Conditions in Spain
That France should have decided to close the frontier against Spain is not surprising in view of the commanding position which the Communist Party holds in the French Government, but what good effect it can have on either country is hard to see. The poli- tical situation in Spain has deteriorated, in that the prospect of an agreed restoration of the monarchy, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, has receded, and General Franco iS taking punitive action against monarchists and republicans alike. On the event that has precipitated French action—the recent execution of Cristino Garcia and eleven other prominent republicans—it will be wise to suspend judgement for the moment. On the face of it, men who have deliberately taken up arms against the Government of their country could look for no other fate, but regarding that it will be well to wait for the full report which the British Ambassador has been asked by the Foreign Office to transmit. Whatever the internal conditions in Spain, there is no ground what- ever for suggesting that in themselves they constitute any threat to iiternational peace, and Mr. Bevin could have no justification for departing from the attitude he has consistently adopted, that the Spaniards must settle their own affairs and that to attempt to over- t; trow the Franco regime from without would be neither legitimate nor expedient, since Spaniards are a proud and independent people, and external interference would be more likely to consolidate than to disintegrate support for Franco. Economic considerations point in the same direction, for certain forms of trade with Spain are of substantial importance at the present time. But the opinion of the world about conditions in Spain need certainly not be disguised. It is, as Mr. Bevin said, a detestable regime. America shares that view, but the Note sent from Washington to London on Wednesday seems more calculated to stimulate civil war than a settlement.
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