EVIDENCE WANTED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 23880, 3 February 1941, Page 7

EVIDENCE WANTED

ME. .WENDELL WILLKIE RECALL TO AMERICA "AID-TO-BRITAfN" BILL By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received February 2, 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 1 Mr. Wendell Willkie, the American Republican leader who is visiting England, announced to-day that in response to a cablegram from the Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull, he will return to the United States next week to testify before the Foreign Relations Committee of the Senate on the "Aid to Britain" Bill. Mr. Willkie said lie would have liked to visit further industrial centres in England, ns well as Ireland and Scotland, but lie was not able to do so. One of his strongest impressions, Mr. Willkie said, was the way in which Britain's air raid damage was being made good. Mr. Willkie visited the American F.agle C'lub and talked with Americans who are serving with the Canadian Forces. He also had a mild clash with the conductress of an omnibus who admonished him for dawdling when boarding the bus in a busy street. Mr. Willkie paused to look for the box in which to place his fare, according to the American custom, upon which the conductress exclaimed: "Sow then, sir, either get on or get off!" Mr. Willkie paid the fares for his party, including the press photographers, and moved from seat to seat chatting with passengers. J n an interview with a representative of the Sunday Dispatch, Mr, Willkie said: "If ever the Huns attempt an invasion, it will be the biggest slaughter in history. Two things will win the war —mechanical equipment and morale. The British morale is wonderful, while the equipment is the sort of thing we dreamed about in the last war." SOUTH COAST VISITED PREMIER AND MR. HOPKINS TREMENDOUS ENTHUSIASM (Received February 2. 5.35 p.m.) British Wireless LONDON, Jan. 31 President Roosevelt's personal representative in Britain, Mr. Harry Hopkins. accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Churchill on a visit to Southampton and Portsmouth to-day. After inspecting representatives of the various civil defence services at Southampton, the party visited the civil centre and dockyard and made a rapid tour of the city. Everywhere there was tremendous enthusiasm. In a three hours' visit to Portsmouth Mr. Churchill and Mr. Hopkins inspected the dockyards and saw bomb damage to the city. Throughout the dockyards they were greeted by the crowds with spontaneous cheers. There were shouts of: "Are we downhearted?" and answered with a terrific: "No!" in which Mr. Churchill joined. At the end of the tour Mr. Churchill congratulated the Lord Mayor and members of the council on the manner in which Portsmouth was standing up to the enemy's onslaughts. "We have seen our friends across the ocean," he said, "taking an even warmer interest in the struggle for freedom here, and one cannot help feeling enormously encouraged by the evergrowing movement of aid to Britain, which is laying hold of the mighty masses of the United States. "We shall come through," Mr. Churchill declared. "We cannot tell when or how, but that we shall come through none of us have any doubts whatever." Mr. Hopkins called for three cheers for the President of the United States. The response was deafening. ARRESTED IN EUROPE 1143 BRITISH SUBJECTS LONDON, Jan. 31 The first news that 1143 Britons have been arrested by the Gestapo in occupied areas of Europe comes from an Associated Press correspondent who has been permitted to visit an internment camp in Upper Silesia, formerly an asylum. Jn spite of the black-out the camp is iloodlit. The camp commander, speaking in stiff English said: ''As long as the internees have something to do they will be no worry." Food is the same as is issued for German civilians. The main meal consists of a kind of Irish stew, containing meat arid sliced vegetables. Coffee, bread, sausage and jam are provided for breakfast, and bread and cheese and coffee for the evening meal. £10,000,000 A DAY BRITAIN'S WAR SPENDING British Wireless LONDON, Jan. 31 The House of Commons will shortly be asked to pass another vote of credit to meet war expenditure. The formal announcement of tiiis gives no indication of the amount to be asked for, hut it is recalled that on each of the two last occasions the vote of credit was for an amount- of £1,000.000,000. In June, last year, war expenditure averaged £7,500,000 daily. By September the figure had increased to £9,000,000 daily, and at that time the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Kingsley Wood, estimated that even if there was no increase in the daily expenditure, the £1,000,000,000 then voted would not last beyond the early days of March. Since then the rate of expenditure lias increased and is now stated in some newspapers to exceed £10,000,000 daily. AIR TRAINING FOR BOYS British Wireless LONDON, Jan. 81 The recently announced scheme for pre-entry training for the Royal Air Force of lads over 16 will be carried a stage further to-morrow with the inauguration of an Air Training Corps, of which 200 squadrons already have been formed Ihe commandant of the corps is Air-Commodore J. A. Chanier.