NEWS OF THE WEEK
BUT for the memory of such precedents as the repulse of the Russians from the gates of Warsaw in 1920 the fate of Mnrlrid might be regarded as already sealed. And in fact sealed it almost certainly is, for every factor of success, except desperation, is in the hands of General Franco. His troops are trained and tried, they are amply supplied with munitions of all kinds, they have a manifest superiority in the air, and they are obviously being ably led. The cordon is being drawn relentlessly closer round the beleaguered city, and the advance on it has so far been surprisingly rapid. It is not too late yet for the possi- bility of a reaction inspired by Seiior Caballero, and there may be significance in the Order of the Day in which the War Minister declares " it is necessary to attack fiercely to free Madrid." But as those words were being written the insurgents were establishing themselves within 13 miles of the Puerta del Sol. Too much time has been lost in substituting military discipline in Madrid for the confused jurisdiction of syndicalist officials and workers' committees for an organised defence to be effective. The choice is now imminent between the abandonment of the city by the Government and its defence to the last, with all the hideous concomitants of street-fighting as exemplified at Oviedo and Huesca and elsewhere. In the latter event the possibility of a rising of Right sympathisers in the capital will be a factor to reckon with, * *
