Show digesu allied command aided by french underground quarter of million men in france said to be ready anxious and able to bear arms against germans by BAUKHAGE news analyst and commentator anu service union trust building washington D C arms are what we want arms arms arms my companion leaned across the is table ble and pounded it with gallic fervor his black eyes flashing I 1 it t was our first meeting for more than a year and I 1 knew that those eyes fixed on me so earnestly had met the light of the desert sun for he had fought with the free french forces under de gaul le in africa and had had many an adventure serving h his Is country abroad before he returned for this visit to his temporary home we have a quarter of a million m men an in the french I 1 underground ander ground r ready e ady willin willing 9 able and anxious to bear arms only one out of 20 of those h has as a single firearm and that means that while 12 men can harrass rass the german germa n forces its cs they are doing every day and every night despite their inadequate help from the outside others must sit twiddling their thumbs they are getting very tired of waiting but their ennui would leave them if firearms could be put in their hands if america will provide them we will guarantee to get them into france we will guarantee to transport them and nd distribute them it Is very difficult to write of that shadowy world the european underground for even the few scraps of information which one might piece together make a dangerous pattern which might bring swift enemy reprisal there Is no q question estion bout about the thu efficiency and the effects effectiveness veness of this silent army in france in all the occupied countries for that matter there Is no question about the tact that through it flows bows a steady stream of information out of the he heart s rt of the enemy territory right back to the allied high commands today two thirds of the creusot creuzot factories once the makers of the famous french long a vital source 0 of f the german a arms supply p ay amm sup have b been een put ut out of commission m ss on by a group of loyal frenchmen according to astory a story that Is now current in washington few involved they did it at very little expense few men were involved and not a sing single a civilian life was lost they did it by blowing up a key dam and thus cutting off the electric powers power from the plant at least three expensive allied air raids long and carefully planned had tailed failed to destroy this dam not long ago word came to anther another 0 group of these french guerrillas that a german train was about to move over a certain s stretch tre t ch of track the bolts were removed and the rails spread then came cam a the word that ahead of the train was a passenger train immediately mc men m were sent out to flag the passenger train and or order der it to slow down while other men worked feverishly to put back the bolts the passenger train went on safely once more the bolts were withdrawn and before long the train was a wrecked and smoking mass no french civilian had bad been injured less dramatic Is the thankless and difficult task which the french national committee of liberation has before it attempting to work out with the provisional assembly the machinery tor for administering the areas of france as they are liberated by the allied armies the corn com kittee must labor in an atmosphere of deliberation and enforced delay which the mood of the underground finds it hard to grasp the members of the french national committee of liberation with headquarters in algiers have gradually achieved more and more authority under the allies there have been many obstacles to overcome and the french of course feel that they have not been given the free hand band which they desired and deserved however within recent weeks it has been evident that the allies are changing their ultra con policy and it is now taken for granted that representatives of this committee and later the provisional assembly which meets in africa and which is made up of persons representing various groups in france will be given the responsibilities ties of administering the re occupied french territory as it Is li liberated b piece by piece also of cr cresting creating the machinery for the final plebiscite which will decide the permanent government great difficulties the committee itself works under great difficulties many of the members are utterly inexperienced in politics and they have responsibilities much greater than a normal gov governmental errun ant al body would have they must serve as an administrative agency they must serve as a quasi legislative body and they must likewise plan regulations governing procedure in the interim between liberation of france and the time when a free election ts is held the recent meeting of the assembly february 29 began the long and complicated consideration of the plans tor for the provisional government one ty typical p ical plan suggested can now be described in some detail a although of course it ft Is likely to be modified as a result althe of the discus BRIEFS B R I 1 E F S by baukhage there there are rural boys and girls 10 to 21 years old who are now m members embers of 4 H clubs they live la in every county in the united states alasha hawaii and puerto rico 0 the war department has revealed that the orm army yair air force shave have destroyed rt 40 per cent of germanys germanas Germ anys cs capacity acito to io produce fighter planes slon sion in the coming weeks and months and III in its application there a alter it covers roughly two phases first is partial liberation just as soon as the allies ha have ve taken over a portion of france and the military organization moves forward the french committee would be placed in charge under this plan immediately municipal off officers leers would be selected councils for each municipality ni nici e when an entire province has been taken over each municipal council already functioning would select elect delegates to the assembly now existing xI sting in algiers there are at present about members of this assembly as composed of frenchmen who have been selected by the underground der ground organizations by political organizations and by labor and 0 ther other groups and have been 1 smuggled mu g into africa they aou would ld b be e joined or perhaps substituted by the newly elected delegates chosen by th the municipal groups of each province there would be approximately one for each inhabitants finally the day comes when allied troops march down the champs and across across the seine to the place du bourbon then the ancient building which ch housed the c chamber of deputies of the third republic will open its doors to the new assembly by this time it will probably represent at least two thirds ot of france second step now the second step of the plan now considered will be taken the assembly will have reached depending on the populations liberated a some members then the provisional government 1 I use the word government in the european sense ye we would ca call ll 11 it the cabinet with an executive head would be chosen by the assembly r the national committee would aou id cease to be the executive body but would assist the assembly under this chosen government to worl out the plan for the genelar election which would decide upon the form of government which france would have however this election could not be held at once for the thousands upon thousands of frenchmen taken from their homes tor for forced labor in germany and elsewhere would have to be repatriated first every attempt Is now being made to carry out the preliminary plans tor for procedures in the spirit if not exactly in m accordance with the letter of the french constitution and law there are however many practical difficulties which arise take the question of woman suffrage under the french constitution I 1 women are not permitted to vote however at present with most of the men away in the army or as deportees in germany the women make up the majority of the population therefore it would be desirable for them to cast the ballot in order to get a true representative opinion of any locality meanwhile the cay cry of the loyal frenchman in and out of his country is for arms and ammunition dynamite and the other othea tools ol of sabotage and demolition with which iksic h they believe they can vitally disrupt ru pt communications and assist the invasion production of prewar models of I 1 all metal domestic ice refrigerators will not be resumed in the near future the reports mainly because reversion would involve a long changeover change over period civilians in the U S will will h have av a more frozen vege vegetables t abl e a during th the a next five months as a result of an expected record hl high h production |