BEHIND THE CABLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 207, 2 September 1936, Page 6

BEHIND THE CABLES.

ENGLAND WEEK BY WEEK,

BRITISH GOVERNMENT'S DILEMMA

(By G. S. COX and J. A. MULGAN.) LONDON, August 15. 11l Spain tli© week ends with the situation definitely favourable to the rebels. The comfortable assurance which British democracy had last week that the Government forces were definitely though gradually getting the upper hand has faded as General Franco has landed more and more Foreign Legionaires and Moorish troops from Morocco and started on a definite drive northward towards Madrid. If the rebels win, and set up a Fascist Spain, it will not be a victory for Spanish Fascism, but for international Fascism. For the vital factor is proving to be the aeroplanes which Franco and Mola have been able to get from Italy and Germany. It was under their protection that the main bodies of troops were able to escape the Spanish Navy and cross from Africa to Spain; it is their bombs which are proving a great factor ill the attacks on Malaga and Badajoz. There is no longer any doubt about these aircraft coming from Hitler and Mussolini. The "Daily Telegraph" correspondent, who is not likely to be prejudiced in favour of the Spanish Government forces, reports that Franco has now twenty Junker transport 'planes, live German pursuit 'planes flown by German Air Force pilots, with their identification marks painted out, and sev(»t> Italian Caproni bombers. The "New York Times," certainly not a paper for alarmist stories, records "the arrival of nineteen German bombers at Seville, manned also by pilots of the regular German Air Force. French Attitude. The Germans find Italians have helped the rebels by delaying also their reply to the French non-intervention pact. There has been, however, a steady growth in France of leftwing indignation against the Fascist interference in Spain, which may drive the Blum Government to take more definite steps to aid the Spanish Government, even though that aid may bring France perilously near war with Germany and Italy. But what is holding the French back more than anything else is the uncertainty of the British attitude. For the British Government will not, or cannot, make up its mind to come out cither for the rebels or against them. It urged France in the early stages of the war not to supply the Spanish Government with arms. On the other hand, it is widely believed here that a British warning in Bcriin prevented the Germans from bombarding Barcelona as a reprisal for the killing of four Germans during the week. The problem which Britain is facing in Spain is substantially that which she has been facing in Europe generally. The present Baldwin Cabinet is torn between a fear of Germany and Italy and a fear of Communism. This dilemma is very clearly seen in an article this week by Mr. "Winston Churchill in the "Evening Standard." Though Mr. Churchill is not in the Cabinet, he is very much of a mind with many of the men in it, and his thoughts are largely those of the mass of British Conservatives at the moment. Discussing Spain, ho admits that he in to some degree in a dilemma. If Britain backs the rebels she will have in power in Spain a Government in which Italian and German influence will be all-powerful. Signor Mussolini would then probably got his naval bases in the Balearic Islands and Morocco, and Gibraltar would be gravely endangered. France, too, our ally in keeping Hitlerite Germany in check, would be weakened by having a proGerman Spain on her western border. On the other hand, if we help the Government we will have a Communist Spain which will >be likely to bring about, ultimately, a Communist France—though not, certainly, immediately. But, to Mr. Churchill, that means bringing the Red Flag uncomfortably close to the cliffs of Dover. Whether we like it or not, we are coming to the point at which we must choose which, economic system, in international affairs, we are going to support, the extreme capitalism represented by Fascism, or the extreme Socialism represented by Communism. For Continental rivalries are, more and more, an expression of the struggle between these two. Threat to Empire's Interests. The extreme Tories have already made up their minds that we must oppose Communism at all costs —even if it means strengthening

Italv, our rival in the Mediterranean, or Germany, tlie most powerful State on the Continent. This point of view is demonstrated, for instance, by Lord Rotliermere, who, in the "Evenin" News" and the "Daily Mail, has carried on an almost hysterical campaign against the "Reds" and for the "Patriots in Spain. In his papers every rumour ot a rumour of an atrocity becomes headline news —provided it is committed by a Span is 1 Government supporter. The threat to British Imperial interests in the Mediterranean is put out of sight for the moment. Apparently the only patriotism which extreme Tories of tins kind are going to admit as true in the futuie is that which stands for the private property system first, and Britain's place in the world second. The Empire, about which this section of British opinion has always waxed so enthusiastic, is apparently worth defending on Jy so Ion? as it is an Empire based on private property. If that system is challenged—ae it undoubtedly would be by a Communist success Spain—we must drop all Imperial interests and rush to its defence. But this is by no means a universal British Conservative viewpoint —though the ranks of those holding it are increasing. The King. The King left for his holiday last Saturday, flying to Calais and then going on by the Orient express to Austria and Yugoslavia, where lie boarded Lady Yule's yacht. There lias been a good deal of discussion, and some definite disapproval, about the closeness with which his movements have been followed by tlie newspapers, and the masses of personal detail which have been published about his guests. "Leave the King Alone" ran the heading in one journalistic periodical. Hut the King's own informality and his dislike of set ritual, which is always apt to make him do unexpected things at the most unexpected times, makes it almost inevitable that public interest and the newspapers should follow his movements closely. A monarch who M the best-dressed man in his country who suddenly appears at a garden party to Canadians when he is quite unexpected and strolls about amidst croups picnicking on the lawns as if he had known tliem all hie life is bound to find "the Press hard to escape.