BRITAIN & FRANCE

Hokitika Guardian, 7 November 1936, Page 5

BRITAIN & FRANCE

DRAMATfb APPEAL

t ' MADRID URGED TO MAKE TERMS

(United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright).

LONDON, November 6

A draipatio eleventh hour appeal to Madrid by France and Britain tol come to terms with General Franco, followed Mr Eden’s telephoilfe conversation with Paris., The appeal, was telephoned to Mr G. A. 1). Ogilvie-Forbes, British Charge df Atfaire s in Madrid for presentation to the Madrid authorities, but the “Daily Mail” says there is little hopefulness in, . British Government circles that it will receive more attention than the previous appeal about, the exchange of hostages. Nevertheless, Mr Eden has .insisted on doing his utmost to prevent a possible terrible climax tp the Spanish war.

The “Daily Mail” says that with the insurgents only two miles from Madrid the . British and French Governments have sent a new and urgent appeal to the Madrid Government, for an immediate arrangement . with France to save the civil population of the capital from destruction. < While shells bursting#requent]y and. General Franco’s decisive attack expected momentarily. Madrid is witness-' ing frantic , efforts to consolidate defences while thousands of refugeespour in from the Suburbs occupied by the rebels.

Madrid suffered three air raids to-day. The Government forces claim to have brought down five rebel aeroplanes.

NON-INTERVENTION COMMITTEE

charges; are not proved

RUGBY, November 5.

A long communique has been issued reporting the proceedings of an indecisive meeting of the Committee on non-intervention in Spain.

There are four annexes to the communique, including the text of a letter dated October 21 in which the German representative set forth arguments to demonstrate the futility of the material submitted, by the Spanish Government in support of the charge that Germany had broken the non-intervention agreement.

The first annex enumerates in detail eight charges of the breach by Russia, including one in which war materia] was alleged to have been carried in a small steamer under* the riarne oT Bramhill, wdiich flew tlie (British flag. The second document is a letter from the Soviet Representative examining seriatim the German charges and declaring most emphatically that they are devoid of anv foundation.

The third annex consists of a statement. bv the German Government, in which it again referred to the ambiguous phrase in the earlier Russian letter, in which the Soviet Government declared .that in future it would not consider itself bound to any greater degree bo non-inter-vention than any other participant. The German, statement declared that the Spanish press did not in the least conceal the arrival of Russian war material on Russian steamers.

The last annex is a statement bv the Soviet representative in which newspaper reports surporting the Russian allegations against Germany and It'*.y, are cited. The allegations in the German letter of October 21 are examined in detail.

The .imprecise nature of the information submitted on the first fo-ur charges was commented upon •by the chairman (Lord Plymouth), who, referring to the allegations of the discharge at Alicante of 65 .tons of war materia) by the steamer. Bramhill, said he hoped to be in a position to circulate a note on this shortly.

The Soviet representative said that his Government had no connection with thi s ship. |

The Portuguese 1 and Italian representatives produced evidence which they declared verified the German charges that there had been breaches of the non-intervention agreement by P ssia. The Austrian representative, supported by the Hungarian representative, proposed , that in view of the evidence before the committee, the information on these assertions.

The chairman said that the case way an excellent illustration of the committee’s difficulties. On one hand it had charges supported by evidence which, he thought, the members of the committee all ielt, as he did, were more detailed and circumstantial than any which they had had before them in previous cases. (In the other hand, it had a. flat denial of the charges by the Government concerned, which contested the reliability and, indeed, the honesty of the evidence adduced. He could not feel that the committee was. in a position to take a decision, because it did .not possess the material necesary to enable the validity of the two opposing cases to Ve investigated.

The. committee should pursue with the greatest possible energy its proposal for the establishment of a system of supervision in Spanish territory, which would enable it to obtain reliable evidence in such

cases He asked the Soviet representative to provide further • mation about the capacity and tonnage of the vessels mentioned in. Lie discussion The Soviet representation said that if supplementary explanations e desired on the technical questions raised h? had no objection to P lO vidiug them.