MAY BLOCKADE MADRID

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21863, 17 August 1936, Page 9

MAY BLOCKADE MADRID

REBEL LEADER APPEALS TO INHABITANTS GOVERNMENT’S RIGID DECREE (Received August 16, 10.50 p.m.) LONDON, August .15. It is reported that General Franco and General Mola, the rebel leaders, have decided to blockade Madrid, hoping that the panic-stricken civil population will call for a speedy fall. The Madrid correspondent of “The Time 3” says that the Government has issued a decree closing all establishments belonging to religious orders of congregations whose members have either directly or indirectly taken the part of the insurgents. “Taking the part of the insurgents” includes everything from direct armed action or resistance, to subscribing funds or saying prayers for the success of the movevmt. Insurgent aircraft flew over Madrid and dropped leaflets containing General Franco’s appeal to the inhabitants to go over to his side: — “The so.e aim of the movement I lead is to free Spain from communist tyranny. The victory of my forces is certain. The regime at which I am aiming is one which will consolidate the liberties already gained by the workers and even add to them.” As a further inducement to capitulation General Franco threatens the severest punishment to those continuing to resist. Foreign Support An earlier report: Both sides in the Spanish conflict are making renewed efforts to secure foreign support. The President (Senor Azana) told a French journalist: “France’s frontier is now Guadarrama, If fascism wins it will hold the Pyrenees. France must also ask herself who will hold Morocco, the Balearic Islands, and the Mediterranean and African communications,” At Seville General Dellano, the rebel leader, is reported to have stated: “The country will decide whether the monarchy will be restored, but Parliament will be abolished. The military dictatorship will last for a long time.”. DOUBTFUL LOYALTY RANK AND FILE OF REBEL FORCES LONDON, August 14. The special correspondent of the “Daily Herald” in Barcelona, after travelling over the entire northeastern front, states: “Catalonia is 1 out of all danger. Whatever happens elsewhere the rebels have lost the war in the east of the peninsula. Elsewhere the rebels are on the defensive. Their superiority is purely technical. They have more modern war materials .and officers with military experience than the Government forces, but the rank and file are often not enthusiastic. General Franco is uncertain how far he can rely on their loyalty. Hence his reluctance to advance for fear of desertions.” A message from Tangier states that the civil war is introducing fresh complications in Morocco where tribesmen are forming a national front to expel Spain from the soil of Islam. General Franco has been disappointed in his expectations that the Moors would flock to his banner. The discipline among such natives as have joined him has been affected by the irregularity of the payments of wages.