BRITISH PROTEST

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19423, 7 September 1937, Page 5

BRITISH PROTEST

SEIZURE OF SHIP SPANISH REBEL ACTION CHARTER BY LOYALISTS PLANS FOE PROTECTION COMING CONFERENCE (Eloc. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 7, 11.15 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 6. The British Government has protested to the leader of the rebels in Spain, General Franco, against the capture of the British steamer Burlington, which an insurgent cruiser escorted to Palma. The Burlington, formerly the Nausicaa, was bound from Batum to Cartagena under a loyalist charter and was laden with 7700 tons of oil. The Burlington belongs to the same line as the British tanker Woodford, which was torpe.d.oed and sunk by. an unknown submarine last Thursday while eir route from Barcelona to Valencia. Italy and five Mediterranean neighbours have been invited to the con ference to be held near Geneva on September 10 to discuss measures to protect shipping in the Mediterranean from attacks by submarines, owing to their geographical and strategic positions and also because they have signed the submarine convention of 193 G, says the diplomatic correspondent of The Times. Safely of Passengers Under this pact the signatory nations promised that submarines would conform to the rules governing surface vessels and especially that they would not sink or damage a merchantman without ensuring the safety of the passengers and crew, which code the Mediterranean submarine pirates have flouted. The Black Sea Powers have been invited to participate in the conference because the Dardanelles is their threshold to the Mediterranean, which is their main or sole highway. Germany has been invited for many reasons, including her participation in the Spanish coastal control scheme and also because she has been the victim of Mediterranean lawlessness. A message from Paris says that an extension of the conference to double the number of countries that France originally proposed lessens, in French opinion, the chances of its success. The Rome correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says Signor Mussolini will undoubtedly accept the invitation despite the Italian criticism over the inclusion of Russia, owing to the allegation that she is aiding the Spanish Government. Italy could not stand aloof from the meeting regarding the sea in which she claims to be dominant.