THE STRUGGLE IN SPAIN
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Col. Butler's remarks on the subject of the struggle in Spain would be more convincing if they were supported by some unbiassed first-hand information. In the absence of this, it would be interesting to know how the alleged " kindli- ness " and " decency " of Franco's venture in Spain can be reconciled with such proved outrages, on innocent human beings as the bombardments of Guernica and Almeria. On the positive side, it would be surprising if Franco did not propose to copy the meretricious allurements of Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy. When, however, a pretended devotion to justice and culture turns out to be only a blind for disreputable political activities and for a patriotism of the most banal kind, it is impossible not to doubt both the value which is claimed for it, and the motives behind it. The counter-claims made by the Spanish Government and its apologists are exactly similar to Colonel Butler's arguments,
and are put forward with an equal lack of justifiability. From this, only one conclusion is possible. The Spanish struggle is a silly squabble which ought to have been stopped months ago in the name of those very virtues which rival partisans in the struggle claim so vociferously for their respective factions.
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