THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Friday, November 28, 1941. FRANCE AND THE AXIS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24776, 28 November 1941, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES Friday, November 28, 1941. FRANCE AND THE AXIS

The chance disclosure, when a British naval ship stopped a French fishing vessel, that its master carried a German authorisation to put to sea, and" that a large sum had been deposited which would be forfeit if it did not returh in a stipulated time, proves nothing that was not known. This documentary evidence of the extent of the domination which is being exercised by the Nazis over the French merchant marine is witness to the thoroughness with which Herr Hitler is proceeding with the conquest of France. If those who negotiated the armistice with the Nazis seventeen months ago believed that they were not signing away their country's title for the duration of Hitlerism, they have suffered a sad disillusionment. Yet they should have foreseen that Hitler, .whose word there was no reason to trust, required more of France than military submission if he was to continue his career of conquest. The extent of his need becomes ever more obvious,' and, unfortunately for the reputation of France, there are those at the head of the crippled State who seem ever willing to oblige him. To what extent the Vichy Government has facilitated German traffic across the Mediterranean, which could be aimed only at the undoing of Great JBritain, France's former ally, can only be conjectured. To what degree Nazi "tourists" and "technicians" and " advisers " have usurped administrative and- military control in French North Africa we are not told, though it can be assumed that the democratic Governments have certain information on the point. The suspension by the United States of economic assistance to the French possessions in this area is more eloquent than any words could be of the democratic awareness of Vichy's betrayal of friendship. The time is coming when the sad old soldifer, Marshal Petain,, and his Ahgjophobe Ministers will be called on by the German Fuhrer to surrender what is left of empire-r----and of honour. Germany wants the French fleet, and the need is urgent. forces are engaged in Libya in a contest for possession of the North African territory beyond the French sphere. If this struggle sufficiently favours the British, the Axis will require French soil on which to garrison its troops. At the least, the battle now raging , will leave the German and Italian armies in Africa badly mauled, and in need of stronger reinforcements than can be easily conveyed across the Mediterranean by the available transport. And while Mediterranean control is resolutely retained by the British navy and the R.A.F., Great'Britain is replenishing her Middle Eastern forces both by the Red Sea route and by the South Atlantic route. Here again Herr Hitler must have Vichy cooperation, in order to base raiders in French West Africa. The truth is, probably, that with the exception of the fleet, he has already taken most of what he desires. ' The dismissal of General Weygand seems to mark the end of official resistance to his demands. Yet there remains to Vichy the duty of putting the seal upon its treachery. The report that Hitler, fresh from his petty triumph of pact-signing with his puppets at Berlin, is to meet Marshal Petain, indicates that he is hurrying the sordid drama to a conclusion.