I~it_::_£UNP£0,. EDNE^rAY^EPTai3ER 2«i. 1 o;,n GOOD EVENING EVERYBODY: In all the pages of historyfind more curious than the relations between the British and the French as they exist tonight. The former sworn allies face each other in a situation that is rare, paradoxical, tragic. On the west coast 4 of Africa, Britons were hurling shells at Frenchmen. At Gibraltar, Frenchmen raining bombs dewir on Britons. With all that, the xxxxxxx>>>x>*xihx£±±xtiuii Foreign Office at Vichy stated that there is not a state of war between France and Britain. That attack on Dakar tonight.resembles the ill-fated A / British attack on Narvik. It was a failure, and Dakar tonight remains in the hands of the French forces, the forces loyal to the Detain government at Vichy. All through the day, the reports that came through about thsk naval attack were gloomy and unsatisfactory, that is A LEAP - 2 from the point of view of the British.w-h***. -who Vichy Earlier in the day,announced that General) Charles DeGalle and his contingent of Free Frenchmen had ^ithdrav.n froin the attack* In fact, they said he withdrew overnight. Thereupon, said the Petain government, the British alone kept up the assault upon Dakar. A second ultimatum was dispatched to Governor-General Boisson and that one was signed by the British admiral in command of the fleet. The French claimed^all the rest of it, although they admitted that a hundred and eighty-five of the defenders of Dekar had been killed, three hundred and sixty-three wounded. The Vichy government claimed that six British warships had been hit, including the battleships BARHAM and RESOLUTION, the heavy cruiser KENT, and another cruiser. In spite of this official news, there were unofficial rumors running around Vichy throughout the day that the ganramral Governor-General at Dakar had surrendered the port to the British. These rumors were promptly denied. And just about an hour ago, LEAD - 3 the Petain denial was confirmed when London admitted it. The British government gave out a smooth and tactful explanation of the withdrawal. The siege of Dakar had been lifted, they said, when it became evident that only a majfeor operation of war could t, . owmu Then the explanation continued, in these words:- f "It never had been the intention of His Majesty!s government to enter into serious warlike operations against those Frenchmen who felt it their duty to obey the command of the Vichy government." The Admiralty admitted that "both His MajestyTs ships ard the French batteries on shore scored hits and incurred casualties." But it also claimed that two French submarines had been sunk. The British Ministry of Information explains in detail the circumstances which led to that expedition, an explanation which puts it in an entirely new light. This is what happened: General De^auile received iniormation that a large portion of the French population in Senegal was in sympathy with his movement of Free Frenchmen. He had good reason to believe that ttizx they would welcome his arrival. So he suggested to the 7ye^__ government that he should go there with the troops of w /^renchmen and the foreign legion that he had at his disposal, subject to the consent of Great Britain. And, says the Ministry of Information, "His Majesty's government had information that German influence was tspreading to Dakar.'j^^d I'tanaarfi y ^ tt ^ ^ fa jf? Meanwhile, the^fcccfciiij government sent three cruisers from Toulon* which passed through the Straits of Gibraltar. The British did not interfere with them, so long as they were not destined to any ports under German control. They proceeded to Dakar without interference. But when they later put to sea and steamed further south, it was thought they might be intending to interfere with the situation in French equatorial Africa which had declared for General DeGaulle. Accordingly, ships of the Royal Wavy intercepted them and insisted upon their returning to Dakar, ^ne of them with engine trouble going to Casa Bianca. On the morning of September Twenty-Third, says the British Ministry of Information, emissaries of General DeGaulle, flying the tri-color and a white flag, attempted to land at DaKar. They were met with a hostile reception and were fired upon and seriously wounded. Batteries of the port opened fire on one of DeGaulle’s warships and ^ warships. Thereupon the admiral in command signalled that"unless fire ceases, we will be compelled to return it." The fire of the shore batteries did not cease so the fire was returned, and both His Majesty’s snips and the pert batteries scored hits and incurred casualties. The explanation adds that General DeGaulle himself was most anxious that he should not be the cause of bloodshed to his fellow countrymen. So there1s the official story of that Dakar business. As for the French attack on Gibraltar, the Vichy government boasted that it was the most serious that the defenders of the Rock had yet sustained. French airplanes bombarded that fortress steadily for more than two hours. They scored hits that set huge fires in many places, also hits on British warships in the harbor, including the formidable battleship RENOWN. INDO-CHINA The Vichy Government also had plenty to worry worry Kkt about in Indo-China. reports.'einTTrtr'^haV-First it was announced that the Japanese Major General Nishihara had brought about by negotiation the enu si' to aggressive movement of Japanese troops on the border north of Hanoi. France hd had formally warned the Tokyo government that she would resist any further Japanese aggressions. That followed on the heels of the news that a number of barges had appeared at the seaport of Hanoi filled with Japanese troops. The latest news about Indo-China comes from Hanoi itself. French forces had seized Langson, an important railroad Hanoi. center eighty-two miles northeast of^jjouagxciix In the course of the day Japanese troops from ’the South China army surrounded the city. And just a short while ago came a dispatch announcing that the French had been obliged to withdraw from hangson in the face of a vastly superior force of Japanese. INDO-CHINA - 2 Vy k According to the agreement between Japan and the k± Vichy GoTBrnment, the Japanese^ wMwfat have only six thousand A l soldiers in Indo-China. But today there are thirty thousand, xxlshxlsxsjDBiLtxthBxiLSKZ±xw2iyxthsxa[x|saiuexsxxt±Kk which, observers are pointing out, is about the usual way the Japanese live up to their treaties ./ The loss of ■r Langson, according to military experts, is quite serious, as a it is/railhead and a line leads from there straight into the heart of the colony. URUGUAY Relations appear to be somwhat strained between the Government of Uruguay and the Nazi Embassy at Montevideo. SW government disapproves the activity of one of the members of / the embassy, the Nazi press attache. There,*** been quite a z 4 A pungent exchange of messages between the Uruguayan foreign office and the Nazi envoys. Tne newspapers of Montevideo were freely predicting tnat this Nazi press attache would be sent out of the country, declared in diplomatic language, persona non grata, which is the polite diplomatic way of giving an unpopular diplomat the boot. The Uruguayan newspapers are outspoken about that press attache aa* in fact about the Nazis in general. They describe press attache as HitlerTs gauleiter, meaning A commissarjin Uruguay. And they declare that Hitler is plotting to make Uruguay a peasant colony of the Reich, ^t the Sciine L,ime, one of the federal judges was questioning eight prisoners, including a prominent Nazi, accused of planning the occupation of Uruguay. Meanwhile, the Congress of Ecuador is reported to have given the President of that country wide powers to expel any URUGUAY - 2 forei^nei^ for spreading propaganda contrary to democratic ideas. The Ecuadorian Congress held a secret session to consider the activities of Nazis and Fascists ir^outh America. Uncle lam's new Minister to Canada, J. Pierrepont Moffat, had something to say toclay. it was his first public utterance tie. ci&tffys/'SK . since he took The gist of his remarks Was that relations between us in the United States and thg fcrliO in Canada have become more sgi^O^y intertwined than ever. There*s a new phase today, he said, in Canadian-American relations. A board of military experts is feeing to start soon to picK out those naval and air bases on British territory in the Cari--ean. announcerflentmade by Colonel Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy. It*11 be a joint board of high officers of the Army and the Navy, and will be headed by Rear Admiral Greenslade. They will sail in a few days aboard Uncle SamTs cruiser ST.LOUIS. Secretary Knox told his press conference that _ q the government wants to get started building th»a« bases just as soon as the essential details are taken care of. A Newspaper men then as^ed him whether there had been any arrangements with the British government for the use of the British base at Singapore by Uncle Samfs navy. The Secretary said there ~bLt had been no conversations on subject so far. HOWARD FOLLOW KNOX A strong argument follow use of that Singapore base is 60 advanced today. Xt^wc offered by Roy V> Howard, head of the Scripps-Hov.ard, nowsprryepft. He thinics if such an arrangement could be made, that it might save the Philippines from seizure by the Japanese. "In fact," says Howard,"it would alter the whole pattern of the Pacific. An American or a British fleet at Singapore," he continued, "would definitely affect any plans xfc Japan might have for a southward thrust in the direction of the Dutch East Indies or &S Australia. It might even," he said, "hasten a fair and just peace betweer\chin£ and Japan." fto^fd.T—that'-'war is- LEGION At their convention in Boston, the LegionnIlSf^rwhelmlngly v'oted their sentiment that conscription should be made a permanent system in the United States. Anut.ier resolution adopted at Boston shows that the Legion isjaot in sympathy ’Aith the prejudice against sending American soldiers to fight in other countries. The Legion evidently does not <Tt+si i+szxr-m — quite see the sense of insisting that^war*—be fought on American soil. So they^B* in favor of the United States being so A fully prepared for war that if it does become necessary, all fighting will be outside the United States. The Legion also is unanimously in favor of having Harry Bridges, the Australian West Coast labor leader, sent back to Australia. A.B.A. follow legion vjuch io thw public opinion among the Legionnaires. Here’s the bankers’ opinion, as developed at the Convention of the American Bankers Association at Atlantic City. ”If we don’t put an end to deLicit financing and profligate spending, we will surely be on the road to dictatorship.” So said the President of the American Bankers Association to his colleagues. He also spoke with alarm about the indifference in America to the nature and extent of borrowing by the government. And the Economic Policy xhxxs Commission of the American Bankers Association turned in a report contained the accusation that our rearmament is a A progressing far too slowly. ELLIOTT Elliott Roosevelt is mad, madder than the leeendary wet hen. And almost as loudly vocal. The object of his rafee is General Hufeh Johnson, popularly known as ’'Old Iron Pants.” The ro» is all about Elliott's appointment as a captain in the Army Air Corps, assigned to procurement serviceA Hugh Johnson, in his column today, threw a carload of bracks at that appointment. He pointed out that Pres/clentBoosevelt had told the country that the selective service Za^xitust be administered fairly and without fear or favor. Sol gays Johnson, the appointment of Elliott Hoosevelt as a captain "looks like hateful nepotism, favoritism and unfairness at the very head of the system." Johnson goes on to say he cOh^iciers ij^ so raw that he is sure the President didn't know about it or else didn't give a thought to the implication, and he doubts that Elliott did either. But he adds that if that appointment is not rescinded, it will remain a stench to heaven. He ai^o hints that Elliott’s qualifications for the job to which he is appointed are \ / ^ not visible to the naked eye. That's what Elliott's mad about. He says General E u LIQTT - 2 Johnson is a disgusting old man. He says he did not ask for any special assignnent, merely volunteered for any service to which the Army chose to assign him\ Elliott says he »uld much rather have been assigned to active duty as a flyer. Then he adds:- ’’The slime which Hugh Johnson endeavors to spread with his insinuations comes from a man who served during the last war ens ponced behind a fine desk, far from the dangers of dropping shell fragments.” The betting in newspaper offices is that we haven’t heard the last of this argument. BArifiYaORE Just because^. Barrymore has quarreled with his Ariel - again - that doesn't mean he's through with love the ladies (^k>. ktalidl. 'hu^r: dt-i Not by any manner of mean^waajBW^Love, says the Great Profi: is such a gorgeous gamble that it maices roulette seem like tick-^ac toe. That's what he told reporters this morning im atop of t] mountain he owns out in Beverly Hills. He's protected by qGite an elaborate bodyguard on top of that mountain. But heT so foolish as to keep out the reporters and publicity. He told tha" this time itTs definitely all off with Elaine, this divorce is going to stick. So a reporter asked him whether he was off women forever. Barrymore almost fell off his chair with the vehemence o his denial. "Not on your life!nhe exclaimed. Then he asked:- f1Do you think ITd give up just after a couple of punc —ft, l r. gtrifle hr Inviuil — r( IS^***% 3