FRENCH ADMINISTRATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 November 1944, Page 6

FRENCH ADMINISTRATION

PATRIOTS’ PROTEST.

LONDON, October 30

“A demonstration occurred in Toulouse on Sunday against the French Provisional Government’s decree outlawing the remaining armed resistance groups in France,” says the Toulouse radio. “The. local commandant of the ‘patriotic militia’ saici that men and women who had spontaneously answered General de Gaulle’s call had the slightly bitter feeling that ’there was a tendency to minimise the patriots’ contribution. “General de Gaulle has issued a communique reaffirming the necessity for dissolving independent armed bodies and calling for the patriotic militia’s arms to be handed over io the French armies on the fighting front ‘who sorely need them.’” EDITOR SENTENCED LONDON, October 30. ■ The Paris Assize Court to-day sentenced Stephan Lausanne, the collaborationist editor of “Le Matin,” to 20 years’ imprisonment. Lausanne caused a sensation in the Court when he indulged in a bitter tirade against Britain, whom he accused of following the treacherous policy of ignoring tne rights of others. Lauzanne, who is aged 72, was editor of “Le Matin” for 40 years. The Court imposed solitary confinement and confiscated all his possessions. BRITISH ASSETS SAFE

LONDON, Oct. 30

British Chamber of Commerce Paris, announced that British nationals’ accounts with French banks in the area occupied by Germans in 1940 are generally intact. It is believed that all current franc accounts confiscated by the Germans will be recovered. Dollar and sterling accounts are intact. A very large majority of the securities held for safe custody are intact, and cases of confiscation of securities are extremely rare. Jewels and valuables in clients’ safes are intact with the exception of gold. The position in the area of France occupied in 1942 is similar except that insufficient information is yet available concerning valuables in private safes, but they are believed to be mainly intact.

WINTER FUEL SHORTAGE.

LONDON, October 31.

The “Daily Telegraph’s” correspondent in Paris says: The temperature here is now in the lower forties, and the Parisians are beginning to shiver. Their prospect is that of facing a Winter which, it is predicted, will be severe. The fact of their being without fuel for heating is arousing anxiety. All of the larger cities of France are almost without any stocks of coal. There is also a lack of means of transport, which is paralysing delivery of coal from northern mines. The situation in the Paris hospitals particularly is a worrying one. Surgical operations are being delayed because there is a lack of adequate heating for the operating theatres. Instead of the necessary 11,000 tons of coal monthly, the hospitals have so far received only 4000 tons. This quantity is liable to a sharp curtailment shortly. The conditions in the Paris flats, most of which lack open fires, and depend upon central heating, are becoming mrct uncomfortable, and overcoats

are already being worn regularly in private apartments and in offices.