AMERICAN PROTEST REJECTED

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22920, 17 January 1940, Page 7

AMERICAN PROTEST REJECTED

It denies the right of the Republics unilaterally to withdraw certain privileges in that zone to which the belligerents are entitled under international law.

The Pan-American protest stated that measures were being: discussed to strengthen the zone including the prevention of belligerent ships taking on supplies and repairing damage after warlike acts in the zone.

The British Note emphatically repudiates the suggestion that the activities of British warships justified the neutrals' adoption of punitive measures. It adds that if the American States adopted such a scheme of sanctions, they would be offering German warships and supply ships a vast sanctuary from which to attack Allied shipping and in which German ships could take refuge to avoid combat.

The Note suggests that the most effective method of safeguarding the zone would be to forbid the passage of German warships in it, and that if the Allies gave up the right of capture of German shipping taking refuge in American waters, this shipping should be laid up under Pan-American control for the duration of the war.

The exchange of Notes specifically instances the encounter with the Admiral Graf Spee and the British capture of German merchantmen.

ESTABLISHMENT OF ZONE President of Brazil -' Claims Right "LAW SUBJECT TO REVISION"

(Received January 17, 12.20 a.m.) NEW YORK, January 15. The Rio de Janeiro correspondent of the. Associated Press of. America says that the President "of Brazil (Dr. Vargas), opening the conference of the Pan-American Neutrals ity Committee, the purpose of which is to strengthen the neutrality zone, proclaimed that America had the right to establish a safety zone round her shores even if it was not recognised by existing international law, which, he asserted, was subject to revision in the light of modern developments. "On general principle nothing justifies belligerents' interests prevailing over neutrals' interests," he added. "We will do what we can to keep distant from American seas armed clashes resulting in damage to our sovereignty."

U.S. REJECTS BRITISH PROTEST WASHINGTON, January 15. The State Department has revealed that the United States on December 1 rejected the British protest which alleged that the American Neutrality Act discriminated against British ships. The United States replied that American* vessels did not receive preferential treatment over other neutrals, and that the transfer requirements applied to all belligerents alike.

AMERICAN FREEDOM FROM AIR MENACE RADIUS OF BELLIGERENTS MAY BE EXTENDED (Received January 16, 7.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON, January 15.

Mr Henry H. Arnold, Assistant Chief of the Army Air Corps, told the United Press of America that the development of bombers was bringing South America within the tactical radius of the belligerents. He hinted that freedom from menace by foreign aircraft was temporary. He did not mention Germany, but envisaged the possibility of a belligerent acquiring bases in South America through internal coups, thus- projecting an immediate problem of national defence.

RUSSIANS LIABLE FOR SERVICE

(Received January 16, 9 p.m.) MOSCOW, January 15. The Moscow radio states that men born in 1921 and students born in 1922 who are in the final year of their studies, must register for military service.

Belligerent Activities In Neutrality Zone BRITAIN RESERVES FULL RIGHTS (TOITID phbss msocutios—copteight.) (Received January 16, 9.15 p.m.)' • LONDON, January 15. The British reply to the Pan-American Republics' protest that belligerent naval activity had violated the 300-mile neutral zone declares that the British Government reserves full belligerent rights in that zone until it is assured that the security scheme will operate successfully.

BRITISH FLIGHT OVER GERMANY i "MOST BRILLIANT OF WAR" PROBABLE MORAL EFFECT (BSITZSB OmCIAX, WTREIJJSS.) (Received January 16, 11.15 a.m.)

RUGBY, January 15.

The remarkable record flight by machines of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command last Friday .night over Southern Germany and as far as Vienna and Prague has captured the imagination of the public. The German High Command refers to the exploit in a single sentence which states: "Isolated enemy aircraft carried out a reconnaissance flight over German territory," but the German News Agency,- in an attempt to minimise the significance of the flights, claims that the flights were made at night and did not reach as far as Bratislava, and that the British aeroplanes turned back for home west of Prague and Vienna.

The "Daily Telegraph" contrasts this flight of more than 1000 miles over German territory and 1000 miles back, withqut a single casualty in machines or men, with the vain attempts all last week of German bombers to elude the British coastal defences.

Referring to the dropping of leaflets on Vienna and Prague during this reconnaissance flight, the "Daily Telegraph" states: "Even where Hitlerism rules the truth of facts will seep through into men's minds. From this most brilliant survey flight of the war it will become known to Germans that the Fuehrer cannot defend them from the air power of the Allies, and that the most remote part of the Reich is not safe when Britain and France choose to strike."

The "Daily Telegraph" continues to point out that the range of the Wellington bomber with a full war load is far greater than 2000 miles, and it recalls that Britain already possesses a smaller type of bomber which has done more than 7000 miles non-stop. Referring to this flight, the "Manchester Guardian" 'states: "In no other war in history has such a tremendous sweep of reconnaissance into enemy territory been carried out." Elsewhere the "Manchester Guardian" states: "That British aeroplanes could have flown so' far unmolested and have dropped leaflets will certainly have aroused intense, even if concealed, enthusiasm, in Vienna and Prague- If similar flights can be made over Warsaw, the effect would also be very great." The effect of this flight on the German authorities has apparently been real, for, according to a Zurich press report, the German military authorities have decreed that thorough black-out conditions are to be enforced immediately throughout Austria, and although the reason given is economy of coal, all Vienna realises that the real reason is the recent British flight over Vienna.