Candidates for Slavery
We are facing a tragedy," said M. Chasseigne, Vichy's Director of Propaganda, in an appeal to workers in unoccupied France to submit themselves to the demands of Germany before the expiry of the ultimatum accepted by Laval. The demand had been for the supply of zso,000 skilled French workers to give their labour forced or unforced, in German war factories. Laval, glib • promises, gave his word. Volunteers for slavery were due to arrive before September 3oth. (The time-limit is extended, with threa in case of failure, till October 31st.) But with all the pressure that he could bring to bear, accompanied by the usual promises of release of war-prisoners, Laval at the beginning of this week had only 17,000 Frenchmen to hand over to bond-service. What will Sauckel, the German Commissioner of Labour, do to extort the labour which all the cajolery of the Laval Press, and the pressure applied to individuals by his agents, have failed to produce? Will he come and fetch his victims—in other words, occupy unoccupied France? Or will the Quisling Laval be sacked, and Doriot, or some other competitor in dishonour, be installed in his place? Doubtless the problem is one for Germany as well as for France, since she has no desire at this moment to spread out her forces still more widely in holding down conquered people ; and each fresh iniquity exacted from the Vichy Government further weakens such allegiance as Vichy has -from Frenchmen in France and in the colonies—par- ticularly the latter. It is tragedy, indeed, as M. Chasseigne say but the greater tragedy would be acquiescence in Laval's monstrou demand.
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