NOT CONSIDERED FEASIBLE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21986, 9 January 1937, Page 13

NOT CONSIDERED FEASIBLE

CONTROL SUGGESTED BY GERMANY COMPLETE BLOCKADE WOULD BE NECESSARY (UNITED TRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT.) (Received January 8, 7.30 p.m.) , LONDON, January 7. The diplomatic correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph” says that the control Italy and Germany suggest requires a blockade of Spain, both by land and sea, which is not considered feasible in London; but it is understood that the Government is considering the possibility of swifter action, including a conference of plenipotentiaries in London to secure non-intervention, than is possible with the present committee, the ambassadors on which are forced continually to refer to their governments on technical and highly controversial points, enabling a country feeling that its own aims can be served by dilatoriness to exploit the committee’s machinery. The diplomatic correspondent of “The Times” believes that if foreign interference and propaganda can be stopped, the war may end early on more moderate terms than is otherwise possible. The British and Italian pact, instead of encouraging further dispatches of volunteers, enables franker discussions on the subject. The Foreign Secretary (Mr R. A. Eden) saw the German Charge d’Affaires, and impressed upon him the importance which his Majesty’s Government attaches to the volunteer question, says a British Official Wireless message. Commentators in the press draw .attention to the suggestion that the recent joint British and Italian declaration on the Mediterranean implied some modification of the British attitude to the Spanish conflict, and they give an authoritative denial to this deduction. The foreign support which is being given to one side or the other appears to observers in London to be founded on the delusion that whichever party secures- a - temporary military triumph will necessarily constitute the ultimate Government in Spain. It is considered here that neither the known facts of the Spanish situation nor the facts of history confirm this idea. “The Times” says: “In this country the dangefs of the extension of the Spanish civil war are fully recognised. . Nothing can be. ijiore certain than that the British Government will exert all the possible influence at its command to obtain an interhational agreement for the cessation of volunteer activities. The latest news from Paris indicates that the French Government will do its utmost to help Britain, even at the expense of the normal right of the French citizen to join whatever civil war he pleases. Certainly every effort of our own Government to limit the Spanish struggle will have widespread support. The savagery which has marked the conflict has put an end to partisanship outside of very restricted circles.” THE SIEGE OF MADRID “DANGER MORE ACUTE THAN EVER” GERMANS REPORTED TO BE LEADING ATTACK (Received January 8, 11.5 p.m.) MADRID, January 7. The defence committee admits that the danger to the capital is more acute than ever. Civilian evacuation has been accelerated. The rebels have resumed the advance, and claim to have gained a further seven miles in the northwest. The Government troops claim that 10,000 Germans, with the most modern equipment, are leading the attack. The Government forces claim to have occupied the villages of Aracues and Yerta after hand-to-hand fighting on the Huesca front. TRANSPORT FAILS TO ARRIVE IRISH VOLUNTEERS RETURN HOME (Received January 8, 10.15 p.m.) LONDON, January 7. Because of the non-arrival of the liner to transport them to Spain, 500 Irish volunteers who had assembled at*Waterford returned home, presumably to await further orders. MURDER OF BELGIAN DIPLOMAT REPARATIONS DEMANDED (Received January 9, 12.30 a.m.) BRUSSELS, January 8. The Government has sent a note to the Valencia Government demanding official reparations from the Spanish Government for the murder of Baron de Borchgrave, first secretary in the Belgian Embassy at Madrid, who disappeared just before Christmas. His body was found on December 28 in a common grave, with 21 others. Identity was established by the trousers tab. He had been shot twice in the neck. The note demands an indemnity i of £6666 for the Baron’s family, and the return of the body to Belgium with full military honours, and an apology. NORWEGIAN STEAMER INTERCEPTED (Received January 8, 8.50 p.m.) GIBRALTAR, January 7. The Norwegian steamer Ibis was intercepted in the straits by a rebel gunboat and compelled to go to Algeciras, where the cargo and the, ship’s papers were inspected.