FOREIGN SOLDIERS IN SPAIN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIV, Issue 21052, 2 June 1938, Page 9

FOREIGN SOLDIERS IN SPAIN

COST OF IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL Unhelpful Attitude of Soviet British Official Wireless RUGBY, May 31. The Chairman’s Sub-Committee of the Non-Intervention Committee met to-day and received a detailed statement of the cost of the scheme for the evacuation of foreign volunteers from Spain. After Lord Plymouth had intimated that Great Britain was prepared to participate in providing the necessary funds on condition that the other Governments also participated, the representatives agreed to refer to their respective Governments the documents concerned. The Soviet representative (M. Kagan), however, after restating the attitude of his Government to the withdrawal proposal, said that the Soviet would be prepared to consider contributing in common with other Governments to the cost of establishing and maintaining the commissions which are to go to Spain to ascertain the number of foreign volunteers and to supervise their withdrawal, but that the Soviet would not .contribute to that part of the cost of the scheme which included expenditure on the transport since. M. Kagan maintained, there were no Russian volunteers. It is understood that the estimated cost of the evacuation scheme is between £1,009,000 and £1.500,000, which includes the work of the commissions and expenditure on bringing together the volunteers, maintaining them in camps and transporting them to ports for evacuating to their own countries. It is contemplated that this cost should be borne in equal shares by the five non-intervention Powers represented on the Chairman’s sub-com-mittee. The sub-committee will meet again on Thursday. In addition to the cost mentioned, it is stated that £750,000 will have to be expended on transporting the volunteers to their own countries.