SPAIN’S SUPPLIES

Grey River Argus, 26 July 1941, Page 6

SPAIN’S SUPPLIES

BRITISH WARNING To General Franco bQW. RUGBY, July 24. Mr A. Eden, Foreign Secretary, was askea in me House of commons whether ne haa any statement to make with reterence to a recent speecn by General franco. Mr Eden said: His Majesty's Government noted that General franco, in _ nis speecn in the- Faiange National Council on Jmy 17, displayed a complete misunderstanding, not only of the general war situation,, but also or British economic policy towards Spam. If economic arrangements were to succeed, there must be goodwill on both sides, and General Franco’s speech showed little evidence of such goodwill. His statements made it apparent that he did not desire further economic assistance for his country. If that were so, His Majesty’s Government would be unable to proceed with its plans, and its future policy would depend on the actions and attitude of the Spanish Government. Mr Eden said that, since the conclusion of the Spanish civil war, His Majesty’s Government had been anxious to do everything in its power to promote the economic recovery of Spain, and to assist the people in work of reconstruction. It considered that it could best contribute to this object by encouraging revival of Anglo-Spanish commercial relations. On March 18, last year, His Majesty’s Government signed with the Spanish Government an Anglo-Spanish trade payments agreement and an AngloSpanish loan agreement. ' J provjding for an advance of £2,000,000 for the liquidation of arrears in AngloSpanish clearing, dating from before the civil, war, and of a further £2.000,000 for purchase of foodstuffs and raw materials necessary for Spanish reconstruction. On July 30, 1940, the Minister for Economic Warfare, stated it was not our policy to extend the blockade to any neutral country, as, so long as supplies could reach those' countries without risk of falling into the hands oL the enemy, and that we were prepared to grant navicerts on such a scale as to allow imports of adequate food for domestic consumption, and further, that it was the policy of His Majesty’s Government not merely to allow such supplies to pass through our controls, but also to assist neutral countries to obtain them. On April' 7, His Majestv’s Government concluded with the Spanish Government. at its request, a supplementary loan agreement, to provide for an additional loan of £2,500,000. This was also required for the purchase of essential raw materials and foodstuffs, and His Majesty’s Government hoped to be able to arrange for certain facilities to be made available for purchase, in the sterling area, and in other parts of the world It was authoritatively stated yesterday in London that Spain is still dependent on the cargoes that go to her ports with British navicerts. The position in Spain is that only in isolated areas is there a real sufficiency of home-produced foods. The Spanish people are suffering from the effects of the long-drawn-.oul civil war and are living from hand to mouth. There are few reserve stocks of any kind in the country Britain has sent cargoes of fish to Sain from Newfoundland. British navicerts have been given for .other essent ; a!i cargoes from South America and Spain’s imports include meat and Canadian wheat . It was stated that, far from blockading Snain. Britain, in the past, had given navicerts for more cargoes than Spain was abl» to get into the countrv. The fact that cargoes did not appear in Snain may have been the result of lack of sh'np'ng space .or of necessary foreign exchange It was added that if Snain were involved in war on th" side of the Axis, she would almost mmediatelv become a liability to the aggressor nations on whose side she 2ared to niece herself.