Evening star., 1941-06-14
Hull, Henry-Hoye Statements
French Told to Reject 'Preposterous Stotus'
Policy Misnterpreted. Says Envoy
Follo,Uinq is the tert OF Score
turu OF State HuUS Statment last

FOLLOWING is the teTt OF Secre-
tary of State HuUS Statment last
night concerning France:
From the standpoint of the
French people. and others who have
love for freedom, and have free
dom. the attitude of the present
government of Vichy is matter of
the deepest disappointment and
sorrow.
The original scheme of the Dar-
lan-Laval group to deliver France
politically, economically. socially
and militarily to Hitler seems now
to have been brought out into the
open by a succession of public
statements by French authorities
and especially those by Messrs. La
val and Darlan.
When Germany recently desired to
make us of Syria to attack Brit
ish forces in 1raq no objection,
much less resistance, to this action
was made by France, although the
terms of the armistice between
France and Germany did not re-
quire that France permit territory
under French control outside oc-
cupied France to be used as base
for German military operations, and
Marshall Petain declared as recent
ly as a few weeks ago that he
would not permit such use.
Syria Vital to Hitler.
The use of Syria is vitally i'm
portant part of the general plan Of
Hitler's to invade Iraq, Egypt, the
canal area, and Africa. When the
~rch authorities in Syria, acting
under the Vichy government, made
no effort to prevent German use OF
Syria as a military base, and when
they permitted even the shipment
from Syria of military supplies Of
French manufacture to be used by
the Germans against Frances for
mer ally, they permitted Germany
to extend the theater of war into
French-mandated territory. To re-
sist this further expansion of Ger
man aggression, the British forces
in the Near East entered Syria to
prevent German actions there
which the French, under the di-
rection of the Vichy government,
were permitting if not abetting.
Yet the French authorities in Syria
have considered it necessary to con-
test bitterly this British effort to
prevent Syria from being used as a
German base
These facts Enthusiastically demon
strate that the German military eff
fort is making use of France and
that the German initiative in Syria
is resulting in a conflict, not only of
France against Britain but of
Frenchmen against Frenchmen.
Germany seems to have prevailed
on the Vichy government to do
Germany's fighting in the Syria
area of the general German ad-
vance.
LOyalties Surrendered.
But aside from the situation in
Syria, and considering the broader
aspects of Franco German collab-
grafton, the public statements of
the Darlan-Laval elements demon
strate that the people of France
are expected not only to surrender
permanently and Internationally
their loyalty to all French tradi-
tions, institutions, liberties, interests,
culture, and the entire way of life
which made France great, but actu-
ally to transfer all of the loyalties-
all hope of the future-to Hitler in
the hope of securing his personal
favor. The general adoption of
Hitlerism would set the world back
five to ten centuries.
In a statement on June 10, Ad-
miral Darlan, vice premier of France,
urged the French people to conquer
their illusions and consent to sac
rifices and indicated that France
would be utterly destroyed unless
the French people should take this
unprecedented and revolutionary
action.
Unless a military invader is de-
void of all human attributes he eX-
tends to the conquered all of those
considerations and recognitions con-
templated by the rules and principles
of civilized society An armistice
signifies a temporary cessation Of
hostilities between the parties to 1t.
It does not contemplate that the sue