FRANCE: The Ticking of the Clock

The squat, blue-jowled man with the broken nose and the meaty shoulders of a middleweight boxer pushed his way last week through a swirling crowd of aides, secretaries and Cabinet ministers waving papers at him. "If it can wait until July 20, keep it," he snapped. "If it can't wait, do it yourself."

At week's end, France's Premier Pierre Mendès-France had only 16 days left. His pledges were still only pledges. In Indo-China, where he had promised to get peace in 30 days, the French abandoned a third of the Red River Delta...

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