May-June 1907), the riots provoked by the Confederation generale du 

 Travail at Draveil-Vigneux (July 1908), and the postmen's strike (March 1909). In 

 presence of these facts, the union of the Left was broken: Socialists and Radical- 

 Socialists (extreme Left) went to the most audacious lengths in urging the popular 

 demands; while the Radicals called a halt and tried to construct a " party of order." 

 The head of the Government, M. Briand, tried to find a formula which would give 

 effect to this new development. He had pointed it out in his Perigueux speech. He 

 was more definite in addressing his constituents at St. Chamond on April i5th, when 

 he spoke of tolerance and liberalism and showed that the worst enemies of society were 

 party-spirit (seclarisme) and anarchism. To combat the latter he proposed to issue 

 regulations to all officials, which by defining their powers should make them more atten- 

 tive to their duties; and to convert workmen's syndicates into corporate bodies, so as to 

 confer upon them the right of acquiring and administering property, and thus put an 

 end to their present appearance of being more or less revolutionary clubs. The elections 



were fought on this issue; the Radical-Socialists made common cause with 

 Elections. * ne Socialists, while the Radicals on the other hand dissociated themselves 



altogether from collectivist candidates. The election returns of April gave 

 the following figures, the corresponding numbers in the previous Chamber being shown 

 in brackets: Reactionaries (80) 71, Nationalists (16) 17, Progressives (60) 60, Repub- 

 licans of the Left (82) 93, Radicals and Radical-Socialists (269) 252, Independent 

 Socialists (29) 30, United Socialists (Socialistes unifies) (55) 74. 



It is impossible, where 235 new deputies were concerned, to compare these figures 

 with strict accuracy. But the following points may be noticed. The Socialists made 



headway at the expense of their Radical allies; fiscal reform seemed to find 

 Chamber. little favour in a country which only returned 152 adherents of M. Caillaux; 



while Proportional Representation (la " R.P.") on the other hand, found 



