In a speech on December 1, 1905, Marcel Sembat, who had been in a particularly good position to know how things happened in the time of Millerand, related several anecdotes which very much astounded the Chamber. He told them how the Government, in order to make itself disagreeable to the nationalist municipal councillors of Paris, and to reduce their influence on the Bourse du Travail,[1] had asked the syndicates "to make applications to it that would justify" the reorganisation of that establishment. A certain amount of scandal was caused by the march past of the red flags before the official platform at the inauguration of the monument to Dalou in the Place de la Nation. We now know that this happened as the result of negotiations; the prefect of police had hesitated, but Waldeck-Rousseau had authorised these revolutionary ensigns. The fact that the Government denied having any relations with the syndicates is of no importance—a lie more or less would not trouble a politician of Waldeck-Rousseau's calibre.
The exposure of these manœuvres shows us that the ministry depended on the syndicates to frighten the Conservatives. Ever since then it has been easy to understand the attitude they have adopted in the course of several strikes: on the one hand, Waldeck-Rousseau proclaimed with great fervour the necessity of giving
- ↑ Millerand did not keep on the former Director of the Office du Travail, who was doubtless not pliant enough for the new policy. It seems to me to be clearly established that at that time considerable attention was being given in this Government department to a kind of enquiry as to the state of feeling among the militants of the syndicates, evidently in order to ascertain in what way they might be advised. This was revealed by Ch. Guieysse in the Pages libres of December 10, 1904; the protestations of the department and those of Millerand do not appear to have been very serious (Voix du peuple, December 18, 25, 1904, January 1, 1905, June 25, August 27). [The Office du Travail is a ministerial office, which makes enquiries about labour and publishes statistics; it was created principally in the hope that it would serve to put the Government into connection with the leaders of the syndicates.—Trans.]
