PRESS SCEPTICAL OF NEW ASSURANCE

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1937, Page 7

PRESS SCEPTICAL OF NEW ASSURANCE

ITALY AND SPAIN. Aid to Franco After Promise To Work for Peace. LEADING NEWSPAPER VIEWS. British Official Wireless. (Received 2 p.m.) RUGBY, January 4. "The Times," commenting on the declaration by Britain and Italy, says the Mediterranean tension, which the negotiators have successfully sought to -elieve, was not of British creation. It is well that tension should be ended; let it be ended realistically and "without empty recriminations, ljut with a clear and accurate memory of how it arose. The Rome agreement buries the past. Referring to the exchange of Notes, and particularly to the specific allusion to Spain, "The Times" says: The new Italian assurance deserves special welcome because it definitely broadens the base on which non-intervention can work constructively. The "Morning Post" says: Diplomatic history of recent years pan record few acts deserving of such unqualified congratulation as the agreement signed between Italy and Britain. By this instrument an ancient friendship is restored, which should never have been broken. The "Daily Telegraph" says: The Italian disavowal of any territorial ambition in regard to Spain should prove a help to negotiations that grow daily more urgent as dangerous incidents strain the temper and lead to reprisals. The situation is one in which the Powers must act in concert if at all. The "News Chronicle" says: It is a startling and deplorable fact that on the very day the Italian agreement is published there should come from Spain news that 6000 more Italian "volunteers" have lauded at Cadiz and have proceeded to the assistance of General Franco. In so far as this document indicates a real willingness on the part of Signor Mussolini to co-operate in working for peace in Europe, it is no doubt to be welcomed, but how is it possible to believe that when the only practical evidence available on the point is the landing of more Italian volunteers in Spain ? The "Daily Herald" is critical of the agreement. There is little enough connection, it says, between the protestations of the new pact and the realities of Italian policy, and professions of goodwill and friendship towards this country are the merest humbug. Deeds are more important than words. It makes the point that publication of the terms of the accord coincides with the arrival in Spain of a further strong contingent of Italian volunteers, and adds: It is true enough that at the moment there is no international agreement for the prohibition of sending volunteers to Spain, but it is equally true that a proposal for such prohibition has been put forward by Britain and France, and is being examined by the German and Italian Governments.