7 NOVEMBER 1941, Page 2

The Captured French Ships

There is not a shadow of justification for the Vichy protest against the interception of a French convoy by British warships off the South African coast. The five French merchant-ships, escorted by a French sloop, were challenged by the British in accordance with their unquestionable right .of visit and search. The French commander was requested to direct the ships he was escorting into port, where, if it was found that they were not carrying contraband, they would duly be released. The fact that the crew of three of the vessels attempted, unsuccessfully, to scuttle them affords a strong presumption that they were in fact carrying something other than food-supplies, as claimed by Vichy, for the inhabitants of French West Africa and unoccupied France. The truth is that Admiral Darlan has been carrying his policy of co-operation with Germany to the point of affording the enemy every possible assistance in the transport of war-supplies. The indulgence which the British Navy has accorded to the ships of a former ally has been grossly abused not only in the transit of goods across the Mediterranean, but actually under our eyes in the approaches to the Straits of Gibraltar. Every effort has been made by this country not to interfere with the genuine food supplies of the French people, and facilities have just been promised for the despatch of a special cargo from the United States. But the time has come to stop a policy of leniency in so far as it is abused to Germany's advantage. The goodwill of Darlan is not worth seeking, and more reasonable Frenchmen will understand the necessities of a legitimate blockade.