NEW CONSTITUTION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23700, 5 July 1940, Page 7

NEW CONSTITUTION

PROPOSAL IN FRANCE BOLD MEASURES IN VIEW "GUARANTEE OF RIGHTS" By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright LONDON, July 3 The French Government proposes to call, the National Assembly to revise the Constitution, according to a- message from the Havas (French) News Agency. The message adds that the Government will demand necessary powers to form a new Constitution under the high authority of Marshal Petain. It is stated that the Constitution must be ratified by the National Assembly or its elected representatives, acting instead of the present Parliament. Wider representation would be re-. served for professional organisations. Marshal Petain and his colleagues are determined to break away from routine formalities. The defeat of France calls for bold measures. Parliament must help the Government to reform the whole structure of the administration. The debate will probably open next tfeek in both Chambers, after which the National Assembly will meet. The essential object of the new Constitution will be to guarantee the rights of labour, the family and the Fatherland. This project has been under consideration since the armistice, and numbers of members of Parliament who were advised of it declared that they were aware of the necessities of the hour. The new Constitution will bo bold and modern. Work and intelligence must supersede favouritism and plutocracy. General Weygand, in-an Order of the Day, stated that 22,000 French soldiers in the Maginot Line, unaware of the armistice, fought on for five days after the cease fire order.

AIRCRAFT ENGINES ROLLS-ROYCE DESIGNS PRODUCTION IN AMERICA {Received July 4, 7.10 p.m.) WASHINGTON", July 4 The president of General Motors Corporation, Mr. William S. Knudsen, announced that the Packard Company had agreed to build 3000 Rolls-Royce aeroplane engines for the United States and 6000 for Britain. WAR SITUATION SURVEY IN COMMONS MR.. CHURCHILL TO SPEAK British "Wireless LONDON, July 3 The Lord Privy Seal, Mr. C. R. Attlee, announced in the House of Commons that the Prime Minister, Mr. Churchill, would make a statement tomorrow on the war situation. The House may have an opportunity for a debate if desired. The Under-Secretary for Foreign AfFairs, Mr. R. A. Butler, replying to a question, said the Governments of Poland, Norway and the Netherlands were established in the United Kingdom. He was not at the moment in a position to say where the Belgian Government was established. GERMANY AND SOVIET SENSITIVENESS IN BERLIN LONDON, July 3 The correspondent of the Times on the German frontier says the Wilhelmstrasse is extremely sensitive of any hint of increasing tension between Berlin and Moscow. Typical of this attitude is the expulsion of Dr. Reto Caratasch, a notable correspondent of the Swiss newspaper Neue Zuqrcher Zeitung, because he said the Russian advance into Rumania had caused certain uneasiness in Germany. A .direct telephone has been opened from, Russia to