The Week in Review

Northern Advocate, 10 February 1940, Page 4

The Week in Review

Monday Chief war front continues to be in the air with Nazi airmen demonstrating their skill on unarmed merchantmen and fleeing when British aircraft appear. Last week these barbarous attacks flared up on a more ambitious scale, but despite the hail of bombs and rain of machine-gun bullets, all bui very few of the attacked vessels escaped. Nazi plane losses totalled four machines, three being downed during the weekend. Hitler is eating up a lot of petrol without gaining very much. Figures published Saturday estimated German air losses at a minimum of 100 planes, against a maximum British tally of 31. Russia also is leaning on the air arm in the war against Finland. Most devastating raids to date took place during the weekend, when 400 planes sowed thousands of bombs over civilian centres and killed 100 noncombatants. Tuesday One hundred years ago today, almost to the minute, first signatures were affixed to the Treaty of Waitangi by Maori chiefs. It was the birth of New Zealand as a member of the British Commonwealth. New Zealanders', and particularly Northlanders, flocked in their thousands to Waitangi for the Dominion's most significant Centennial pageant. Here, on the spot where 100 years ago the chiefs signed away their sovereignty to Queen Victoria, a talented cast of performers, many of them being descendants of principals in original drama, re-enacted the signing ceremony. The performance was so splendid that it threw into relief the inadequacy of the provision made for the public who hoped to see it. What should have been a day of historical significance for all, particularly the children, developed, for the majority, into a mere picnic outing—simply because, the function took place in an enclosure so small that fully half of those who journeyed to Waitangi were unable to see anything. Had the ceremony been transferred on the flat where the cars were parked, and the crowd allotted the overlooking hill as a vantage point, all would have seen, and the function would have lost nothing of its real meaning by not being portrayed on the spot where the treaty proper was signatured. Nor was the public given the chance to possess themselves of the excellent

souvenir programmes on which appeared the imprint of the Government printer. These, apparently, were reserved for private circulation. Impression was that Waitangi, which properly belonged to the public, was staged for the privileged few. Wednesday Hitler, an Oslo report predicted, is about to launch another peace plan, sired this time by obese Field-Marshal Goering. Ever since he divided Foland with Stalin, Hitler has intermittently launched peace offensives, in the hope that he will not have to fight to hold his loot. When the other side is strong enough to hit back, Der Fuehrer profoundly prefers a war of nerves to the sterner kind waged with bayonets and bombs. Hence his unappeased desire for peace putsches. Latest plan, Oslo paper has it, will be presented through a neutral Power to a League of Nations committee, shortly to sit at The Hague. Goering's tcrea *s to conduct a plebiscite in Austria—remember how the Nazis marched rather than allow

■ j Schuschnigg to hold his plebiscite?— ■and for an Anglo-French-German commission to decide the future of li the Polish, Czech and Slovak States. Berlin later denied this foi'ecast. Thursday French commander in the Near East, General Weygand, reviewed the littlo- . publicised “Army of the Desert.” In recent weeks, hints have been [ dropped that the Allies have built up strong forces in that area, and there [ has even been a suggestion, that if r Britain and France take tlve offensive, , they will strike at Nazidom via the j Balkans. This, however, is the first official , admission that such a force “capable | of dealing with any emergency” exists. ) Just the day before “New York . Times” Paris correspondent revealed that the Middle East is jittery that , Adolf-eum-Joe may drive towards the Persian Gulf. I Subsequent revelations showed that the Allies, in preparation for such an emergency. had quartered strong 1 forces at strategical points to bar the ( road to India. Friday A Goebellsian estimate of Allied f and neutral shipping losses as a re- | suit of German action fixed the tally f at 409 vessels, tonnage 1,4*3,431. | At the same time, Berlin admitted i losing 42 ships, 236,957 tons. | Stating the true facts, the British i Admiralty revealed that 143 British f and 14 French ships had been sent to | the bottom, total tonnage 582.637, and t made no attempt to estimate Hitler’s ? losses. i When the war broke, the British f Empire Mercantile Marine totalled | just over 21,000,000 tons; French, f 3,000,000 tons; German, 4,500.000. : On this reckoning, the Allies had at i their disposal approximately five times fas much merchant ship tonnage as | Germany. f Despite our losses, that percentage | has been maintained, if not increased, | for most of the Nazi ships which have ? not been seized, sunk or scuttled are | sheltering in neutral ports. ! Saturday ! South-Eastern European Powers re- ! ported to have placed their armies on | war footing . . . Turkey seizes Krupp I shipyards on Golden Horn; this cofincides with rising fears of war in I Balkans in spring . . . Farmers’ f Union president (Mulholland) accuses ? Marketing Minister Nash of having I broken his promise when he ordered f State control of hide purchases . . . 3 Marquess of Willingdon said in SydI ney that he found New Zealand loyJalty and solidarity truly inspiring.