While there appears to be a lull in the naval action which for the greater part of the week has been fought along the coast of Norway, there can be little doubt that further engagements will take place when the opportunity offers. At the present time What enemy craft have escaped the attentions of the Allied naval forces are apparently bottled up in various Norwegian fiords not particularly anxious to come out and take the punishment awaiting them. That is understandable for it is quite clear now that the German fleet has undergone a hammer-]ing which will in all probability make the crews no more anxious to seek further trouble than, it subsequently transpired, the crew of the Admiral Graf Spee was. How severe was that punishment may be estimated from the statement of results given by the French Premier, M. Paul Reynaud in his speech to the Chamber of Deputies. The naval action has led to twenty-two vessels being sunk, eighteen German and four British, Four German cruisers have been destroyed, representing one-tenth of the total German naval strength, together with one destroyer and a submarine, and no fewer than a dozen troop transports. As against that the British lost four destroyers, a light price to pay for so imposing a success. To the twelve German transports which have been sunk, there has to be added two which have been interned in Sweden, one because of damage done to her and the other because she infringed Swedish territorial waters. The Allies have cut the iron ore route from Narvik to Germany, and it may confidently be expected that it will remain cut, and at the same time a smashing blow has been given to German prestige from which it will take that nation a long time to recover. The German high command either because of miscalculation, or because of sheer desporation have seen what might have been a tactical success transformed by the energetic action of the Allies into a strategical blunder of the first magnitude.
What is of even more importance is the fact that Norway has decided to resist the German invasion, and has thrown in her lot with the Allies. There was at first some doubt whether she would do so, but it speaks well for a numerically small nation that it has taken up the challenge and has already inflicted considerable harm upon the invade ers. In the picturesque words of the French Premier "After leaping on Denmark,"—with whom as Mr. Churchill reminded the House of Commons Germany had recently concluded a treaty guaranteeing her from all molestation,—"She hurled herself at Norway believing she would not meet more resistance than from Austria in 1938. Instead she met with resistance like that of Belgium in 1914." Merely another blunder on the part of the Reich. It is to be expected that now the iron ore route has been cut and is likely to remain so, Herr Hitler will turn his attention to the possibility of invading Sweden as an alternative route to Norway. The Swedes have already announced their intention to maintain, and, if necessary, defend their neutrality, and seeing what has happened to two of their neighbours, and realizing exactly what German guarantees are worth, are not likely now to be cozened into an; departure from that attitude. Sweden with the biggest army of the three Scandinavian countries may be expected to give a good account of herself, and it may yet prove to be the case that because of the imposing reverse which the Reich has already sustained Herr Hitler may even now decide not to enlarge his commitments on the peninsula, though, if he does, the prospects of receiving any greater supplies of iron ore than he has up to the present will not be particularly bright. This has to be remembered; with Sweden at war with Germany, ore supplies will be entirely cut off, and Germany would have to secure the complete subjugation of Sweden and command of the Baltic before they could ever be resumed.
German troop movements behind the boundaries of the Lowlands and Luxembourg suggest that perhaps the time is not far distant when Herr Hitler will decide to attack either Belgium or Holland or possibly both. Holland presents a particular lure as giving Germany air bases closer to Britain, and ports whence the U-boat campaign might be prosecuted more effectively. It is believed that an attack on Holland may take place in the near future. It willie met by the Low-lends in common action, for it is understood Belgium will assist Holland in such an even-triality, while doubtless the Allies would be ready and anxious to render all help within their power, and that will not be small. The general picture is presented of Germany slowly strangling in the grip of the blockade thrashing out in all directions in an endeavour to obtain some relief. Thus not only from a strategic point of view would the conquering of the Lowland prove attractive to Herr Hitler, but the food supplies of those countries would be sought as further relief to the tightening belts of the German people. In this connection it may readily be assumed that the Danes will be deprived of their foodstuffs in precisely the same way as have the Poles, and the only opportunity which Belgium and Holland has of saving themselves from the same treatment lies in the putting up of a successful defence against German inroads. The whole situation is pregnant with enormous possibilities and immediate developments will be watched with the keenest interest. It should be borne in mind that there is not one development which can take place which has not always been in the minds of the Allied Governments, and the only element of surprise which exists is as to when the expected new moves will be made. That factor of surprise is, however, not great, for with all countries threatened standing under. arms for the past eight months full preparations have been made to meet all emergencies. The initiative still remains with Herr Hitler, but if it proves no more valuable to him than it has with regard to Norway he would appear to be perfectly welcome to it. the Municipal Elections are now over, and as the result of last-minute changes in the voters' list a considerable difference in the standing of the various community votes was brought about, groutly in favour of the occidental nations. The closeness of the total votes given for the two American candidates suggests that the British lin American votes were cast solidly for them und allowing for a certain number of suffrages given them by ratepayers of other nationalities, it may safely be considered that these 8,000 was the greatest number of votes any candidate could hope to poll without the assistance of the Japanese. The spread of less than 200 voles those cast for Mr. Allman, and the lowest successful British candidate clearly in-äicates the solidarity of the occidental voters jon the question of the maintenance of the status quo, while it is to be noticed that the spread between the highest and lowest Japanese candidate being only 33 demonstrates how thoroughly well organized the Japanese voters turned out to be. There is nothing more significant than the astonishingly small vote given in favour Mr. McDonald. He polled less than three per cent. of the total votes cast and in the event proved to be not the menace to the selected British and American candidates that it was-believed he would be. Nevertheless it has to be pointed out that had the Japanese voted for him, as it was thought they would, it would have resulted in the Japanese only securing one seat on the Council, a result which would have been greatly deplored. As a result of this election the ratepayers are afforded another year in which the present status quo will be retained. It is to be hoped that the verdict of the polls will be accepted without resentment on any side. There was a grave danger at one time that national feeling would rise to uncomfortable heights. Happily good sense prevailed all round and the election itself was marked by no unfortunate incident. It is hoped that the good sportsmanship for which Shanghai is so noted will prevent any deterioration in the existing situation and that the results of the election will be accepted by all. If the coming year is devoted, to a study of the best means of providing the Japanese with something approaching the degree of representation, which they demand, it is believed the time will not be ill-spent. There are indeed few who do not realize that the International Settlement will sooner or later have to embark on a process of evolution which in fact has been necessary for several years past, and if the problems which are now presented and those which may be expected in the near future can be dealt with in a purely ce-operative spirit, it will redound to the credit of the leaders of the various communities, and prove completely beneficial to the Settlement as a whole.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.