851.00/12–2647: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
5558. Mytel 5327 December 11.1 I have been emphasizing to Deputies and members of the Council of State as well as to Cabinet Ministers that it was essential to do something constructive at an early date about the wage price problem because if nothing constructive were done the government’s recent victory over the Communists would be nullified and the next strikes would be supported not only by Communists but by non-Communist workers as well. I pointed out also that [Page 822] if nothing were done about wages and prices the main idea behind the Marshall Plan would have no practical application here at all. Everyone agreed; even several supporters of De Gaulle.
Along these lines it is at least encouraging that Rene Mayer’s two projects (one authorizing the issuance of a loan and the other instituting an exceptional levy in the battle against inflation) were voted by the Assembly, for it took courage on the part of the government to force those essentially necessary but fundamentally unpopular bills through. However, those are only first steps and there is much more to be done.
- Not printed.↩