99
PARTISAN REVIEW
Newspaper reports of the occurrence were remarkable in that most
of them did not seem to consider that, by pronouncing the death penalty
against the drinkers of his Pernod, and by applying it on his own, the
worthy
petit proprietaire
had clearly gone beyond the limits of the
legitimate defen se of his property. Only
Franc-Tireur
published a hu–
manitarian protest against such excesses. But, after all, has not a
pro–
prietaire,
in his own house, the right to put strychnine, or curaro, or
hellfire, if he wishes, in his own Pernod? And can any power on earth
restrain the passion aroused in a French heart by the violation of his
own individual right to private pleasure, private property, and privacy
unlimited?
Every evening I read
L e Monde,
easily the best newspaper in con–
tinental Europe.
Le Monde
has taken the place of
Le Temps.
The differ–
ence between the two papers is symptomatic indeed.
Le T emps
was the
organ of the Quai d'Orsay and the Comite des Forges, well informed,
austere, and corrupt. Deciphering its editorials required a preliminary
period of training in reading between the lines.
If
you graduated from
it,
Le Temps
would give you a dai ly glimpse into the secrets of the
powers that be. During the fever that preceded Munich, and in 1939-
1940, if one had not been carried away by emotions, and just reasoned
on the assumption that
Le T emps
did indeed represent official France,
one could have predicted step by step the behavior of the French ruling
class up to Petain.
Le Monde
is a very different kind of paper.
It
is a
liberal Catholic organ, and rather on the intellectual side at that, as
is
shown by the fact that some of its most important comments on current
events (those on "neutrali ty" in particular) were written by Etienne
Gilson, the Thomist scholar. It does not exactly represent either the
Quai d'Orsay or vested interests, or, for that matter, the high bourgeoisie,
although, of course, it is perfectly respectful of all these institutions.
If
it is the organ of a class,
L e M onde
is, or means to be, the organ of
the intellectual part of the bourgeoisie: professors, professional men,
cultivated business people, and also a certain fringe of the ruling class,
temperate, but nevertheless critical of present policies. Its editorials sum–
marize a topical question rather than express a definite opinion on it.
Not having a fixed policy,
Le M onde
can let a variety of opinions express
themselves in its columns. The range of this variety, however, is reveal–
ing. Hence, the publication of Gilson's articles on neutrality was signifi–
cant indeed. And so was that of a number of strong criticisms of the
Indo-China policy. Finally,
Le Monde
is the organ of a liberal bourgeois
opposition which is dissatisfied with the present state of affairs while
perfectly aware that it has no immediate solution to offer. Hence, it waits,
