Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1936. THE SPANISH PERIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 277, 4 September 1936, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1936. THE SPANISH PERIL.

The difficult nature of the problem of the prohibition of the supply of war material to Spain is shown by the comment of the diplomatic correspondent of “The Manchester Guardian,” published yesterday. While Germany delayed her reply to the invitation to be represented at a conference in London, German and Italian munitions and other warlike stores are being shipped to Spain through neutral channels, going either to Lisbon or direct to Spain, for use by the insurgents. The danger lies in the fact that, anxious as she is to avoid complications, France may be obliged, as a measure of self-protection, to afford assistance to the loyalists. Britain is anxious that there should be no further delay in holding the conference, as every day increases the difficulty of reaching an agreement and intensifies the menace itself. From the outset Britain has acted in a straightforward decisive manner, being actuated both by observance of her traditional policy of non-intervention in internal strife of any country so long as international peace is not imperilled, and by a desire that the suffering and loss incurred by the Spaniards themselves shall not be prolonged or made more terrible by outside .influences. The export of war materials to any country has long been subject to license and following the revelation that four British ’pl anes os ' tensibly destined for Poland actually left for Spain, she has undertaken the responsibility of controlling deliveries of aircraft for overseas. It is regrettable that other countries, particularly Germany and Italy, have not taken the same prompt stand. They signified approval of the principle of non-inter-vention, but they have not taken the steps necessary to enforce that policy. There is a distinctly bad sign in the delay in responding to the overtures and in acting on lines that would render less difficult the task of solving the delicate problem. Talk of agreement with reservations does not sound hopeful. It is to be hoped that the acceptance by Germany and Russia of the invitation to be associated with the committee on non-interference foreshadows active co-operation in achieving the end desired. Otherwise the situation could not be worse, as Sir Samuel Hoare indicated the other day. He said that for Britain to take sides would mean another Peninsular war and a conflagration from one end of Europe to the other. These are grave words from a First Lord of the Admiralty. The consequences would be just as serious if any other country were to take sides.