MARSEILLES ASSASSINATIONS

Greymouth Evening Star, 11 October 1934, Page 7

MARSEILLES ASSASSINATIONS

NEWS-FILM OF CRIME SEARCH FOR SUSPECTS [BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] LONDON, October 10. The deplorable ease with which King Alexander’s assassination was accomplished, coupled with the fact that apart from those dead, at least ten were seriously wounded, suggests that Kalemen was not alone the murderer. The details may be cleared up, as, by a strange coincidence, a camera-man chanced to be making a news film at. the very moment of the assassination. His film was immediately handed over to the Marseilles police. The nationality of the murderer is unlikely to cause any trouble, because he was a Croat, one of King Alexander’s own subjects.

“The Times’s” Marseilles correspondent says: Two revolvers and a bomb were found on Kalemen. A Greek, Basile Patademetriou has been arrested on suspicion. It is officially stated that one policeman was killed, and nine civilians were wounded by the assassin’s bullets.

The British Broadcasting Corporation announced the news of the assassination, and then broadcast the Yugo-Slavian anthem, followed by an announcement of M. Barthou’s death. The “Daily Mail,” in a leader, says: The whole world sympathises, with both nations, France especially, in view of the abominable deeds perpetrated on her soil. Britain will particularly condole with Queen Marie, because the widowed Queen is a great-grand-daughter of Queen Victoria, and is King George’s first cousin. “The Times’s” City Editor says: Foreign exchange reacted violently when news of the assassination came through, leading to a sharp recovery of the pound. The assassination tragedy ■will not involve any postponement of Prince George and Princess Marina’s wedding.

Mrs. F. S. Copeland, a lecturer in Ljubljana University, now in England, declares the assassination the greatest European calamity since 1914, saying that King Alexander was a peacemaker, who translated Balkan friendship into a reality, and nobody would have dared'to attack him in his native land, where he was intensely popular.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS.

PARIS, October 10.

The Cabinet met, after which Premier Doumergue issued a statement of condolence. The Government also issued a decree for a month’s mourning for King Alexander, and a State funeral for M. Barthou. . King Alexander’s remains will be taken to Yugo-Slavia aboard the “Dubrovnik,” escorted by French cruisers. M. Lebrun, M. Tardieu and M. Herriot have left for Marseilles to pay then- last respects. King Alexander, when assassinated, was attired as an Admiral of the Yugoslavian Navy, on which uniform he wore French medals won during the war. General Georges, who was wounded, is a member of the French Supreme War Council, and is not a . Yugoslavian.

THE BOY KING.

CABINET TO GOVERN.

BELGRADE, October 10. The Crown Prince will not accede to the Throne until he attains his majority. He has been proclaimed as King Peter 11. . A proclamation has been issued, signed by the whole Government. It begins? —“Our great King fell heioically at Marseilles. He sealed with his blood his work for peace, for which he lived. His last words were a sacred trust, ‘Guard Yugo-Slavia!’ The proclamation declares that under the Constitution, Peter the Second is now King. The Government, the Army, and the Navy have already taken the oath of loyalty. The Cabine is now governing the country. The National Congress has been summoned for October 12. . u < The whole city is in mourning, but is intensely relieved that Queen Mane did not share King Alexander’s fate The Yugo-Slav Government did not intend to publish the news of the King’s death immediately, but was compelled to do so, because it was received by the public from the German broadcasting stations.

ALEXANDER’S WILL.

LONDON, October 10.

Belgrade reports state the late King’s testament has been found, showing that he appointed in case ot his sudden death, a R e S enc y Council comprising Prince Paul, M. Stank vitch (recently Minister of Education) and M. Banterovitch (the present Governor of Zazreb). A FORMER MURDER. PARIS, October 10. M. Jevtitch, the Yugo-Slav Foreign Minister, stated that another motorcar, in the procession, escaped and immediately telephoned to Belgrade, instructing the Cabinet to maintain iron-handed rule until Prince Peter assumes the Throne under a Regency. A period of military dictatorship -s the most likely outcome, in order W avoid civil war between the Cioats "mS and bis brother, were recently both charged with the mui dei of Neudorf er. the Croat Minister o Agriculture, during the Kalemen was acquitted. His biothei received a term of imprisonment. FORGED PASSPORT

BELGRADE, October 10. The police state that they know nothine; about Kalemen’s passport, which must have been forged. The authorities in Prague also state that the passport is a forgery. The Havas Agency says that Kalemen was a well-known terrorist in Belgrade. A WARNING GIVEN BRUSSELS. October 10. The ' Yugo-Slavian Embassy was warned that an attempt would be made on King Alexander’s life, and communicated with Paris, where the police kept a special watch on the subversive elements. A FIFTH ATTEMPT. LONDON, October 10. The late King Alexander was sev-| k erely criticised for his treatment of (

his elder brother, Prince George, who 1 after a brilliant war record, was unscrupulously employed to force King Alexander’s hand in certain matters.] As 'the result of this, King Alexander! sent his brother to a private asylum in the year 1924. Prince George had| already renounced his succession to the throne.

King Alexander’s father, King Peter, had always recognised Alexander as Crown Prince, and appointed him Regent. Therefore, he was Commander-in-Chief when war broke out in 1914. Four previous attempts had been made on Alexander’s life. His fate accords with the grim tradition that Serbian Kings never die in bed. .

MOURNING IN CAPITAL.

BELGRADE, October 10.

The Government profited by the delay in announcing the assassination to rush troops to the frontier and disaffected areas.

When the news was first published in the Belgrade morning papers women fainted, and ex-soldiers, who had fought with King Alexander in three wars, were grief-stricken. The city is plunged into unparalleled gloom. SERBIAN DEMONSTRATIONS. (Received October 11, 1 p.m.) BELGRADE, October 10. King Peter, under his father’s will, returns to school in England after the funeral. Demonstrations against Kalemen occurred at Sarajevo and Zagreb. It was denied that the assassin was a Croat, but when demonstrators began to mention Italy, the police dispersed the meetings. It is understood that Kalemen’s frother, a dental surgeons, has been arrested. QUEEN AND PRESIDENT

MARSEILLES, October 10.

M. Herriot and M. Tardieu arrived here, and agreed that M. Barthou’s State funeral should take place in Paris on October 13.

The Pope has given absolution to King Alexander. Queen Marie received M. Lebrun, who, controlling his emotion with difficulty, expressed his grief. The Queen thanked him, in low tones, and discussed the last rites before the King’s body was placed aboard the warship Dubrovnik, for Yugo-Slavia. The Queen and M. Lebrun then left for Paris, to join Peter. QUEEN MARIE’S GRIEF.

(Received October 11, S a.m.)

MARSEILLES, October 10.

Queen Marie arrived by special train, accompanied by Madame Herriot, wife of the ex-Premier. She drove to the Prefecture through the streets, strongly guarded by police. She entered the death chamber and remained alone with the body for half an hour. Her face bore traces of deep sorrow and a sleepless night in the train.

Later, M. Barthou’s body was brought from the hospital, and laid alongside King Alexander’s, French and Yugo-Slav Generals standing guard. BREAKING THE NEWS. • (Recd. October 11, 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, October 10. Peter’s housemaster awakened him at 6 a.m., before the other boys were astir, and told him to dress quickly, to receive an urgent message. The boy was. taken to the headmaster’s study, where news of King Alexander’s death was disclosed. Peter was driven to the Yugo-Slav Legation, London. He cast a quick glance at the flag at half-mast, as a battery of Press photographers snapped him. DEPARTURE FROM LONDON. LONDON, October 10. Victoria Station was heavily guarded by the ,police when Peter and Queen Marie of Roumania departed for Paris. The approaches were thronged with thousands of sympathisers. Peter smiled in response to cheers and shouts of “Good luck!” PARIS, October 10.

King Peter and Queen Marie of Roumania arrived at Calais, and left for Paris, with a strong police guard.

TRANSFERRING THE COFFINS. SCENES AT WATERSIDE. (Received October 11, 1.30 p.m.) MARSEILLES, October 10. Every token of mourning was offered when as troops kept the quayside passage clear, pending arrival of the widowed Queen of Yugo-Slavia, and the grief-stricken statesmen of France, the Dubrovnik under-went preparations for departure to Spalato with King Alexander’s body. A mor,tuary car conveyed the oak and silver coffin, shrouded with the Yugo-Slavian flag, to the waterside. It was preceded by a motor containing police chiefs, then the car carrying the heavily veiled Queen and President Lebrun. Queen Marie and M. Lebrun followed the coffin, as, after being kissed by Yugo-Slavian officers, it came aboard, six French and six Yugo-Slavian officers at the gangway, saluting it with their swords, while two thousand infantrymen presented arms. The officers of the Dubrovnik acted as pallbearers. The coffin, with the King’s sword upon it, was placed on a platform on the afterdeck. The. strains of the Yugo-Slav Anthem, followed by the Marseillaise, pealed ' across the harbour, in which all the anchored ships displayed signs of naval mourning Queen Marie bent and kissed the flag, and departed with M. Lebrun. The Dubrovnik weighed anchor and steamed out for Spalato, convoyed by French battleships and submarines. Aboard here were M. Pietrie and Marshal Petain, who will represent France ”t the funeral. The silence of fifty thousand mourners crowding the quay was so complete that the sea could be heard lapping the piles of the wharf. Queen Marie and M. Lebrun left for Paris on the Presidential train at seven o’clock in the evening. Another train, conveying other members of the Cabinet, carried M. Barthou’s i coffin. The body will lie in the State Salon d’Horloge, Qua! d’Orsay.

SET AGAINST MINISTERS. (Recd. October 11, 10.30 a.m.) PARIS, October 10. A French political crisis is likely to arise from the assasination. The Deputies, clamouring for the resignation of the Minister of the Interior, owing to his failure to take measures to protect distinguished strangers. They also want the resignation of the Minister of Justice. The police are searching the houses of Yugo-Slavian Separatists, residing in France.: fifteen have been dertained.

FRANCO-ITALIAN RELATIONS. I RUGBY, October 10. The Court of St. James will go into full mourning from to-day until Monday, October 22. The member of the French War Council, General Georges, who ' was shot, by King Alexander’s assassin, is expected to recover. It is doubtful if any political crime ever evoked such universal horror and condemnation, and these sentiments, calling forth the deepest sympathy for the families and nations of the dead King and the dead statesman, are expressed in the Press of every country.

In Britain, the newspapers without exception, pay a tribute to the Intense loyalty to their respective countries which were common characteristics of King Alexander and M. Barthou.

The “Times” says: From the general European standpoint, King Alexander’s murder is all the more disastrous, in that he has long maintained a directing hand on the foreign policy of his country. His last fatal journey had been undertaken with the object of discussing conditions- of better relationship between his country and Italy, as an essential preliminary, to a Franco-Italian understanding, on which so much depends. All will unite in sympathy with the French, that just at this moment, when M. Barthou was bent upon reconciliating the long-standing difference between their country and Italy, his influence should have been so cruelly removed from European diplomacy. At the Jugo-Slav Legation, members of the Diplomatic Corps began to call at an early hour. The Minister received a great number of messages of sympathy and condolence.

ITALIAN REGRETS.

ROME, October 9.

Italy’s diplomats deplore the tragedy at Marseilles, but they do not think that it is likely to affect Italy’s relations with Yugo-Slavja. Signor Mussolini learned the news of the assassination at Florence, and he expressed profound regret. The Pope has personally drafted a sympathetic message to Queen Marie of Yugo-Slavia.

Mussolini's “Popolo d’ltalia” condemns the tragedy, suddenly upsetting international life. It says' that the recent shadows in the Adriatic, following Press comment in Yugoslavia, which wounded us, cannot affect ou,r sympathy. HITLER’S SYMPATHY. BERLIN, October 10. Herr Hitler lias sent messages of sympathy. The “Allegemeine Zeitung’ says that Versailles has claimed two more victims.

Other German newspapers say that Germany had little sympathy for King Alexander’s aims, though she respected him as a man.

AUSTRIA—HUNGARY.

VIENNA, October 10.

The Austrian and Hungarian garrisons have been placed on an alarm footing. The Austrian Cabinet is discussing measures to preserve order on the Yugo-Slavian frontier. IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA. PRAGUE, October 9. Consternation prevails here over the assassination. The papers are rapidly issuing extras. . ANXIETY. AT GENEVA. LONDON, October 10. The “Daily Mail’s” Geneva correspondent says: Stupefaction reigns in League of Nations circles. It is considered not only a national calamity, but a severe blow to the work for international collaboration. Yugo-Slav circles here declare everything is in the melting pot, but they do not expect any material change in the political structures which King Alexander wrought. ■