RIGHTS OF SEARCH AT SEA

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20504, 24 August 1936, Page 7

RIGHTS OF SEARCH AT SEA

■ SIDELIGHT ON SPAIN’S STRUGGLE INTERNATIONAL ISSUES RAISED United Press Association— By El«ctrlr Telegraph —Copyright (Received August 23, 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, August 22. 5 The diplomatic correspondent of the 1 “Morning Post” says: "Britain has in- ' formed the Spanish Government that it * does not recognise the blockade, because the prerequisites are not present. The British decision means that any J attempt to hold up and search British - vessels, outside Spanish territorial wat- : ers, will be forcibly resisted. I Spains Reply to Britain i The Spanish Government has informed Britain, it does not propose to exercise the right to search British ships on the high seas. The position of ships in Spanish waters is under discussion. Kainerun Carrying Petrol The Spanish Prime Minister (Senor Giril Pereira), declared that no action was necessary regarding the Kamerun. which, the search disclosed, was carrying petrol to Cadiz. Accordingly, the vessel was requested to depart, as the importation of petrol is prohibited. Defining its attitude to Spain, the Government has issued a communique, announcing its intention to respect the rights of the regular Government of a friendly nation, and neither to accomplish, nor permit to be accomplished, a single act contrary either to the undertakings spontaneously given by France, or to the principles of international law. INTERNATIONAL ISSUE RAISED HAMPERED BY KAMERUN • INCIDENTS British Official Wireless (Received August 23, 6.30 p.m.) RUGBY, August 21. Further progress towards a general agreement among the Powers on the non-intervention proposals are delayed pending a statement of the attitude of the Italian Government. The FrancoItalian conversations are continuing in Rome, and the latest reports state that the outstanding differences are being narrowed down. British Step Explained “The Times” says that the motives behind the British step should not be misinterpreted. “The object of his Majesty’s Government is not merely to avoid embroilment in a conflict which does not concern them, or to keep out of trouble at all costs. It is a principle based upon and justified by long experience. “Even in wartime, its abandonment usually had the opposite effects to those which interference was intended to produce. In time of peace, intervention in the internal affairs of other States is always mischievous and often disastrous. The right of every people to work out their own destiny must be respected as a foundation of international law. “This principle is at the moment especially applicable to Spain. Nonintervention is best for Spain and necessary for Europe.” Attitude to Blockade It was stated in London to-day that the Government is not in direct communication with either the German or Italian Governments on the question of the so-called blockade decrees published recently by the Madrid Government, nor regarding the issues arising out of Spanish naval interference with the German ship Kamerun. German Resentment The Berlin correspondent of “The Times” says that the Kamerun incident j brought to a standstill the non-inter- ( vention negotiations. ; No official steps have since been 1 taken by France and Britain. While ; the informal contact has not been encouraging meanwhile, the Government i has made two additional protests, first 1 in Moscow, where the Ambassador was £ instructed to request the cessation of ( the “unbridled agitation” against Ger- 1 mans in Spain, broadcast from Russia, 1 and repeated in Madrid, as it might jeopardise Germans living in Spain. A similar protest was made to ■ Madrid. These protests were accompanied by a blaring anti-Soviet newspaper campaign, denouncing the Russian increase of naval and military armaments, which are declared to indicate readiness for an aggressive war, and also connected with the Spanish troubles.

This outburst, with the order that warships should meet force with force, caused uch gloom and created such nervousness that prices on the Bourse declined to an extent not experienced for years.