FRANCO'S SPAIN
SIR,—Mr. Ian Gilmour and the Spectator have ren- dered a great service to the •cause of liberty in drawing attention to the situation in Spain. The saddest thing about it, for those of us who have followed it for many years, is that it is unchanging : except for the statistics, -Mr. •GilmOur's.articles might almost be those I wrote myself twelve years ago. During that period. Mr...Welsh tells us, only one new hospital has been built in England. Being Irish, I shall not he accused of nationalism if I suggest that one of the reasons why England is today the greatest of the Great Powers, in the truest sense, is that there is ,a majority of people which prefers more freedom to more hospitals. Furthermore, when one reads that three of the Basques recently im- prisoned in Bilbao were unable to walk after throe weeks of 'interrogation,' one wonders what possible relevance there can be in the fact that their country is full of splendid hospitals: they are unlikely to he treated in them.
Mr. Gilmour is no doubt right in suggesting that the 'resistants' inside the country are often irritated by the and-Francoists in exile; '/e., absents on! ton fours tort.' Yet this is probably less true of the Basques, the remnants or whose Government-in-Exile has with exemplary dedication of spirit and quietness of tone contrived not only to preserve the unity of the Basque people, but frequently to provide the unifying strand for the 'Resistance' as a whole. It is, however, important to remember that the 'resistants of today will be the exiles of tomorrow. Criticising Franco has become one of the principal pastimes of all Spaniards, and gives the government the cosy illusion of living in a democracy; but it is never allowed to crystallise into organised oppo- sition. There can be no opposition without leaders, but as they emerge from the common grumbling fold, they must ultimately choose hetwen prison or exile. In this context, it is interesting to note, that the sig- natories of the European' Convention of Human Rights do not simply guarantee freedom of speech, but also the corollary which gives it meaning, namely the right to organise an opposition.
Our part in fomenting resistance in Spain is clearly defined. On' March 4, 1946, the Tripartite Declara- don made by Mr. Attlee, Mr. Truman and M. Bidault called upon patriotic and liberal-minded Spaniards to 'find a means to bring about the peaceful with- drawal of Franco, the abolition of the Falange and the establishment of an interim caretaker Government which would guarantee political amnesty, the return of exiled Spaniards, freedom of assembly and political association, and free public elections.' If this was the outcome of a policy and not an irresptin-
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