ANGRY SULTANS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23780, 7 October 1940, Page 8

ANGRY SULTANS

ENEMY RADIO LIES FRIENDSHIP FOR BRITAIN GIFTS SENT FOR AIRCRAFT By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received September (1, 7.15 p.m.) British Wireless LONDON, Oct. 5 •.The Sultan of Shihr and Mukalla, which is an independent sultanate in the eastern section of the Aden Protectorate, and is in treaty relations with the British Government, has made the following statement: — "Italian broadcast stations have been reporting from tinio to time that heavy British bombing has been carried out in the Hadhramaut, and tliis has caused unnecessary unrest among the Arabs. I strongly contradict tliis statement, as it is far from the truth. "First, there is no necessity for the British Government to bombard in the Hadhramaut. The existing relationship of the Hadhrnmis with the British Government is very friendly, and each and every one of the Hadhramis, including myself, is satisfied with the same, and they are astonished to hear such false and baseless reports. "Conscience Pricks Me" "I am living in the Hadhramaut and know what is going on in every nook and corner of the Hadhramaut each day, and am compelled to make this statement as my conscience pricks me when I hear continuous false roports broadcast by Italian broadcasting stations. I have to add that the Arabs in Quaiti State and the Hadhramaut generally are very happy under their existing friendly relationship with the British Government." The Governor of Nigeria has received the following letter from Abukukar, Sultan of Sokoto and spiritual head of the Moslems of the northern provinces of Nigeria:—"l wish to inform you that we heard recently that the German wireless said the slavedriven natives of English oolonies are compelled by force to contribute to the Win the War Fund. Prayers for Britain

"That is a lie, and I would like to ask Hitler whether it is by force also that we gather in our mosques and schools to offer up prayers from our hearts, day and night, for the success of British arms and for the downfall of His Majesty's enemies. When we in Sokoto heard of the Win the War Fund ive took counsel together and agreed that everyone who wished should make a contribution which seemed proper. I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that £6211 lis Id lias been collected from all sections of the community and forwarded to the Bank of British West Africa at Lagos.

"This spontaneous contribution from the people of the Sokoto Emirate is a token of their loyal prayers for victory. We hoped it would be possible to buy a fighter aeroplane, and that it may be called Sokoto so that it may become our representative in defending the United Kingdom and in fighting the Empire's enemies." Other African Gifts The Sudan Government gift of £IOO,OOO for the purchase of a squadron of fighter aeroplanes is officially stated to have been made to signify the gratitude of the people of the Sudan for the benefits conferred by the British Government and their confidence in British victory.

Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aireraft Production, in a message to the Sudan Government, says: "We send your aircraft to battle, and our gratitude to you. When victory brings peace once more to the world we shall not forget those who helped us so nobly in the day of peril." With a seventh instalment of £4OOO the Gold Coast Spitfire fund has reached a total of £40,000. Sierra Leone has sent £20,000 for a bomber, and Trengganu, in Malaya, 50,000 dollars toward the air war funds.

PAYING FOR WAR

PURCHASES IN AMERICA LIGHT EFFECT ON RESERVES British "Wireless LONDON, Oct. 4 So far Britain has dipped only lightly into her reserves of assets convertible into dollars. According to the monthly bulletin of the National City Bank of New York, only a comparatively small part- of the £1.250.000.000 of' liquid dollar assets and gold held at the beginning of the war has been paid out, and the ability of the Empire to finance its heavy purchases in the United States has not yet been strained. The most striking fact revealed by an examination of the figures is that the Empire's output of newly-mined gold, amounting to more than £187,000,000 during the first year of the war, would more than offset the Empire's unfavourable balance on merchandise trade in the same period. The reduction of L 120.000.000 in dollar balances and security holdings in the first 10 months of the war is probably evidence that the merchandise trade balance substantially understates British payments made in the United States. Nevertheless, the indications are that gold production has relieved the strain on the available gold reserves and dollar assets to a greater extent than may generally be realised.