25 DECEMBER 1936, Page 20

ATROCITIES IN SPAIN [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOE:] Sia,—Neither

to Mr. Upward nor to any other Editor- havel ever written "demanding the name" of a contributor. -14 this ease my words were : "I am hoping that you may be willing to save time by giving me the name of somebody in England who accepts responsibility for the statement which you printed. I learn this morning. that the posts are working very badly indeed to the interior of Spain, even to places like Burgos ; and there will be much delay if I cannot get into touch with some Englishman or woman from whom you have derived your information."

In calling this reasonable request "a demand," Mr. Upward's' imprecision—unintentionally, I am Sure—has the effect of misrepresentation. As for his complaint against the Universe, the current issue of that paper duly reports his latest communication and amply refutes it.

Like that of Mark Twain on a famous occasion, the death

of Manuel Borobia has been grossly exaggerated. is alive ; and so are his nine children. Perhaps the " report ", of this pastor's death appeared in one of those "Spanish, papers" which reported last October, in elaborate detail, the death and funeral of General Franco. But I grant that Setior Borobia is in prison. The otherwise negligible letter of Mr. Frank Knight has assured The Spectator's readers

that "all the Evangelical forces in Spain are praying for the victory of the Government." Manuel Borobia unfor- tunately did not stop at praying. On the first night of the rising, when the Spanish cat seemed likely to jump towards the Left, this pastor shouted from a balcony "Long Live Soviet Spain." Therefore, although his fathily are free as air, anti-God Moscow's pious friend is under lock-and-key for his own safety as well as for the good of the New Spain. If Mr. Upward denies my version of *hat he has boldly called "the facts," I must insist on his furnishing the name of the prison which he says was deliberately burned down with all the Borobia family inside it. •

Meanwhile I repeat my unanswered question. What protest is being raised by the British Societies which finance Spanish Protestantism against the slaughter of Catholic priests and against such sacrilege on the part of the Reds, as is described by English Members of Parliament in The Times of December 21st? For every Evangelical pastor" reported" killed, I can name twenty priests who have been indisputably shot dead by Muscophils in Spain.—Yours faithfully.

62 Dean Street, London, ICL ERNEST OLD 3LEAH OW.