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After four hours of debate, with the hands of the Chamber clock crawling past midnight, Premier Blum showed by his weary, haggard demeanor and weak replies to questions that the Communists genuinely had him worried. It seemed impossible that they could persist in a course which threatened to upset the Popular Front regime, but as late as 4:30 a. m. the Communists were still adamant. In the Chamber they claimed to be afraid that Premier Blum, if granted full powers, would raise the taxes on matches and cigarets, both dear to the French proletariat. Behind the scenes they haggled, trying to get, as the price of their votes, promises from Blum of more French aid to the Popular Front in Spain, which was just losing Bilbao (see p. 20). During the night there were seven Communist secret caucuses in the Chamber building. After one of these it was given out for the first time in French politics that the Reds were ready to slip out of their traditional role as critics, assume the responsibility which would go with handing several Cabinet portfolios to Communists.
This was big talk. As dawn neared political Paris was taut. Swank folk had come from nightclubs to cram the galleries of the Chamber, and Premier Blum was wearily continuing to refuse to commit himself one way or the other. Earliest morning papers headlined at 5 a. m. that the Communists were deserting the Popular Front, that the Cabinet must fall. Finally at 6 a. m., after 20 hours of debate, a spokesman for the Communists announced that they would join in voting full powers to the Government after all. The result was laughter, a Gargantuan bellow which went up from most of the Chamber. In French eyes the Communists had hauled down their bluff, made themselves ridiculous. By a vote of 346-to-247 the Chamber voted "full powers" for six weeks to the Blum Cabinet, sent this bill to the Senate.
Up was the dander of Senators by this time. In committee and on the floor they flayed the Popular Front as squanderers unfit to be given dictatorial financial power, and as bunglers who had failed to reap for France the possible benefits of devaluation, so neatly reaped in Belgium. Senator Pierre Laval emerged from a year of political silence to accuse Premier Blum of having forfeited the friendship of Italy and by this means added millions to the sums France must spend on Rearmament to keep herself secure. "As for M. Auriol, he is unworthy of his high office!" declared Senator Laval. To this the Finance Minister retorted by identifying his critics with speculators, hoarders and, as he said, "Blackmailers!" Best Paris political dopesters predicted that the Senate would not dare actually to vote down the full powers asked by the Popular Front, but the Senate fooled the prophets, rejected Blum's bill by a smashing 188-to-72. Had the Premier made this vote one of confidence his Cabinet would have had to resign, but M. Blum had taken no such risk. He took his demands back to the Chamber, got them approved again by midnight 346-to-248.
Léon Blum thus squarely deadlocked the Chamber against the Senate, himself closed the week exhausted and fluttery but all the same Premier.