Journal de Genève
- M. Poincaré's Monetary Policy
- Revolution! Dictatorship!
- M. Eugène Ritter at 90
The Journal de Genève of 9 November 1926 carried a report by P. B. asking whether Poincaré, described as the absolute master of French monetary policy, meant to revalue the franc or only stabilise it. The writer accepted that the Prime Minister could not reveal his plans without exposing them to speculation, but still wanted some general indication. A signed editorial by J. M. attacked the Swiss Socialist congress, which had backed Robert Grimm's line over Charles Naine's by 190 votes to 101. It warned bourgeois deputies that electing Grimm President of the National Council would show they had lost all self-respect. A column signed Be. marked Eugène Ritter's ninetieth birthday, praising the precise replies he gave to inquiries, complete with references and page numbers, and his ornate handwriting, still clear and firm.
Translation
M. Poincaré's Monetary Policy
For some time people had been wondering whether the government — or rather M. Poincaré, who in this field is absolute master — had a monetary policy, and in which direction he was steering it. It is obvious that the Prime Minister could not unmask his batteries prematurely and so expose them to the barrage fire of speculation; but people wanted at least a few indications of a very general kind, and in particular to know whether M. Poincaré is in favour of the revaluation or the stabilisation of the franc.
Revolution! Dictatorship!
By 190 votes to 101, the revolutionary and dictatorial tendency of M. Grimm has prevailed at the Socialist congress over the democratic and law-abiding tendency of M. Charles Naine. If, after this memorable ballot, the bourgeois National Councillors elect M. Grimm President of the National Council, it will be because they have lost all respect for themselves and for the nation they represent in Parliament: the vote of the Socialist congress, imposed by M. Grimm, is a veritable provocation to the Swiss people.
M. Eugène Ritter at 90
To requests for information he replies precisely and meticulously; he gives the "reference" and the page number. His ornate handwriting, which has remained astonishingly clear and firm, is the delight of the typesetters; his notes alone would reveal the elegance of his mind.
Context
Revaluation or stabilisation: the franc question in November 1926
P. B.'s report asks whether Poincaré, whom it calls the absolute master of French monetary policy, wanted to revalue the franc or merely to stabilise it. The question arose from a sharp reversal. According to a 1928 account in Foreign Affairs, the franc had fallen in July 1926 to nearly 250 to the pound sterling, one-tenth of its pre-war value. The same account records that the franc then doubled in value between 23 July and 20 December 1926. When this article appeared on 9 November, the currency was therefore still in the middle of its rise, and the choice between pushing it higher or holding it at some level was open. The writer believed that Poincaré could not show his hand early without inviting the barrage of speculation, yet asked for at least a general direction. Poincaré's own view was not fixed at first: the Foreign Affairs writer reports that Poincaré later admitted he had at one time favoured a further rise in the value of the franc.
From the de facto rate of December 1926 to the Monetary Law of 1928
The question raised in this article was settled in two steps. Foreign Affairs reports that after doubling in value by 20 December 1926, the franc was held de facto at 124 to the pound for nearly eighteen months. The legal step followed in 1928, when the 25 June issue of the Official Journal published the Monetary Law under which France returned to the gold standard. John Maynard Keynes, writing on the stabilisation in 1928, gave the rate as 124.21 francs to the pound, about one-fifth of the pre-war value, and counted it an advantage that this matched the rate which had actually existed for some eighteen months. Keynes also pointed out that Poincaré had for years declared it an act of national bankruptcy and shame to devalue the franc. The answer to P. B.'s question was therefore stabilisation rather than a return to the pre-war parity: Poincaré fixed in law the level the franc had reached about six weeks after this article appeared.
Robert Grimm's record and the charge of revolution
J. M.'s attack on Grimm as the embodiment of revolution and dictatorship drew on his record as the leading figure of Swiss socialism. Grimm was the main organiser of the Zimmerwald Movement and chaired the International Socialist Commission in Bern from 1915 to 1917. He led the Swiss general strike of November 1918, and a military tribunal later sentenced him to six months in prison for calling on soldiers to refuse orders to open fire on the strikers. For the Journal de Genève, it was the congress vote, imposed by Grimm, that amounted to a veritable provocation to the Swiss people. The editorial framed the congress vote of 190 to 101 as a victory of Grimm's revolutionary and dictatorial line over the democratic and law-abiding line of Charles Naine. These labels belong to the editorialist's polemic and are not neutral descriptions of the two men's programmes.
Grimm and the presidency of the National Council
J. M. warned that bourgeois members of the National Council would forfeit their self-respect and their respect for the nation if they elected Grimm as the chamber's president after the congress vote. Grimm's parliamentary career was long: he held parliamentary seats and executive functions from communal to federal level between 1909 and 1955, and he is described as the leading Swiss Socialist politician of the first half of the twentieth century. He became President of the Swiss National Council in 1946, twenty years after this editorial. The piece thus records the strength of the Journal de Genève's hostility in 1926 toward a man who would later hold the very office it urged deputies to deny him.
Original
La politique monétaire de M. Poincaré
On se demandait depuis quelque temps si le gouvernement - ou plutôt M. Poincaré qui, dans ce domaine, est maître absolu - avait une politique monétaire et dans quel sens il dirigeait celle-ci. Il est évident que le président du conseil ne pouvait pas découvrir prématurément ses batteries et les exposer ainst aux tirs de barrage de la spéculation; mais on désirait avoir au moins quelques indications d'ordre très général et savoir notamment si M. Poincaré est partisan de la revalorisation ou de la stabilisation du franc.
Révolution! Dictature!
Par 190 voix contre 101, la tendance révolutionnaire et dictatoriale de M. Grimm l'a emporté, au congrès socialiste, sur la tendance démocratique et légalitaire de M. Charles Naine. Si, après ce scrutin mémorable, les conseillers nationaux bourgeois élisent M. Grimm président du Conseil national, c'est qu'ils ont perdu tout respect d'euxmêmes et de la nation qu'ils représentent au Parlement: le vote du congrès socialiste, imposé par M. Grimm, est une véritable provocation au peuple helvétique.
Les quatre-vingt-dix ans de M. Eugène Ritter
Aux demandes de renseignements il répond de façon précise et minuticuse; il indique la «référence» ct le numéro de la page. Restée étonnamment nette et ferme, son écriture ornée fait la joie des typos; ses billets révéleraient à eux seuls l'élégance de son esprit.