Advertisement

French Still Believes in Democracy; People Oppressed by Naziz--Morize

Declaring that the French people know too much about German domination to accept any peace short of complete liberation, Andre Morize said here yesterday that "an overwhelming majority of French people remain faithful to democratic principles."

"They suffer," he emphasized, "they are exploited and famished by the Naziz, and bombed by the British." After almost two years, however, they know exactly what a complete Nazi victory would mean, and they know that, to prevent it there are terrible things to be accepted."

Attitude Unchanged by Raids

To the best of his knowledge, Morize said, the recent British raids on Paris have done nothing to alienate the feelings of the population. "They consider it a sad, tragic necessity," he stated, revealing that the French have often sheltered British aviators forced to land on their soil, and that French women decorated the graves of British pilots killed in action.

Quoting a letter recently received from a professor at Paris, Morize said that 95% of the people are still faithful to their traditions and their alliances. A great wave of hope swept over France when they heard of American entering the war, he cited, praising their enduring morale as "as splendid as anyone can expect."

Advertisement

Thousands of Frenchmen, he noted, have been forcibly transferred to the Ruhr, to be replaced by German workers who hope to be safe in French factories, and large amounts of war material, he emphasized, are being manufactured in German occupied French factories.

For their peace aims, he said that the French want the liberation of their country and the recovery of the right to say how and by whom they want to be governed. "This does not mean a return to the pre-war conditions." Morize emphasized, "for the French are aware that everything was not perfect in their democracy. They hope principally for the right to say what they want and what they do not want."

Advertisement