BEHIND THE CABLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 292, 10 December 1936, Page 6

BEHIND THE CABLES.

GERMANY AND JAPAN. (By J. A. MULGAN and G. S. COX.) . LONDON, November 21. 1 One of the writers of this letter remembers hearing Sir Frederic White, adviser to the Chinese Government, speak at a private meeting three years ago. Asked whether there was any possibility of an alliance between ( Germany and Japan, he said, "It is a possi- . bility which I suppose all of us have con- 1 sidered. At present there is 110 evidence of J it, but there is no doubt that should it evei occur, it would he a most menacing alliance. That was iu 1034. Last week "The Times" correspondent in Shaaighai began sending reports of the new German-Japanese alliance, reports which seem to be authoritative because they were admitted by Mr. Anthony Eden in the House to be true. The alliance puts an end for the present to any hope of the j Anglo-Japanese alliance being formed again: , though said in Tokyo not to be military, it < forms the basis for the war with Russia, which 1 is now thought to be inevitable. What does ] it mean to the British Empire? Only that : for the present Japan is going on into Asia, 1 not down through' the East Indies and into < the Pacific, as the naval party in Japan would like. But it may mean a successful war against Soviet Russia, and in the end a graver threat to world peace than can be imagined. With this came the combined action of j Germany and Italy in recognising General Franco's Government in Spain, talk of a blockade of Barcelona, and French fears of a first-class Mediterranean crisis. The action of the two Fascist Powers is thought to lie as much moral support for Franco as anything else. At the moment he is well held at Madrid, in spite of intense air bombardment of the city. It is generally believed 111 this country that by now Russia is supplying arms to the Government at at least the same rate as the two Fascist States are supplying the rebels, and that Franco is badly short of men to sur- < round and capture Madrid. Britain has at least the satisfaction of being admittedly neutral. It may not be a very satisfactory position to some, but feeling in this country tends to be well satisfied at being for the ] moment on the edge of this European crisis < rather than in the middle of it. News from Madrid. One of the authors writes from Madrid: , "I have seen things here that I shall not want to remember. The authorities have given up » counting the wounded; the death roll from , these air raids is now over a thousand, mainly . women and children. Streams of refugees arc . pouring out of the bombed area. In other ( houses people are setting up beds in cellars , and straining their ears anxiously at cvury < sound which may come from an aeroplane. , Bit by bit these attacks are giving parts of j Madrid the appearance of war-time Ypres. j There are more and more damaged buildings, I more scarred walls and masses of ruins; more ( fires near the Puerto del Sol, the heart of Madrid. Yet the population remains extra- , ordinarily calm. People living in the undergrounds cook meals on braziers and talk cheer- 1 fully through the long nights. Twenty yards j away from the smouldering buildings 011 the } edge" of the Puerto del Sol I saw yesterday , 'an old woman selling bootlaces, as she had <lone for years. A bootblack was polishing the , leggings of a militiaman and an old man was j seliing tickets for the State lottery. But ; every hospital ward is crowded with wounded, and ' the city mortuary tells its tale."