TOTAL DOMINATION

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 142, 17 May 1941, Page 7

TOTAL DOMINATION

VICHY UNDER AXIS HEEL. RETAIN'S VAIN BELIEF. LONDON. Mav 16. The Vichy correspondent of the British United Press says that Marshal Petain’s agreement with Herr Hitler means that henceforth the whole French political, economic, financial, and colonial policy will conform with the desires of the Axis, and this will include placing France's African empire at the disposal of the Axis for common development. Marshal Retain, in a broadcast from Vichy, said : “Admiral Darlan’s meeting with Herr Hitler enables us to illuminate the path of tho future and to continue our conversations with Germany. This is not the time to discuss our prospects, measure our risks, or judge our actions. If we can successfully conclude the present negotiations France will surmount hotdefeat and maintain her rank as a European and colonial Rower.” The Berlin Foreign Office described reports of an agreement between Germany and France as premature, and it was stated that the talks had not been concluded yet.

A Swiss source states that the French people are being kept completely in the dark about Vichy’s new concessions to Germany. It i$ also reported that Swiss newspapers' have been banned in France. CRITICAL PHASE. The Times, in a leading article, says: “The German officers and technicians in Iraq are probably preparing for the advent of much larger lorces in Syria as the pivot of the Axis strategy in the Levant, and France cannot escape the responsibility for this unfriendly action against Britain. Admiral Durian cannot complain if the aerodromes ot Syria suffer our attacks, or if a grant of further facilities to the Germans compels us to take more extensive precautions. “The whole episode calls for careful reconsideration of the basis on which our policy to V roliy lias hitherto rested —the supposition that Vichy would not actively assist the designs of the Axis.”

All London newspapers agree that a new and critical phase has been readied in the British relations with the men of Vichy.

The Daily Express says the painful possibility of direct conflict between Britain and Vichy must be faced. Admiral Darlan had been warned, and he must take the consequences.

The Daily Mail says the time has come when Britain’s desire to avoid a quarrel with her old friend must take second place to her own sellpreservation. The News-Chronicle says that action is the only answer to the betrayal ot the French people and the terms ol the German-French armistice.

The Daily Telegraph recalls the warning of last July that Britain could not allow Syria or the Lebanon to be occupied by a hostile Power or to be used as a base for attacks on countries in the Middle East which Britain is pledged to defend. The Vichy correspondent of the British United Press reports that all messages from Vichy relating to the French-German relationship will henceforth be subject to censorship, though they have been free from that in the last five months. JEWS AS FORCED LABOUR.

The German-controlled radio in Holland states that the Y ichy authorities have arrested 20,000 foreign Jews in Unoccupied France and that 5000 Jews have been arrested in Paris. Deports reaching Switzerland say that Lhe Jews rounded up in Paris have been sent to the Orleans district and are being used as forced labour. They are being compelled to clear the streets, build aerodromes and roads, and remove garbage. Commenting on the latest actions of the Y T ichy Government, the official newspaper of the Soviet trade unions, the Trad, says that France depends for grain supplies on imports lrom America, and Britain’s control of the sea routes should influence the Y ichy Government.

INTER YHEYY’S IN ANKARA. LONDON. May 10. Tt was announced in Ankara this morning that President I nonu received Rashid Ali’s Foreign Minister. It is reported that the German Ambassador. Herr von Papon, presented no demand when • lie was received by General I nonu yesterday. Herr Hitlers message is said to have expressed Germany’s" desire for trade v itli Itiikey on a larger scale.