Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-11-10
CARIBBEAN ACTION SEEN NEAR
S. Move by December Held Possible
By Constantine Br0spn.

a further blockade of England necessary,
the French will place at their disposal
without fiat transfer-the strongly
fortified Dakar naval and air base. This
support will be explained by the French
government as not constituting a sur
render of a colony but merely an assist
ance given to one of the beligerents to
prevent the present disastrous war from
dragging on.
Too Much Concealed Meaning.
The State Department has questioned
the French government through its
diplomatic representatives here and
through the American diplomats at
Vichy concerning its intentions regard
ing the colonies and their use by the
belligerenU powers. The answers which
have been received so far have been I'M
satisfactory. There is no question of
allowing any parts of the French Empire
to become totalitarian colonies Even
Indo-China has not been lost to France,
says Vice Premier Laval. The fact that
the japanese have been allowed to es-
tablish naval and air bases there is
merely temporary arrangement to
give certain facilities to the Toxic gov
eminent for the establishment of peace
III China" The policies of the French
government, it is said with certain
amount of irony are not unlike those
Of the United States: A strong desire
to see the present anarchic turmoil in
the world come to an end as quickly 40
fN0ecih1o i,, he f,,t,,r L.
operation between new France"-the
France which has erased from its coat
OF arms the words liberty, equality, fra
ternity'-and its former foes that CO.
operation will be directed exclusively at
the re-establishment of peace and order
in the world.
The administration In Washington
does not take these assurances at their
face value. There Is too much concealed
meaning in these phrases to make WASH
ington comfortable. For instance, there
are some le0-odd American planes in
Martinique. They belong to France be-
cause the Reynaud government had paid
in cash for them. Nobody can force the
Petain government to return them to
the United States. But the administra-
ton is anxious to find out what the role
Of the German inspectors" is who are
reported to have been smuggled from
Mexico into the French colony recently.
The British blockade has closed the har-
Dor of Fort-de-France to all shipping.
But it is not difficult for men who are
willing to take chance to acquire some
small craft and reach the small inlets
along the coast of Martinique and
Guadeloupe. When the number of these
inspectors" is large enough to man the
100 American planes which are now on
the shores of Martinique. it will not be
difficult for them to make exploration
flights around the Canal Zone with
bombs in the racks of these planes.
U-Boats In Atlantic.
Furthermore, number of shippers Of
tramps plying in the South Atlantic have
reported sighting either periscopes or
even the silhouettes of submarines in
spots where neither American nor
Netherland nor British submarines could
have been. American patrol ships were
rushed to the indicated zones and found
nothing. These ships have become as
mythical as the famous sea serpent:
Everybody sees them but nobody can find
them. Nevertheless, in responsible quar-
tiers 1t is considered more than a DOS
sibiity that some of the axis ocean,
ging submarines should have reached the
Southern Atlantic, in the hope of taking
shelter either at Martinique or Guade-
loupe.
The strong patrol force has been dis
patched to the Caribbean in the imme-
date vicinity of the French possessions
as a result of these reports. This force.
supplemented by number of marines
who are kept in readiness to move out
at moments notice, is in a position to
occupy the two French naval bases anv
time the order "go" is flashed from
Washington Conversations are now
proceeding with the French government
in order to make it clear that such a
move should not be considered an act
of the 81 American republics depriving
France of her possessions. The American
governments are willing to assure France
that this will be only temporary meas
ure, and both islands would be returned
to France as soon as the crisis is over
The half-starved native and French
populations of Martinique are said to
await with anxiety the arrival of the
Americans. Both islands produce mainly
sugar and rum and lack actual foodstuffs
and clothing. Trade is at standstill be-
cause of the British blockade. The Gov
ernor General himself would be willing
to go so far as to invite the Americans
to come to the island and end three
months-old nightmare, but Admiral Rob-
ert, hard seaman, is still determined
to obey orders from Vichy. And from
what is known here, these orders-in-
spired by Berlin-are oppose force with
force"
The conversations which are proceed
ing now have as their principal aim to
avoid clash In which the French would
sacrifice more men for no purpose what
soever.