Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27th., 1937. SPANISH SITUATION

Greymouth Evening Star, 27 February 1937, Page 8

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27th., 1937. SPANISH SITUATION

lias its humorists, no less than peace, and quips about the Spanish conflict are numerous.| A typical example is the ex planation of General Praneo’s failure to take .Madrid; namely, that hi* exhausted his supply of interpreters. and. thus, was unable to make his troops understand his commands. The foreign element on both sides in the “Spanish’’ war is numerous and varied, and but

for this intervention, the issue would have long since been decided. More is heard about the outsiders fighting for the rebels, hut there is evidence that the loyalists are almost ecjually assisted by foreign volunteers and equipment. 'Most reports and. comments on the war and its horrors are biased. Perhaps the truth is that each

side is equally blameworthy. What really matters is that the latest developments are in the direction of preventing the civil war in Spain becoming a general conflict among the European Powers. The Non-Intervention Committee, after a period of futility, has now reached an agreement on a scheme of supervision and the banning of foreign volunteers, that should succeed in leaving the Spanish war to the Spaniards, or at least, to those already in the country. It is not possible to prevent all entry of men and material from abroad, but the patrolling scheme on the seas and the supervision on the r frentiers, if loyally carried out, will haVe important consequences. It js a triumph for British patience and diplomacy to have achieved the present agreement among the Powers, and there are now better prospects of a larger later pact, making for the preservation of

European peace. Whatever the result of the. Spanish conflict —and the Government troops have been holding the enemy, of late, —there will be tremendous problems to solve. Spain will be exhausted financially, and cannot recover from the material havoc wrought for generations. A legacy of hate, bitterness and feuds, is inevitable, and strong men will be needed to bring some form of order out of chaos. It may be necessary for a new form of intervention by the Powers, or the League of Nations, to supervise Spanish affairs until the country is able to stand by itself. This peaceful dictatorship will not be easy to arrange, owing to international jealousies and fears. It would be impracticable to hold a general election, or a national plebiscite, to decide what should be done, owing to the Spanish dissensions. Memory of wardiorrors will not be forgotten, and few leaders will be trusted to do the fair 'thing. The only solution to the tremendous problem appears to be in foreign goodwill and disinterestedness. If these are forthcoming, Spain has a chance to recover. Otherwise, any peace will be temporary, not only in Spain but in Europe, generally. Mr. Eden, in a recent speech to the Foreign Press Association in London, affirmed the British Government’s belief that neither a Fascist nor a Communist Government was the inevitable outcome of the civil war. “We believe that neither of these forms of government being indigenous to Spain, neither is likely to endure. Spain will in time evolve her own Spanish form of government,” he added.