SEVERE PRIVATIONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 November 1940, Page 8

SEVERE PRIVATIONS

ENDURED IN FRANCE TERRIFIC SCARCITY OF NECESSITIES. STRUGGLE AGAINST INHUMAN DIFFICULTIES (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, November 5. Grim light is thrown on conditions in France by an article in the Swedish newspaper “Dagens Nyheter,” which says that the official French figure of 1,500,000 refugees in unoccupied territory includes only those registered and supported by the Government. There are also a large number of refugees trying to support themselves and unregistered. They struggle against inhuman difficulties.

The biggest refugee ’centre is Toulouse, where, during past months, 10,000,000 to 12,000,000 refugees passed through. At present the Toulouse population is still 900,000, instead of the pre-war 250,000. Thus all indispensible goods, such as food, medicine, clothes and bed sheets, are terribly scarce. The harvest was bad and communications are very difficult. French, Swedish and other relief committees try to find work for the refugees, but Toulouse expects to have at least 70,000 refugees to support this winter, among them 10,000 women and children. Committees are /organising entertainmen! and education. All nationalities are represented among the refugees —French, German, Polish, Belgian, Czech and Jewish. Half an hour’s trip from Toulouse the State has organised camp shelters for 500 women, and'a number of others are soon expected. In Lyons there are about 12,000 people who were evacuated or expelled from Alsace-Lor-raine. Another difficult problem is to find work, clothing, food and spiritual assistance for 22,000 Paris girls, aged from 14 to 18. who are unable to support themselves.

THE NAZI DESIGN STATEMENT BY LORD HALIFAX. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, November 5. In the House of Lords, the Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, in a statement on the war situation, said that Herr Hitler was prosecuting his design of attempting to disintegrate the whole life and future of the French nation, and it was in that light that Britain must look on his recent conversations with Marshal Petain. He said that though Britain was not fully informed of what passed between Marshal Petain and Herr Hitler, the terms now demanded by the Germans exceeded the armistice terms, which were cruel enough. The difficulty of Marshal Petain’s position was fully realised, but Lord Halifax said he could not believe that Marshal Petain and his Government would commit France to a course which would be a stab in the back for her former ally. Britain, on her side, had repeatedly rejected suggestions from the enemy for an agreement at the expense of France. Lord Halifax said it was to be hoped that those directing French policy might see in the end that the course of French survival was the same as Britain’s.