NOTES AND COMMENTS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 104, 27 January 1943, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS

Cvm-i-tl MaeVthur’s stulomt'iit mt Ibe significance “f air-power in reviving tiie situation in the Pacific enables lhe rentier to form a clearer Of tin- tasks ahentl. In lhe Pacific area the tremendous influence of Ur-power as an offensive seems likely to he fully realized and used for solving the problems peculinr lo this immense isltind-studde.l oeeame expanse Genernl MticAi tlnii ’s remarks suggest Unit some eletl fir-defined plnn of offensive strategy aimed at carrying lhe war finally into lhe enemy’s cmmtrv has been slowly and carefully evolved from lhe lessons o[ past events The conditions of warfare in the Pacific, ns we now t.ppreoi;ile. are vastly (lil’ferent from tln.se in lite theatres of lhe West, ami this applies particularly to lhe task of misting Japanese my from lhe island stronglHdnls which in lhe beginning formed lhe bridgeheadsj.l Ins southward Offensive operations, and. from now on. lhe bus o! Ins own Uefenee system. They are the -hedgehogs" of the ocean, to l Uber bypassed and left for later mopping up. or their garrisons blasted mil o existence by intensive air bombing of flic kind and on the scale that General \|.ic\rthnr has foreshadowed in bis encouraging survey of lite position * * * *

compared with the big issues that will have to be settled when hoslilitit.s eease Hie return of looted treasures is a minor item, but it. will give people the world over a feeling of real pleasure. Whether Goering. Himmler or Ribbentrop, who are said to be experts in this method of collecting nrtislic treasures, will be present when the goods are returned to then’ rtgh'ful owners is more Ilian dmil.tful. They may have sought safer quarters in neutral countries, but they will not l>e tilde lo lake all their loot with them. In Hie Ribl'cntrop tho return of Hie illegally acquired property may involve Hie ensile which lie is said to It has been reported Ihal in order to aeqtiire il lie arranged, as they can m Nazi eireles. for Hie owner to be removed lo a concent rat ion ea mp from wlneli lie never returned Goering lias built for himself a tremendous place and it Ims been furnished, not so mneb regardless of cost, it Ims been said, as regardless of the feelim’s of those who rigidly owned much of the contents. There will be deep satisfaction when il is reported that the Van Eyck masterpiece, given to Goering by tiie Vichy authorities, although it belonged to a cathedral in Bel'dnm lias been returned lo its proper place. It is not itsmil for n Governnmnt lo give away Hint does ’long lo it-espeeially property eiilrusted to it I'm- safe keeping-but matters such as Hint do not eiirt’v weight, with those who claim authority at Vichy. Some day a more legal form of dispossession will operate than Ihal adopted by the Nazi lenders. Under it tlie.v will be tiie dispossessed.