APPROACH OF RED ARMY

Press, Volume LXXX, Issue 24150, 8 January 1944, Page 5

APPROACH OF RED ARMY

RUMANIA’S FEAR OF OCCUPATION

REPORTED PLANS OP KING MICHAEL (N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) (Roc. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON. Jan. 7. King Michael of Rumania is prepared to fly to London with Dr. Maniu, the old Liberal leader, to seek any peace terms that would save his country from Russian occupation, says the

“Daily Express” correspondent in Istanbul, The correspondent says that this was learned from a reliable source in Bucharest.

Reuter’s Cairo correspondent says that the Soviet Government is reported to have sent a new warning to Bulgaria. pointing out the consequences of any further Bulgarian move to help the Germans in the Balkans.

MORE SABOTAGE IN BULGARIA

SUPPORT BY .PEASANTS’ PARTY (Eec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 6. Closer ties between Bulgarian peasants and Communists and increased partisan sabotage are reported from Bulgaria, says Reuter’s Ankara correspondent. There is still no confirmation of the news that the Government has been overthrown by a coup d’etat. Jugoslav resistance under Marshal Brog-Tito and the help it is receiving from the Allies, together with the results of the Teheran conference, have brought the Communists closer to the Agrarian Party. The practical results are that the hitherto hostile peasants are now supplying the partisans, who are estimated to number between 3000 and 7000.

The activity of these partisans last week included the holding up of the Sofia-PJovdiv train three nights in succession, and also an attack against a labour camp, resulting in the death of a few Bulgarian policemen.

AGITATION IN HUNGARY

LEFT WING PARTIES WARNED

(Rec. 11.30 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 7. Count Imredy, the Hungarian rightwing leader, who is pro-German, has warned the left wing parties that “agitation would lead to the same treachery as was experienced by the Italian people,” says the German News Agency. Count Imredy admitted that agitation, had already reached considerable proportions and asked that it be eliminated once and for all.

U.S. ANTI-TRUST SUIT

WORLD CARTEL PLAN ALLEGED BRITISH FIRM NAMED (Rec. 6 p.m.) WASHINGTON. Jan. 6. The Justice Department has filed a civil suit charging the Du Pont de Nemours Company, the Remington Arras Company, and the British company, Imperial Chemical Industries, with maintaining an international cartel agreement and violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. The Attorney-Gen-eral (Mr Francis Biddle) said that the complaint alleged restraint of trade in the manufacture of chemical products, firearms, and ammunition. ' The complaint also named as defendants high executives of the three companies, including Lord McGowan and Lord Melchett, president and deputychairman respectively of Imperial Chemical Industries.

The complaint described the Du Pont de Nemours Company as the largest manufacturers of chemicals in the United Stales, with total assets of 1,000,000,000 dollars, including 23 per cent, of the stock of General Motors. It said that the Remington Arms Company was the largest manufacturer of sporting arms and ammunition in the United States, and since 1933 had been controlled by the Du Pont de Nemours Company. Imperial Chemical Industries was also described as having a virtual monopoly of the chemical industry in Britain. Sale of Explosives

The complaint alleged that some time before 1920 the- Du Pont de Nemours Company and Imperial Chemical Industries reached an understanding for the elimination of competition in the sale of explosives throughout the world. The Du Pont Nemours Company was allocated tne United States and Central America, and Imperial Chemical Industries was allocated the rest of the world, excepting Canada, Newfoundland, and South America. Both companies agreed to refrain from manufacture in or the export to each other’s exclusive markets, while Canada, Newfoundland, and South America were shared by both companies on a non-competitive basis. The South American profits were divided equally. Canadian Industries, Ltd., was jointly owned by both companies, and operated in Canada. The complaint quoted Lord McGowan’s letter to Mr Lammot du Pont in 1933, in which he said that no prospective political or legislative action on the part of governments was permitted to influence the relations between the Du Pont de Nemours Company and Irfinerial Chemical Industries. “If any legislation or international agreements affect these relations I am sure we will be able to adjust ourselves so as to get the continued benefit of our agreement.’’ added the letter. The Department of Justice also alleged that the German I.G. Farben Industrie organisation had been a member of the alleged conspiracy since 1926, and the parties at all times since had continued to abide by the provisions of this agreement except to the extent that its operations were interrupted by the present war. Lord McGowan, in a statement in London on the anti-trust suit, said:

“Imperial Chemical Industries or its predecessor companies for the last 40 years have pursued a policy of co-op-eration with the Du Pont de Nemours Company. This policy stands on two legs, first, a patent processes agreement under which the two companies disclose to each other the fruits of their respective large research organisations in defined fields of chemical science, and cross licence them to each other for use in defined territories, and second, joint investment under which the two companies are at present major stockholders in chemical manufacturing companies in Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. I believe this policy of cooperation has been of public benefit to the United States and the British Empire, as well as the South American countries.”