FOR AND AGAINST

The directors and representatives of the great house are gathered.
The situation of the great house, which is one of the greatest houses in the world, is delicate. There are enormous liabilities, if not considerable assets. There is a serious crisis to avert...
— Gentlemen, says a first representative, we must not hide from ourselves the difficulties of our task...
— Which is immense!... says a second representative.
— Very well!...
— We don't have a moment to lose. Time is money, they say. Our time is the money of our great house. We don't have the right to waste a crumb of it... We must work... Flat out.
— Very well... exclaims a third representative. We must, above all, work methodically.
— Bravo!
— And with composure.
— Perfect!...
— The situation demands, in fact, declares a fourth representative, absolute composure. We have to make crucial decisions... These decisions must be made after careful consideration, with full knowledge of the facts...
— Naturally! Bravo!...
— It is not, of course, with words that we can save our business, which so many dangers threaten, which so many competitors fight deviously, which so many disloyal adversaries strive to ruin. We must act, and act with both prudence and firmness.
— That is indisputable. It is important, above all, that we act with composure, as my distinguished colleague said, cried a fifth representative. With composure, with method, with order, and with prudence....
— Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!... Without composure, without method, without order, without prudence, without patience, we would achieve nothing... It is obvious!
— Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!... And let us work in peace...
— Let us begin... suggests a representative... with...
— Understood!... Let us begin then...
— With what? interrupts an administrator.
— By giving us a good beating!... suddenly exclaims a representative who hadn't yet spoken...
And with that, here are some of the most serious representatives of the great house (composure, order, method, etc. etc.) who, indeed, begin to exchange vigorous punches. It's incomprehensible!...

Luckily, things like this don't happen in the Chamber of Deputies!...

Maurice PRAX.