Meet the Poujadists
BOSWELL, GEORGE B.
Shopkeepers' discontent aids new French rightist group with anti-parliamentary and anti-Semitic overtones Meet the Poujadists By George B. Boswell Paris When the Faure Government maneuvered...
...Actually, the Poujade movement had already proven its strength and cohesion in organizing shopkeepers and family-type entrepreneurs in the defense of their interests...
...The movement was specifically designed to defend an important social group, a group which has been poorly organized and highly dissatisfied...
...It is a one-man movement...
...France is still largely a nation of small shopkeepers and family-type businesses...
...The attempt to revive the concept of the States-General emphasizes the corporate nature of the movement...
...Their electoral posters emphasized their slogans, and the names of candidates appeared in small print on the bottom line...
...The reported existence of a disciplinary committee within the organization and the oath supposedly taken by its deputies to accept the party's direction or submit to corporal punishment, including hanging, may be exaggerated...
...Poorly organized, they have found themselves at a disadvantage in comparison with organized labor, which has been the principal beneficiary of recent social legislation...
...Experienced political figures will attempt to exert influence on these neophytes, and the Poujade movement will do its utmost to impose strict party discipline...
...A spokesman of the Poujade movement, himself a storekeeper, pointed out to this writer that the fiscal system imposes on the small businessman not only a heavy tax burden but legal requirements which he cannot fulfill without the help of an accountant, which he cannot afford...
...Shopkeepers' discontent aids new French rightist group with anti-parliamentary and anti-Semitic overtones Meet the Poujadists By George B. Boswell Paris When the Faure Government maneuvered France into snap elections, it had hoped to re-elect a conservative majority before the Mendes-France movement could gather real strength...
...They were not candidates for office but Poujade's delegates...
...In March 1955, Poujade and his advisers personally invaded the National Assembly and pressured it into repealing certain provisions of a law providing fines and jail sentences for lax evaders...
...His meetings end with a lusty singing of the Marseillaise, an interesting indication in a country where patriotism runs deep but is not generally affirmed in public...
...Its nationwide support has come from the lower middle class, caught in the squeeze of high prices, high taxes and the economic inefficiency of their small commercial enterprises...
...It also reflects a desire for national renovation and dynamic leadership, a desire likewise reflected in the present style of Mendes-France as well as in the previous success of the Gaullist movement...
...When several other storekeepers were threatened with inspections by special tax agents, Poujade persuaded them to forcefully prevent the tax agents from entering the stores...
...Through their contacts with the bourgeoisie, the artisans' guilds exerted a considerable amount of influence until the 14th century...
...The basic slogan plastered all over France, "Sortez les sortants," or "Throw the rascals out," constituted the basis of a violent demagogic attack upon the whole parliamentary system of France...
...He appeals to the patriotic sentiments of his audience, calling for the return of France to leadership among the world powers and proposing to reaffirm her control over North Africa...
...The immediate postwar period, with its chronic shortages of raw materials and consumer goods, favored small business concerns, which could give preferential treatment to old customers and maintain high profit margins on a limited turnover...
...Poujade conceives the "States-General" as a body representing the economic interests of the nation, including small and big business, labor and farm interests...
...Poujade's own appeal is reminiscent of several recent demagogues...
...In the areas covered by this writer, Poujade's numerous volunteer militants devoted hours to pasting stickers and posters, and organizing meetings...
...It is quite possible, however, that the initial show of violence was restrained during the latter part of the campaign...
...The agents withdrew...
...Though admittedly most small businesses practice tax evasion on a large scale, the Poujade spokesman points out that in a sense they are involuntary tax evaders, since they physically cannot keep the complex accounts needed to comply...
...The latter, like the Poujade movement, had no positive program, no doctrinal philosophy, but presented a leader, a semi-military organization, a promise of action, national purification and rededication...
...However, in defense of many of these small businessmen it must be said that they have very legitimate grievances, particularly in the fiscal realm...
...No wonder France was startled to see Poujadists suddenly gain 52 seats in the National Assembly, and thereby become a real force in French politics...
...Unable to establish the "States-General" in time to bring pressure on candidates at the legislative elections, the Poujade movement itself entered the campaign, running associated lists in defense of the interests of shopkeepers, peasants, winegrowers and consumers as well as a general list of candidates under the heading of "French Union.' The campaign, well organized and energetically sparked by Poujade, centered around the demand for the immediate convocation of the "States-General" and the institution of fiscal reforms...
...The Poujade movement was caught short by the snap elections...
...The Poujade movement may play a role out of proportion to its actual size in the new Assembly...
...In recent years, small stores, businesses conducted in the home, and small artisans have managed to survive through their ability to evade numerous and heavy taxes...
...Once this job is done and the proper reforms initiated, the Poujade deputies promise to resign from Parliament and return to private life...
...the Poujadists picked up over 2 million...
...In a country where people vote more often for a personality than for a party and where electoral posters feature the name of the candidate, the Poujade candidates remained unknown throughout the campaign...
...Several complex factors have encouraged such 19th-century survivals...
...Poujade, who had escaped from France during the occupation and flown in the RAF, after the war established a stationery store in St...
...The movement, officially known as the UDCA (Union de Defense des Commercants et des Artisans), was launched by Pierre Poujade two years ago to meet a local situation...
...76 per cent of French manufacturing firms and 96 per cent of retail stores employ less than five people...
...Meanwhile, a sharp struggle will break out to win the allegiance of the Poujade deputies, all men untrained in parliamentary or legal procedures, who until a few days ago were butchers, bakers and shopkeepers...
...A dynamic young man of 34, he had become a municipal counselor, and somewhat of a figure in local business circles...
...To the complex problems of the modern world, Poujade proposes simple and easy solutions readily grasped by the average man...
...The States-General was a medieval representative body composed of the clergy, the nobility and the bourgeoisie...
...The States-General gradually disappeared under the Bourbons until called back into session in 1789, when it launched the Great Revolution...
...The proliferation of small stores can also be attributed to the Frenchman's desire for economic independence, through running his own business...
...The Gaullist party dropped 3 million votes...
...Both movements called for strengthening the executive power at the expense of the legislative...
...Should the movement continue to grow, it may pursue a systematic policy of obstructionism in the hope of constitutionally overthrowing two governments within a year and a half, thus precipitating new elections...
...The old sense of elan vital, that mystical concept of France's mission in the world which 50 years ago inspired missionaries and colonizers alike, has not been destroyed despite years of war and hardship...
...This writer attended rallies of all parties during the last week of the campaign in central and southwestern France, the heartland of the Poujade movement, and failed to see one instance of rowdiness...
...He even made overtures to the free labor unions, but these were quickly rebuffed...
...I know one union carpenter, without any merchandising or accounting experience, who gave up a steady job to open a small grocery store with his wife...
...Meanwhile, Poujade fried to expand the scope of his movement to include peasants and particularly winegrowers...
...In some areas, the Poujadists systematically invaded the halls of their adversaries, disrupted meetings, and kidnaped speakers...
...It is difficult to tell how extensively these fascist methods were used...
...His language is coarse, rough-hewn and completely lacking in moderation...
...Poujade, an indefatigable spellbinder, can hold the attention of 12,-000 people standing in the street for two hours...
...Legal proceedings which Faure, as Minister of Finance, had tried to initiate against Poujade for inciting rebellions were now dropped...
...He has without doubt profited from the genuine discontent in many classes of society...
...Presumably the UDCA would be well represented...
...Throughout the campaign, the press stressed the rowdy and sometimes violent conduct of some of the Poujadists, accused their leader of being a fascist, or compared him to a bull fighter (when he held a public meeting in the famed Roman Arena at Nimes...
...Obsolescent artisan trades, such as blacksmiths and makers of wooden shoes, continue in the face of economic stagnation...
...His movement is backed by hundreds of thousands anxious to participate...
...He appears sincere and forthright, and his forcefulness and courage are important assets...
...The negative aspects of the campaign were by far the most disturbing...
...Small restaurants in Paris still try to survive while serving 6 or 8 people a day, while retail stores stay open 10 hours a day to handle a handful of customers...
...It can, however, play an important positive or negative role in the formation of future French governments...
...For the moment, neither Poujade nor his men are revealing their plans, but the first fight will come in seating the Poujade deputies in the new Assembly, for they will refuse to be seated to the right of other parties, claiming to be a non-political formation...
...It may, on the other hand, participate only in political activities which affect the professional status of its members, though this is unlikely since the movement has already shown signs of taking a stand on such questions as Algeria and France's foreign policy...
...the motto was "Vote for Poujade" even though Poujade did not run for office...
...Poujade and his men attacked the political leaders of all parties in the saltiest language heard in a long time in French politics...
...The movement represents the latent desire of the lower middle class for a counter-revolution aimed at Government controls, Government interference, and Government competition (through cooperatives and similar ventures) with private enterprise...
...It originally intended to submit books of consolidated grievances to a "States-General"whose recommendations would have been ready in time to submit to Assembly candidates had the elections been held in June 1956...
...The Government considered the Poujade movement on its right an unimportant threat...
...A pastry shop theoretically pays a different tax depending on whether the customer eats the pastry standing up...
...For instance, meat and poultry alone are sold in five different types of stores, each with its own specialty...
...The fact that Poujade picked up six seats in Paris, once a Gaullist stronghold, indicates the similarity of appeal of the two movements...
...It is not surprising then that the Poujade movement received the support of many former Gaullist voters...
...The Poujade movement may become a positive factor by forcing the center blocs to apply their best common efforts to France's major problems...
...Cere, a small town in poor southwestern France...
...Consumer resistance has long hindered the development of large retail outlets, and custom has retained a system of specialized merchandising resulting in endless duplication...
...When the state seized property to collect back taxes, UDCA members would throng to the auction, monopolize all the seats, and buy back the seized property for a few dollars to restore it to its owner...
...The Paris press ignored his numerous public meetings, at which he steadily attracted more people than his opponents...
...There is at present no legal mechanism to revive it...
...The Poujade movement has been supported in the poorer agricultural sector of France, the southern half, by peasants who turned in important numbers from the Communists...
...L'Express, Mendes-France's Parisian daily, has already launched an offensive to nullify the election of all the Poujadist candidates on the basis of the oath of loyalty to the movement supposedly taken by each of them...
...Using salty slang, he passes as a little guy baffled by the mystification of slick politicos and fighting to defend the interests of the other little guys against the powerful Parisian combine of Money and Politics...
...As a minority party, it cannot expect to push through its demands for the convocation of the States-General, or its simplified fiscal program, though it may be able to pressure the administration into adopting some fiscal reforms...
...For a few days, Poujade had Paris political circles trembling, but after this he quietly returned to his organizational work...
...He speaks rapidly without notes and without continuity...
...This method proved so successful that Poujade was soon called on to organize tax-resistance groups throughout the department...
...Both movements have tried to assert themselves as unions of all French people and have denied that they were political parties in the accepted sense of the word...
...Paris newspapers and political commentators condescendingly gave the Poujadists 5 or 6 seats in the new Assembly...
...On each commercial transaction there is a special tax...
...A radio repair shop has to keep two sets of records to distinguish labor and overhead costs from the sale of new parts (on which transaction taxes and special taxes are levied, depending on the parts...
...They have also shown a great reluctance to adapt to changing conditions...
...They were the only groups noticed that deliberately publicized their support of a political parly by placing UDCA campaign material in their store windows and wearing UDCA lapel emblems...
...sitting down, or carries it away...
...The Poujade movement has, without doubt, relied on force to oppose tax inspectors, and resorted to undemocratic tactics in the course of the elections...
...The movement spread quickly in the southwest, and its use of force caused consternation among tax collectors, who were unwilling to call on the police to assist them...
...in one instance a speaker was actually stripped and a rope tied around his neck...
...But the body's size, composition and authority remain a mystery...
...He asserts that he has not founded a political party, but a movement of national renovation destined to clean up the mess in Paris...
...It may also underline the hardships of the lower middle class and the need for economic reforms that will help them adjust to modern economic trends...
...His nationalist appeal is complemented by anti-Semitism aimed primarily at Mendes-France...
...Many members of the lower bourgeoisie prefer to earn a precarious existence in retail trade rather than accept a salaried position...
...In recent years, these family-size businesses have experienced increasing difficulties...
...But the spirit animating the movement is significant...
Vol. 39 • January 1956 • No. 4
