POWERS CONTINUE WAR PRECAUTIONS

Southland Times, Issue 23792, 14 April 1939, Page 7

POWERS CONTINUE WAR PRECAUTIONS

EUROPE AWAITS BRITISH AND FRENCH STATEMENTS BELGIAN MEASURES: ROME TESTS AIR-RAID DEFENCES (United Press Association —Telegraph Copyright) (Received April 13, 10.40 p.m.) LONDON, April 13. While the world awaits the British and French statements of policy which are to be made today, the European Powers are continuing their military and naval precautions. H.M.S. Arethua, flagship of the Mediterranean Third Cruiser Squadron, has arrived at Alexandria, accompanied by five destroyers. It is learned that the French Naval forces concentrated at Toulon and Brest are fully mobilized and that they have kept up full steam since Monday. Thus the entire Mediterranean and Atlantic Fleets are at war strength and are able to go to sea at six hours’ notice. At present 975,000 troops are under arms in France, and the million mark will be passed at the week-end. The Maginot Line is fully manned and there are concentrations of troops near the eastern frontier. Secrecy is being maintained about France’s security measures says the Paris correspondent of The Times, but it is known that the western Mediterranean is receiving special attention. It is reliably stated in Paris that large numbers of Italian tanks have arrived at Navarre and Guipuzcoa. The Bayonne correspondent of The Daily Telegraph says that precautionary measures have been taken on the Spanish frontier. The mountain batteries near Hendaye, commanding the approaches from Spain, are manned by reservists. Those called up include technicians, artillery men, electricians and members of a tank corps. Spanish troops in fairly large numbers have landed in Spanish Morocco, says a message from Casablanca. It is rumoured that war materials are arriving at Ceuta and Melilla and that Italian airmen are establishing bases in the Spanish zone. Officially only Moroccan troops are returning from Spain, but observers report that the garrisons greatly exceed normal strength. It is estimated that 60,000 additional troops are under' arms in Holland. The Belgian Government has decided, as a military precaution, to call up certain units of specialists and members of the Air Force. Rumours that four classes of. conscripts are being called up are officially described as premature. A series of mock air raids over Rome will begin at 7 a.m. today to test the civilian air-raid precautions. British consular officers in Paris have begun a census of British residents in France with a view to evacuation in the event of war. Four Soviet warships are reported to have sailed from the Black Sea for Vladivostock, says a message from Istanbul.

STRONG SPEECH EXPECTED Statement By Prime ' Minister FRENCH POLICY TO BE MADE CLEAR

(United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received April 13, 11.35 p.m.) LONDON, April 13. The newspapers in their editorials are unanimous in expecting and approving a strong statement from the Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain). Several newspapers emphasize the importance of the announcement by the President of the United States (Mr Franklin D. Roosevelt), who urged swift action by the Congress to pave the way for the barter trade plan and made it plain that his farewell at Warm Springs (Georgia) constituted an indirect warning to the dictators that they must reckon with the United States’s moral, if not her physical, force in any war they may wage against the democracies. The French Council of Ministers un- • animously approved the declaration which the Prime Minister (M. Edouard Daladier) will make tomorrow. It will clearly set out the attitude of France to the European situation. M. Daladier informed the Ministers of the military measures which had been taken because of the present situation, and the Foreign Minister (M. Georges Bonnet) recounted the diplomatic activities. After this the council approved the additional measures and three decrees fixing the status of foreigners resident in France, their right to form associations, and their liberty to serve in national defence. ITALIAN ASSURANCE ACCEPTED GREEKS EXPRESS FULL SATISFACTION LONDON, April 12. The Greek Prime Minister (General John Metaxas) has sent a message to the Italian Foreign Office thanking Signor Mussolini for his categorical assurances of respect for the territorial and maritime frontiers of Greece. General Metaxas says he is completely satisfied with Signor Mussolini’s assurances and is convinced that no developments which would disturb traditional Italian and Greek friendship can possibly arise. He says he sees the beginning of a new period of cordiality resulting from continuation of this collaboration. The Daily Telegraph says: “The assurances which Signor Mussolini has given to Greece and Yugoslavia—and particularly to this country—are welcome so far as they go, but the best guarantee that such assurances are to be kept will be a firm indication of the perils of breaking them.”

DIPLOMATS BUSY IN LONDON BRITISH STATEMENT UNDER REVIEW DEFINITION OF STATUS QUO IN MEDITERRANEAN

(British Official Wireless) RUGBY, April 12.

The terms of the declaration of British policy in the light of the invasion of Albania which will be made tomorrow in both Houses of Parliament—specially summoned for the purpose—will be finally reviewed by a sub-com-mittee of the Cabinet this evening and the completed draft will come before a full meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow morning.

The form the declaration will take was the subject of consultations in London all day yesterday, culminating in the visit of the Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain) to Buckingham Palace, where the King received a full report of the latest developments and of the Government’s plans to prevent more aggression.

It is assumed that the declaration will include an exact and unequivocal statement of what Britain means by the status quo in the Mediterranean, observance of which was promised by Britain and Italy under the terms of the Anglo-Italian agreement. Conversations took place today with the Opposition and other leading politicians, and the High Commissioners of Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand were in conference with the Secretary for the Dominions (Sir Thomas Inskip). The Ministers who called on Mr Chamberlain included the Secretary for War (Mr L. Hore-Belisha), the Foreign Secretary (Viscount Halifax), who was accompanied by Sir Alexander Cadogan, permanent head of the Foreign Office, and the Home Secretary (Sir Samuel Hoare). The Leader of the Labour Opposition (Major C. R. Attlee) and Mr Winston Churchill also had interviews. BIG CROWDS Big crowds in Downing street watched these comings and goings. In the meantime a big number of foreign representatives visited the Foreign Office, including the French, Soviet, Chinese and Polish ambassadors, the Greek and Hungarian Ministers and the United States Charge d’Affaires. The acute international tension is the subject of newspaper editorial comment. The Times says: “The whole situation will become clearer when the Government has declared its policy and has submitted it for support to Parliament and the country.” In the meantime it remarks as significant that the community of opinion among likeminded nations in Europe is fully shared beyond the Atlantic. Commenting on Mr Roosevelt’s commendation of a leading article in The Washington Post, The Times says: “It gave perhaps the most direct warning yet heard that the destinies of the United States must be involved from the outset by any deliberate threat to the I foundations of Western civilization. Aggressors are remind'd that a nation stronger than they are supports with its, whole conviction the new efforts now being made to secure the liberitieg of Europe. There is plenty of evidence

that the view of the White House and the State Department is held by the great majority of the American people, who have been convinced that successive violations of international law are coming to amount to an attempt to dominate the world by military force.” ABBEY OPENED FOR PEACE PRAYERS AIR-RAID DRILL BY ROYAL FAMILY LONDON, April 12. Westminster Abbey is to be open all through the night, as it was in September, to enable continuous prayers for peace. Downing street denies reports of a personal communication between the Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain) and Signor Mussolini. Royal Air Force aeroplanes “raided” Windsor Castle. The King and Queen, the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the Princesses went to bomb-proof shelters when the sirens sounded. The King later watered decontamination squads at work.

PLANS FOR ROYAL TOUR UNCHANGED KING AND QUEEN TO SAIL ON MAY 6 (Received April 13, 7.5 p.m.) LONDON, April 13. The arrangements for the King and Queen to sail for Canada in H.M.S. Repulse on May 6 have not been changed. LEAGUE SENDS DOCUMENTS TO SAFETY GENEVA, April 12. The League of Nations has sent to the United States cases of important documents for safe keeping. The documents sent to the United States were merely historical exhibits for the New York World’s Fair, says a later message.