Le Figaro
- Mr. Stresemann’s tactics
- Judicial reform and the Sartène case
- At the Cabinet meeting
The foreign-affairs editorial interprets Stresemann’s aims after Thoiry while acknowledging the ministers’ discretion. Domestic columns contrast the cabinet’s decision to implement judicial and administrative reform immediately with questions about whether local consequences, exemplified by Sartène, were properly assessed.
Selected, image-checked first-page passages; partial reading, not complete articles or the whole page.
Translation
Mr. Stresemann’s tactics
In the village of Thoiry yesterday, Mr. Briand and Mr. Stresemann continued the negotiations they had begun in Geneva on “improving Franco-German relations.” On their return, both appeared satisfied and discreet.
But we need no sensational revelations to know how the minister at the Wilhelmstrasse must have tried to gain new advantages over military supervision, the occupation of the Rhineland or the Saar. Mr. Stresemann shows enough method and consistency for his tactics to be plain.
Judicial reform and the Sartène case
Yet a question arises. This judicial reform, the abolition of hundreds of courts, the hasty farewells that had to be said to district magistrates—if these harsh measures were necessary to save the Republic, surely they were at least adopted only after their consequences had been examined?
We believe so. But we also know how fallible people are. The officials of the Place Vendôme, who inspired the decree issued by the ministry, may also have made a mistake—one mistake, just one...
At the Cabinet meeting
Meeting yesterday morning at the Élysée, the ministers examined the numerous protests submitted by departmental and municipal assemblies and by members of Parliament from the day after the judicial and administrative reorganization decrees were published. They unanimously recognized that implementation could not be deferred, as requested, until the parliamentary chambers returned. Such a postponement is incompatible with the spirit and wording of the law of 3 August 1926, and the measures will take immediate effect.
Context
A French reading of Germany’s negotiating aims
The 1925 Locarno agreements created a framework for Franco-German rapprochement, but they did not make every outstanding dispute disappear. Le Figaro reads Stresemann’s new talks through military controls, occupation and the Saar, treating apparent cordiality as part of a consistent effort to obtain concessions. This perspective differs from reports emphasizing mutual economic gains. Both concern the same diplomacy, but place different weight on the interests that each minister brought to the table.
A national reform meets the test of a local exception
The Sartène article does not need to reject judicial reform in principle to question one closure. It asks whether the officials who designed a sweeping national measure could have overlooked a local consequence. The argument leaves room for necessity at the national level while demanding scrutiny of particular decisions. That is why its repeated suggestion of just one mistake matters: correcting an exception need not mean abandoning the entire reform.
Immediate enforcement limits the time for opposition
Local assemblies and parliamentarians sought to delay the decrees until the chambers met again. That would have created time for political review before the changes took effect. The Cabinet instead invoked the August law to insist on immediate implementation. The conflict was therefore not only about which courts or offices should remain, but also about whether objections could alter decisions before institutions were reorganized.
Original
La tactique de M. Stresemann
Au village de Thoiry, M. Briand et M. Stresemann ont poursuivi hier les négociations qu’ils avaient amorcées à Genève au sujet de « l’amélioration des relations franco-allemandes ». Au retour, l’un et l’autre se sont montrés satisfaits et discrets.
Mais nous n’avons pas besoin de divulgations sensationnelles pour savoir comment le ministre de la Wilhelmstrasse a dû tenter de conquérir de nouveaux avantages dans les questions du contrôle militaire, de l’occupation rhénane ou de la Sarre. M. Stresemann montre assez de méthode et de continuité pour que sa tactique soit manifeste.
La réforme judiciaire et le « cas » de Sartène
Pourtant, une question se pose : cette réforme judiciaire, la suppression de centaines de tribunaux, l'adieu hâtif qu'il a fallu dire à des magistrats de cantons, si ces dures mesures étaient nécessaires au salut de la République, du moins ne les a-t-on sans doute prises qu'après avoir examiné les conséquences qu'elles auraient ?
Nous le croyons. Mais nous savons aussi comme l'homme est faillible. Les fonctionnaires de la place Vendôme, inspirateurs de ce décret qu'a rendu le ministère, peuvent aussi s'être trompés — s'être trompés une fois, rien qu'une...
Au Conseil des ministres
Les ministres réunis hier matin à l'Elysée ont examiné les nombreuses protestations dont ils ont été saisis par les assemblées départementales ou communales et par les membres du Parlement, dès le lendemain du jour où ont été publiés les décrets de réorganisation judiciaire et administrative. Ils ont été unanimes à reconnaître que l'application de ces décrets ne pouvait être ajournée, comme on le leur demande, jusqu'à la rentrée des Chambres. Un pareil ajournement est incompatible avec l'esprit et les termes mêmes de la loi du 3 août 1926 et les mesures prises porteront effet immédiat.