PARIS- Pinning the Blame

Pinning the Blame NOW that the crisis has been weathered, there are three principal interpretations of the dramatic events of May, According to General de Gaulle and his followers, agitators and apostles of negation worked upon the students to create a climate of violence and anarchy. When the young workers in turn were contaminated, the Communists moved in rapidly with long-prepared plans to paralyse the national economy in order to overthrow the legally elect- ed government and, eventually, to install a totalitarian regime. The workers, and students' actions served no useful purpose since wages would normally have risen about as much in the course of the year, and the Government had already in hand the reform of the university in response to the needs of a modern economy. A way forward which avoids the pitfalls of both capitalism and communism is provided by the principle of participation. The hundreds of thousands of citizens who marched up the Champs Elysees waving tricolour flags immediately after de Gaulle's strong speech of May 30 and the subsequent sizeable public parades in pro vincial cities have evidenced the widespread public support for the government as a bulwark against disorder.