"AN ACT OF WAR"

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 2, 4 January 1937, Page 9

"AN ACT OF WAR"

SPANISH VIEW INDIGNATION IN FRANCE PARIS, January 2. The Spanish Ambassador to Paris commented: "This is an act of war. It is the most serious incident of its kind." The seizure of a Spanish vessel in territorial waters has aroused indignation and apprehension in France, which is wondering whether this violation of international law portends even more drastic German action. The opinion is gaining ground that if Germany refuses her co-operation in nonintervention in Spain the. only way open to Britain and France will be to enforce a blockade of the Spanish coast with their combined navies. '"'he Spanish Embassy at Paris, denying that it has appealed to France to take action, has issued a statement declaring that the Koenigsber;j's action constituted an act of war, and also flagrant intervention against thje Spanish Republic. It is therefore a violation both of international and the non-intervention agreement. The Spanish Government will reply as required to the first violation. The second is a matter for the non-inter-vention committee. The statement maintains that Spain had an indisputable right to capture and search the Palos. Moreover, the confiscation of war material in civil war is justified according to precedents in the American Civil War. THE SOTON INCIDENT. A message from Bayonne states that the Spanish version of the stopping of the Soton is as follows:—The Koenigsberg's commander insisted that the Soton's second officer should come aboard and sign a declaration that, the stopping of the Soton was a reprisal for the detaining of the German freighter Palos, and to order him to change the course of the Soton for a rebel port. When the second officer returned to the Soton the latter ran aground rather than obey the Koenigsberg, which then fired, until a Spanish Government aeroplane appeared.' The Koenigsberg then hastily moved out to sea. The Spanish Government points out that the quickness of the Soton's grounding shows that she was near the ghore in territorial waters. A Hendaye message states that the Basque Government broadcast an announcement declaring that it has reached the end of its patience and will not compromise with Germany but reply forcefully to any . further aggression. Accordingly, by agreement with the Spanish Government, coastal vessels have been ordered to fire on warships attacking commercial vessels in the Basque territorial waters.