17 OCTOBER 1931, Page 3

Spain The Cortes in Madrid decided by a large majority

on Tuesday that Church and State should be separated in Spain. " There shall be no State religion." That may mean much or little. Religion is a personal matter of the spirit. If the people are religious, the con- glomeration of them' called the State may be called religious, though it has no soul. If the words mean that the Government. will not recognize religion or admit the existence of a greater Power than itself, then Spain may have to face the horror of a secular State, which means an anti-religious State, in which every politician and official at once becomes afraid of the accusation of " infatuation," and policy is shaped under that fear. On Wednesday the Cortes went further, and decided to expel the Jesuits. On this the conscience of the Prime Minister compelled him to resign. The President of the Cortes asked Sei'ior Azana, Minister of War, to form a new Cabinet: This he has done, retaining several of his old colleagues.