COMMONS ANXIETY REGARDING SPAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 158, 6 July 1937, Page 7

COMMONS ANXIETY REGARDING SPAIN.

MINISTER'S REPLY. Future of Non-intervention Still Uncertain. PORTUGAL'S SUPPORT. British Official Wireless. (Received 1.30 p.m.> RUGBY, July 5. Anxiety regarding the future of non-intervention in the Spanish war was reflected in the House of Commons when a large number of questions on the subject were addressed to Mr. Eden, Foreign Secretary. He made a composite reply to several of these. In doing so he reviewed the present situation in reference to which there had been no important developments during the week-end. He recalled what had happened at Friday's meeting of the chairman's sub-committee of the Non-intervention Committee, and added that meantime the question of withdrawal of foreign combatants was still before the committee. It is the earnest hope, he said, of the British Government that it might be possible to proceed further with the discussion of this subject at an early date. v No indication of the date of the plenary meeting could yet be given. He would not like the House to assume that the conditions of the Portuguese frontier were not satisfactory, although he agreed that the sea position must be remedied as soon as possible. While it was true that there was, for the present no observation there, yet the decree under which observers were keeping watch remained in full force, and he would not like the House to assume that the Portuguese frontier was open to traffic. r The Portuguese Government, he added did.not oppose the control proposals bv Britain and France. When asked whether it was possible to grant belligerent rights, not as an alternative to non-intervention, but in addition to a system of arms control Mr. Eden recalled the special circumstances of the present situation, one of which was the presence of a lar«e number of non-Spanish nationals in Spain. In reply to another question, the foreign Secretary said that as far as he was aware there were no German warships in the Mediterranean.

BRITISH WARNING.

Dangers to Shipping Near Santander. MINE EMPLOYEES' SAFETY. British Official Wireless. (Received 2 p.m.) RUGBY, July 5. The Board of Trade warned British shipowners that Spanish insurgent men-of-war are patrolling the neighbourhood of Santander and that there is considerable risk that an attempt may be made to capture ships attempting to enter the port. The British Navy will give protection only to the limit of territorial waters. (Jeneral Franco has informed employees of the Orconera Iron Ore Company, which is a British firm, that they may return with safety. When the insurgents took Bilbao' the employees left the town.

BRITISH NEUTRALITY.

"POTATO" JONES' TRADING. (Received 9.30 a.m.) PARIS, July 5. Captain "Potato" Jones arrived at St. Nazaire with 1000 Santander refugees, having changed the name of his ship from Marie Llewellyn to Kellwyn. He desires the title of "Potato" to be dropped. Asked whether he worked for the rebels as well as the Loyalists, Captain Jones replied: "Yes, I "go to Franco ports. Why not? England is neutral and one must not play favourites."