Meanwhile the Non-Intervention Committee in London is stagnating in" a
mass of procedure through which only three or four Powers, notably Great Britain and France, are seriously anxious to cut a way. When Italy and Germany accepted the principle of the ban on volunteers the hope was expressed that the ban might be. made effective by February ist. There is no sign at all of its being made effective yet. It has obviously always suited the Fascist States to play for time while there seemed any likelihood of an insurgent victory, and' there is little to tempt them to mend their pace while the advance from Malaga is con- tinuing and the grip on Madrid tightening. Portugal, obdurate and obstructive from the first, may or may not be serving as stalking-horse for more powerful patrons ; at any rate, Portuguese opposition to a patrol plan is at present the chief feature of the discussions. Whether the discussions are worth continuing at all is now doubtful. Lord Cranborne said in the House of Commons on Monday that the number of volunteers on each side was roughly equal, but there is reason to believe that considerable numbers have reached the insurgents since his last information was received. It has never been easy to decide whether the Non-Intervention Committee was a reality or a deception. It is beginning to look more like the latter.
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