In Paris last week, L'Humanité, No. 2 Communist newspaper in the West (see above), screamed in pained indignation about a "scandalous verdict." L'Humanité had good reason to be pained, since the verdict pointed an.accusing finger at the source of its financial backing.
Last fall Paris' big (est. circ. 400,000), right-wing L'Aurore charged that L'Humanité, whose circulation has dropped from 600,000 to 172,000 in the last seven years, "would long ago be dead if [it had not received] subsidies from abroad." L'Humanité replied with a libel suit against L'Aurore, demanded 1,000,000 francs damages. In court, witness after witness backed up L'Aurore's charges of...