(2 of 2)
Premier Briand, whatever his preparatory duplicities, pledged his entire Cabinet to stand or fall by M. Doumer's projected fiscal program, in an address to 150 Deputies: "This time I will not change my Minister of Finance. If you defeat Doumer you will not hear from me again. I will withdraw from politics and you may then settle your account with the country."
After this defiance Briand and Doumer were reported to have ensconced themselves in privacy and pondered well plans for "indirect taxation," which it is hoped will prove more acceptable to the Deputies and the electorate than M. Loucheur's scheme to extract eight billion francs a year from such direct and obnoxious sources as an increased tax on wine, tobacco and incomes.
Friends of Briand and Doumer recalled that in 1921 they stood in the same mutual relation as at present: Premier and Finance Minister. At that period the budget was voted by the end of the year for the first and only time since the War, and the cost of living fell and the franc rallied notably. Subsequently M. Briand lost power and prestige owing to his failure to achieve at Cannes the "security" which he has just brought home in triumph from Locarno.
* It sank to 27.67 to the dollar last week. a new low for the year.