THE MEDITERRANEAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24420, 4 October 1940, Page 7

THE MEDITERRANEAN

BRITAIN IN CONTROL BIG VOLUME OF SHIPPING ITALY’S BASELESS CLAIM LONDON, Oct. 3. . - (Received Oct. 3, at 10 p.m.) The Ministry of Economic Warfare spokesman disclosed the hollowness of Italy’s claim to control the Mediterranean and even seriously interfere with British trade in Levant. Some convoys are able to traverse the Mediterranean, and regular and steadily increasing trade is passing to and from the Suez Canal, through the Red Sea, past Eritrea and Italian Somaliland Italian submarines and planes are powerless to check it. Britain since July has imported tens of thousands of tons of magnesite from Greece for making bombs, and the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation has imported vast quantities of dried fniitsjfrQip .the same source. Timber came from Rumania, dried,, fruits and other goods' from Turkey, hemp ahii 1 flax 'fronU’the Balkans, cotton, cotton'.seed, 7 lime and phosphates and onions from Egypt. The cotton shipments id the first -six months of the year were above the average. Cyprus sends asbestos and iron pyrites. Increasing quantities of potash are being imported from Palestine Britain is:carrying on a large export trade with these countries. Egypt gets coal, oil, fertilisers, timber, metals and machinery safely, although, according to enemy, propaganda, British trade in the Near East is completely stopped.