Context

This note is to be found in the archives of Raoul Dautry (307 AP 83). In the top righthand corner is written (in an almost illegible hand) ‘remis à Lambert Ribot 3 June 1936’. In the top left-hand corner is written the word Bozzi. The archivist has clearly assumed that the note came from Bozzi (who was a manufacturer of rolling stock) and the note is catalogued under his name. In fact the wording of the note implies that it was written by someone who was a member of the Conseil de Direction du Comité des Forges, and therefore not Bozzi. It seems much more likely that Bozzi merely forwarded the note to Dautry – who was his colleague in the rail industry. What is clear is that the note was drafted by someone who expected his opinions to be taken seriously in the inner circle of the French business establishment. Indeed the note anticipates the negotiations and concessions which were to lead to the Matignon accords so precisely that it seems likely that it was this note which stimulated Lambert Ribot to contact Blum two days later. This document has been translated word for word; no attempt has been made to alter the rather awkward punctuation of the original.

Text

As for myself, I maintain that the patronat is paying for its inertia during the last elections and I would suggest that we start preparing today, that is to say right away, for the elections of 1940, because the current position will allow our adversaries to fight more effectively, as they hold the levers of command and because of that four years of hard work seems to be in order if the patronat wishes to avoid being wiped out not over time but straight away.