A Diplomatic Breach The rupture of diplomatic relations between Portugal
and Czechoslovakia last week is an excellent example of the deterioration which has taken place in recent years in the diplomatic manners and customs of Europe. The dispute to which it was the conclusion has not yet been fully cleared up. The Czech Government refused an export licence for a delivery of Bren machine-guns to Portugal, on the ground that their entire stock was needed for national defence ; they offered to substitute a different type of gun. The Portuguese Government, admitting that if true this excuse was a sufficient reason for the breach of contract, alleged that in fact the refusal was the result of pressure exerted by Moscow ; Russia's intervention was supposed to be due to a suspicion that the guns were meant for General Franco. But, from a later version of the Portuguese case, it appears that this charge was made, not by the Czech Government, but in a letter from an official of the arms factory, which is partly State-owned. The Czech Government very rightly says that, if this is true, it is a matter for discussion and enquiry by the two Governments. It is, in fact, for the settlement of just such disputes as this that diplomats are accredited at foreign capitals ; it is a most frivolous distortion of their functions to withdraw them because the dispute has arisen. On this showing diplomats would appear to be sent abroad chiefly for the purpose of being withdrawn when there is work for them to do.
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