The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-04-14

(Contlnued from Page n German pressure on VIchy for full cooperation, in A dramatic over" night reorganiSntlon which was an- nounced at noon,
 PetNin, Laval and DNrlan made the announcement in Q Joint com. munique:
 "snce his last talks with Mar shal Petain M. Laval has conferred often with Adm Darlan,
 "roday Marshal Petain, Adm. Dar- Ian and M. Laval met and dee cided to proceed with the forma- ton of new government ,eStab- lished on c new basis,
 "MarshAl Petain, Adm, Darlan and M. Laval will meet again."
 Laval went Immediately 10 his chateau at Chateldon, nearby, af- ter final talk with Petain and Darlan and made his arrangements Go go to Paris thiS afternoon He will return here Thursday.
 It was said officially that the full makeup of the new cabinet will not Dc announced until Thursday, when Laval returns,
 War Guilt Trial Ends
 As the cabinet change was made, the official journal published de- cree SuSpcnding the Riom "war guilt" trial which Germany had bite tGfiy denounced because the former French leaders involved were ac- cused Of losing the war, not Of starting lt.
 Laval, dismissed Eummarily aS vice premier December i3, io40, was returned to even more power than he had enjoyed for five months bee fore that as virtual co.dictator with Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, in charge Of foreign and internal af- fairs.
 Az mlnistetr of Interior Henow controls the French National police whose hold extends into the small est village Of the country,
 For days before the change, Germany and Paris collaborationistG had intensihod their pressure on the government and had sald with steadily increasing sharpness that France must make Up It's mind at once on full cooperation with Ger many.
 They had demanded first Of all the reorganization of the govern ment with Laval in power under Petain and they had intlmated plainly that the decision must be made at once.
 Today's decree sugpcndlng tho war guilt trial said 1t was ordered 70 the court might complete itg Information with view 10 seeking and judging all responsibilities .n- cured by those persons mentioned in the (war guilt) law Of July 30 l940 whose actions led to the pasg- age from state Of peace to state Of war before Sept 4, i930, and those who either before or after that date aggravated the conse- quences Of the situation thus cre- ated"
 (T'here was every indication that the cabinet reorganization marked crisis in French policy of impor- tance to the entire allied world. CThe question immediately arose whether France would sever rela- tions with the United States and turn over its formidable navy to Ger many.
 Pressure On Petain
 Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, chief of state of Vichy. had been put under terrific pressure for many days to cast Vichy's lot definitely with Germany. London reported that as part of the pressure Germany had closed the border between occupied and unoccupied France and that the entire French border opposite Switzerland, including Vichy France had been closed.
 (United Press Vichy dispatches had been drastically censored. One received from United Press corre- spondent Heinzen yesterday said: While official hermetic silence is still imposed here censored q. the Paris press blatantly pretends that France censored |. faces decisive hours in the opinion of Petit Parisien. Censored {. Same as the German ofnclal news