SeUing Spain\'s Resources Abroad to Buy Munitions.
By Dr. C. Barcia-Trelles .........

After the Red Republic has committed countless
crimes, the very men who were the ringleaders
pretend to be anxious to re-establish law and
authority. If their conversion were sincere, their very
first duty would be to cleanse themselves of their blood-
guilt by automatically relinquishing their positions.
Their object, however, is precisely the contrary.
Although they have only acted as terrorists,, their aim is
to continue in the role of governors. The very followers
and collaborators of Azana and Prieto, one would think,
would be the first to protest at finding themselves
cheated out of the maximalist revolution to which they
were impelled, by the pretence of a fictitious legality.

" There was a day, a month, several months, I do not
know how many . . . when we had no State, when we had
no machinery of Government. . . now we have a Republic
once more, a Republic with its three colours. That is
all I have to say. As long as the Republic is presided
over by a Democrat and a Republican, it will consist
of nothing else." That is how Azana dared to express
himself on November 13 last, at Madrid. It is bad
enough that a pretence at ruling a State should be made
by the very man who is bound to admit the fact that
that same State, and with it all the machinery of
Government, evaporated in his hands. It is no less
significant that the Republicans should endeavour to
restore the three colours of a flag, which, when it became
red, and a deep red at that, merely continued a process
of decomposition already innate in the doctrine of the
Republic and announced in its history.

" The Negrin Government has restored order in
Republican Spain ... it has re-established constitutional
normality and respect for law." This is what Portela
Valladares told the Manchester Guardian, according
to its issue of January 11, He went on to speak of
" a peace based on the present Constitution ..."
Surely, no one who has followed closely the course taken
by the Republic since its establishment in 1931 will be
misled by these appeals to a Constitution which, in
reality, never existed except insofar as it served to
undermine Spanish National life. Nor is it possible
to invoke a legality, which, if it ever existed, lost all
virtue in the course of a series of arbitrary acts and the
predominance of corruption and abuses to the extent
that the Republic fell mortally wounded by its own
failure. For it should be borne in mind that the
Republic of 1931, after being attenuated by the success
of the parties of the Centre and the Right in the General
Elections of 1933, and then being " rescued " by the
Popular Front in 1936, succumbed under the weight
of its own misdeeds.

The electoral system under which the Constituent
Cortes were convoked was impugned at the outset by a
genuine Republican, Senor Aparicio, writing in so
undoubtedly Republican a paper as El Sol of Madrid,
when he called it " a dictatorial system ... a guillotine
for decapitating citizenship." The oldest Republican
Party, the Federals, were unable to vote for the Con-
stitution as they considered it lacked any Liberal spirit.

One of the most prominent intellectuals who worked
for the establishment of the Republic, Don Jose Ortega y
Gasset, described the Constitution as " lamentable,"
and went on to refer to it in anything but flattering
terms. He also coined the phrase of the necessity of
" a rectification of the Republic "; and that need was
felt universally in its early years. It should be borne
in mind that the Constitution was still-born as regards
individual and.political rights, owing to the so-called
Law of Defence of the Republic being tacked on to it.
The very head of the provisional Government did not
wait for the Constitution to be promulgated before
starting on its revision. The Minister of War, who was
Azana at the time, stated quite frankly at Valencia that
he preferred 300 resolute men to any Constitutional text.
The Minister of Labour, Largo Caballero, at the possi-
bility of other parties obtaining power by legal means,
threatened civil war. The suspension of the press, the
prohibition of public and political meetings. Government
arrests for indefinite periods and the application of the
severest punishments without any legal procedure, all
followed one another in an endless procession. Rioting

was countenanced, if not decreed, by the authorities
when a certain pohtical object was in view—witness the
burning of the churches and convents on May 11, 1931
which was only the first of a long series of wild scenes in
the streets of the towns and in the countryside.

The well-known lawyer and member of parliament^
Don F"elipe Sanchez Roman, who was one of the sponsors
of the Republic, on its first anniversary, pointed out in a
note addressed to El Impartial of Madrid the " reprehen-
sible abuses " committed by the men of the regime and
the " disorder " reigning in all branches of the Govern-
ment. After making definite charges, he summed up
the situation as follows : " Great and small signs of
general disorder; the citizen placed in a state of
insecurity, whether he be a peasant or a landowner, a
workman or a manufacturer or trader, an administrator
or civil servant; even common law rights are not res-
pected since personal liberty is not guaranteed by the
State. In the ranks of the governed we find no disci-
pline, in the intermediate ranks of authority, the flouting
of all law ; and a tendency on the part of the Govern-
ment when, as too often happens, it is surprised by
events, to disregard law and apply arbitrary solutions
which may offer a temporary remedy at the cost of
gradually shedding its authority." Needless to say,
the leaders of the several Republican Opposition groups,
such as the Radical, Federal, Agrarian and Conservative
minorities, raised similar protests. The situation of
Spain, they declared, did not admit of any delay, and
the country was urgently in need of being governed if
the harm done was not to become irreparable. The
mis-rule, they said, threatened to ruin the moral and
economic foundations of the nation, submerged as it
was in a state of anguish, unrest and disrespect for law
which had hardly any precedent in the history of the
country.

Although some of the articles of the Constitution
might appear to be framed upon Liberal principles, the
preponderant influence both in the Republic and its
Constitution was Marxism. It was always Socialist
motions that prevailed whilst any amendments were
invariably thrown out. In exchange for being mere
figureheads, the Republicans were prepared to accept
humiliating subservience to their partners. Shortly
after the Republic had been established, Prieto rightly
pointed out that there were but two forces alive in Spain :
the Labour and Revolutionary force, on the one hand,
and the Conservative and Traditional on the other. The
only course that remained open to the Liberals was to
let themselves be absorbed by Socialism.

In return for their complacency in allowing themselves
to be thus eclipsed, the Republicans did not even require
of their Socialist partners that they should keep the
Proletariat within the bounds of law and order.

Strikes, most of them of a revolutionary character,
were the order of the day ; and as the whole Govern-
mental organisation of labour was controlled by the
Socialists, they were able to pave the way for the
Revolution unhindered. In doing this, they incurred
the opposition of rival organisations, such as the C.N.T.
and the F.A.L, whose attempts at revolt were repressed
in the bloodiest manner. Hence the anathema hurled
against Azana, Prieto and their collaborators by the
Syndicalists and Anarchists. In its manifesto of 1933,
the National Confederation of Labour (C.N.T.), com-
plained that " not a single one of the promises of pros-
perity, respect for citizen rights, and liberty has been
kept," and recorded its regret that " a representative of
the people did not rise against that bondage which
entailed complicity in every sort of vileness " and the
manifesto ended by proclaiming that the Republic was
becoming dishonoured and would end by destroying
itself unless it changed its procedure.

The abortive attempt at revolution in October, 1934,
was made by the Socialists with the help of the Catalan
Separatists and with the complicity of the Republicans
who were fishing in troubled waters. That attempt,
made on the pretext that the majority party in Parlia-
ment had no right to power, had its sequel in the for-
mation of the memorable Popular Front. Here again,
the various parties forming that conglomeration were
careful to safeguard their different programmes. The
Catalans and Basques, their right to self-government;
the Socialists and Communists, a revolution on the
Russian model; and the Anarchists, that indeterminate
state of anarchy to which they have given the name of
" Libertarian Communism." All combined in the
Popular Front, whilst in reality working each for its
own doctrine. All with the exception of the Republicans
who never gave substance to their ideals of government,
nor any reality to the allegedly Liberal institutions which
they were so fond of invoking.

Mediatised by Marxism, the Republic could not be,
and was not Liberal. Its Constitution was never more
than a shadow which inspired fear, and the exercise of
any citizen rights became daily more impossible. The
terror ended by freezing the blood of those members of
Spanish public opinion who did not fall victims to the
official murder-gangs.

Is it to this blood-stained paradise that Azana and
Prieto wish to restore their Republic which is already in
its death-throes ? Over what heap of dead bodies do
they seek to hoist their false, tricoloured flag ? They
know as well as anyone else that Franco\'s sword will
soon sweep away this bloody imposture. But assuming,
for purposes of argument, that the Red Republic could
survive the war, it would plunge Spain into even greater
chaos than has been witnessed hitherto. The liberal
and bourgeois Republic, with which they try to hood-
wink ignorant opinion abroad, would perish in seas
of blood. This is so evident that Republican leaders
themselves refuse to believe in the feasibility of such a
sham. Only on January 16, Martinez Barrio frankly
admitted that " Ike proletariat is entitled not only to
intervene in the Government of Spain, but to have a
monopoly of that Government."

" The recordmen of folly think everything is won,"
cries the Barcelona daily Solidaridad Obrera of January
26, " that there is nothing more to do in the struggle
begun. And unhappily that is not the case. The
newspa]:iers that rejoice in an untimely optimism . . .
forget or at least feign to forget that very bitter hours
still await us."

The Second annual congress of the Women of Spanish
Phalanx was held at Segovia on Janvtary 15 to
January 24 last under the Presidency of its National
leader, Senorita Pilar Primo de Rivera, sister of the
founder. The city was en fete for the occasion, the ancient
Alcazar being crowned with the national flags and its
walls decorated with a Cross 54: feet high in memory of those
fallen in the war.

The Congress was opened, in the presence of the
authorities, with Senorita Primo de Rivera in the
chair, in the throne room of the castle. The Chairman
was supported by the Bishop of Segovia and the General
Secretary, Senorita Dora Maqueda.

laying of the foundations of the Spain to-be. This is a
period of unification which has been carried out in
accordance with the will of General Franco and of the
whole country.

She recalled the name and work of her brother, the
founder, Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera, whose teachings
she had continued religiously. The President then
recited a prayer asking grace of the Holy Ghost to per-
fect the work of the Congress.

On the following days, some of the most distinguished
scholars and publicists of Spain gave addresses on such

Senorita Primo de Rivera, Chief of the Women\'s Phalanx, with the National Delegates.

The Secretary gave a graphic account of the vast
social work carried out by the Women\'s Phalanx. The
\' Social Aid \' department had been inspired by the work
of its leader, Senorita Mercedes Sanz Bachiller. The
incessant demands of the hospitals and work at the
front had also been met with abnegation and enthusiasm.

The Women\'s Phalanx comprises 280,000 adults and
150,000 juniors. 60,800 new members joined in 1937
most of whom came from the Carlist organisation the
" Marguerites."

Senorita Primo de Rivera eulogised the magnificent
work of the women of Teruel. She outlined the three
periods of the formation of the Phalanx, in the last of
which it is at present doing line work towards the
subjects as " Nationality, Unity and Empire," " The
State, the Individual and Freedom," " Women\'s Share
in the History of Mankind," " Women in Wartime,"
" The Present and Future Mission of Woman," " The
Social Work of the Phalanx," " Isabel the Catholic,"
and so on, which were loudly applauded.

Scientific and artistic excursions were held and a visit
to the Madrid front to salute the soldiers in the trenches.
Plays, concerts, parades and other events gave further
brilliance to the Congress. Amongst the resolutions
carried were to present to General Franco a scheme for
awards to women and others developing the social,
educational and sports work of the Women\'s Phalanx.

TRUSTWORTHY reports say that the Barcelona Government seeks to obtain a large credit from private Banks in
-L France in exchange for the output of the mercury mines at Almaden and the potash of Lerida. The credit thus
obtained is to be spent in buying war material. Let us look at this plan objectively and see what questions it raises.

IT is not a private concern but a Government, or what
professes to be one, which makes this offer—more-
over a war-time government. Now, supposing that
Government really to be a sovereign body, it is at once
faced with an insurmountable problem : namely, not to
abet any act which does not lie within its sovereign
sphere. The most that Government can claim is
de facto sovereignty. Now it is one of the characteris-
tics of such a regime that it cannot with the same powers
as belong to any sovereign body in a normal time, be
in a position both legally and in fact to fulfil its promises.
A de facto Government always exists subject to fortuitous
factors that prevent it from making positive agreements
with regard to the future, as the value of its promises
always depends on an outcome which, at best, cannot be
foreseen. It is a maxim of universal Law that he who
has no absolute certainty of being able to fulfil his
promise, has no legal capacity for making one.

The Spanish State has clearly perceived the correctness
of the foregoing interpretation by promulgating the
Decree of October 9, 1937, which Don Ramon Serrano
Suner so aptly quoted in a recent article. The object
of the Decree was to protect our national wealth by
suspending all alienation of mining property. It does
not refer to a particular area but covers the whole of
Spain. The wise foresight of this Decree shows such a
praiseworthy motive that ail genuine Spaniards will
feel that its aim is purely and simply to safeguard our
national economy, without the preservation of which
it is idle to talk of political independence.

We call the reader\'s attention more especially to the
Almaden mercury mines and the potash of Lerida, and
it is advisable first to explain just how much these mean
to the economy of Spain.

There are 28 raw materials considered necessary for
war, including mercury which, apart from its scientific
uses, is needed for detonators. Great Britain, France,
Germany and Japan are among the great powers who
are almost without mercury supplies of their own. The
1933 official statistics give that year\'s world output of
mercury as 2,000 tons, of which Spain supplied no fewer
than 815 tons followed by Italy with 610 tons. Thus,
leaving Italy, Spain\'s product is greater than the rest
of the world (575 tons) put together. She may there-
fore be said virtually to control the output of mercury.

Our forerunners did not fail to observe this fact and a
law was passed declaring the so-called \' quicksilver\'
mines, which were Crown property, as inalienable. Law
III issued in Valladolid by Philip II on January 10,
1559, ratified the foregoing and made it extend to the
Spanish colonies. It required the sans gêne- of the
Barcelona Government to reverse this centuries-old
Spanish tradition.

Something similar occurs with the potash deposits
of Lerida, for Spain is the third producer in the world,
following France. The Franco-German potash combine
formed in 1924, that controlled the world-output, had
to admit Spain, with a 14% share, later on. Spain\'s
production is capable of a great increase, her 1934
output being 6.9 compared with 1 in 1929. It will thus
be seen that Spain\'s possession of these two products not
only gives her a firm basis for future trade purposes but
places her in an enviable position with regard to a future
internationalisation of raw materials. This is an out-
come which becomes daily more probable owing to the
self-supporting tendencies of the day which nave so
deeply impressed the countries which dream of possessing
a complete monopoly of certain materials owing to the
way in which Nature has favoured them. In such a
case, the voice of Spain would have to be heard, but the
action of the Barcelona Government would deprive her
of that natural advantage. In these circumstances no
sane Spaniard can fail to see with which of the contending
parties in Spain his interests lie.

It would be well to call the French bankers\' attention
to certain legal aspects of the case. On May 1, 1937,
the American Congress voted a Neutrality Act extending
to civil conflicts ; the provisions of the Joint Resolution
of August 31, 1935, laying down neutral powers\' obli-
gations in an international war or a civil conflict. Section
III, clause [a) of the said Act, entitled " Financial
Transactions " makes it illegal for anyone in the U.S.A
to grant credit to either or both governments of a
country in a state of civil war. Breach of this law
entails a fine up to £50,000 and up to 5 years imprison-
ment. This is no new principle. You cannot be neutral
if, on the plea of mining concessions, you grant credits
to one of the contending parties to buy war materials
with. No international Court of Law would permit such
robbery, for such an agreement suffers from an initial
vice that deprives it of all legal standing.

Now, the National Government, on its part, has
roundly declared it will not recognise these projected
agreements, and it did so, not to suit the special cases
we deal with, but before the projects were mooted ; in
the Decree of October 9, 1937, in fact. The desperate
in extremis nature of Barcelona\'s offer, moreover, will
not be hidden from the French bankers. Its very
character proves its unsoundness.

Another danger is just as clear. One of the mines
offered, in Catalonia, theoretically and academically
belongs to the Government that offers it; first, because
it is \' socialised secondly, it is in the hands of the
Anarchists who would never allow foreigners to run it
unless the latter calmly accepted their own ruin ; and
thirdly, when the moment came to sign the pact, the
Barcelona Government would find itself opposed by the
Catalan Government which would invoke its autonomy.
This duality of governments would present an insoluble
problem; for, in the present circumstances who is
going to define their respective powers ? The contract
would not only be null but without guarantee of
fulfilment.

We have pointed out that our standpoint is not
occasional, but of long standing. In 1925, our work
" The Imperialism of Petroleum and World Peace "
(long since out of print), we examined the problem set by
27th Article of the Mexican Constitution of January 31,
1937, which decrees the nationalisation of the sub-soil.
(The Barcelona Government is trying to do precisely the
contrary—to alienate the mines). At that time we
amply sustained what we briefly repeat to-day ; namely,
that any measure decreed by a country with a view to
safeguarding its national wealth is, for that very reason,
immune from attack. If it were not so, any country
would be obliged to accept its suicide philosophically.
For, to-day more than ever, it is clear that no political
sovereignty exists when it is not upheld by clear
economic independence.

In the other event, countries would not be like nations
but rather like factories, exploited for the honour and
profit of a group of foreign bankers and the dishonour of
those who do not hesitate to alienate the liberty of the
country.

Don Ramon Serrano Suner asked for the objective
verdict of the leading legal lights of Europe. We repeat
his petition, with special reference to our colleagues of
The Institute of International Law, at whose sessions
we have so often taken part in discussions on the theme
of Justice and Peace. And we do so having in mind the
formation of a legal conscience on the point, and the
elimination of anything to do with the disturbing
influence of relativeness, in which there appear, from
time to time, schemes which have been jointly prepared
by complete despair and absence of all morality.

(Professor of the Rights of Nations. Of the Institute
of International Law. Professor of the International
Academy of the Hague.)

Perhaps the greatest social problem which has to be faced by the New Spain is one which all nations have to deal
with after a protracted struggle—that of finding employment for the demobilised soldier. Coupled with this is the
imperative necessity of maintaining the level of wages.

r I iHE lessons derived from other countries have
I shown that the demobilisation problem cannot be
satisfactorily solved unless provision is made be-
forehand to absorb into trade and industry those men
who have exchanged the pen and the pickaxe for the
sword. To this end an official Order was published on
October 14, 1937, creating the " Return to Work
Department," based on two prime principles. One, that
" citizens who gave up their work to join the Army and
the National Militia, voluntarily or in fulfilment of their
military duties, may not suffer any detriment at the
victorious termination of the war." The other, that
when the moment arrives, the rapid restoration and
total normalising of the country\'s economic and social
life must be achieved.

The aims of the " Return to Work Department " are
laid down in Article 2 of the Order, and embrace classi-
fying, by professions, trades, ages, and localities, of all
who held employment of any kind when they were
mobilised. Those who, on demobilisation, are without
work, either because they never had any, because it is
no longer available, because the concern has changed its
activities, or because their former professional quali-
fications have been changed and they would be required
to do a different kind of work, are also classified. A
census is made classifying all the firms in which em-
ployees left vacant posts through having been mobilised
which are being temporarily held by others ; and also
of those who have changed the type of their products
on account of the need for war material. The " Return
to Work Department " will suggest to the authorities
the requisite measures for securing a better distribution
of hands within National Spain, and will also supervise
the proper return to their former employment of all
workers.

To facilitate this work, all industrial, commercial or
agricultural employers, whether firms or individuals
who have had or may have in their employ militarised
or mobilised employees, must present a sworn statement
with full details of each of them, such as name, age,
profession or post occupied, salary or date on which
they ceased to be employed, arm or unit to which they
were attached and, finally, if it has been impossible to
keep the job open for them, why it was impossible to do
this and what were the causes.

On October 28, the official form for these declarations
was issued, failure to fill up which within the required
time was punished with a severe fine. The Army and
Army Corps Commanders also had to order all authori-
ties, centres and units under their command to draw up
lists of all the civil personnel mobilised or militarised
under their jurisdiction. All these lists, like those
sent in by employers are collected, registered and filed
at the Ministry of Labour.

The Labour Commission is empowered to appoint a
Director to carry out the duties involved and to obtain
the necessary personnel for the different departments
and the requisite credit from the Treasury.

Parallel to this demobilisation preparation, the
State has not only seen to the maintenance of wages
but has sometimes secured their increase, and it
has also introduced the family wage system.

General Franco repeatedly stated, from the outset,
that those who alleged the workers would have their
wages reduced were deceiving them. The New State,
he declared, wanted firmly to establish as rapidly as
possible the legitimate gains of the proletariat. He has
been as good as his word. He insists on the duty of the
New State to improve the conditions of the working
and middle classes, with rates of wages guaranteed and
the raising of the social status of the worker.

So far as this has been already put into practice that
gratifying increases in wages have been made in many
provinces by mutual agreement of workmen and em-
ployers. Thus a large number of peasants earn more
money than when the Popular Front was in power. This
is possible owing to the greater prosperity brought
about by order in place of chaos.

The great reforms of the Family Wage is extended to
prisoners of war and prisoners not charged with common
crimes. In several provinces the Family Wage Fund
has been set up by thousands of employers whereby the
workers with larger families receive proportionately
higher wages. In the province of Salamanca this Fund
is a model, and includes public offices as well as private
employers. It is a direct encouragement to the family
as well as a relief to the worker.

I procedure for its financial propaganda and must
be very satisfied with it, considering the wonderful
results it yields. In ail its publications and statistics
it shows the data for 1937 compared with those of the
latter half of 1936, with the result that 1937 appears an
annus mirabilis. This it could hardly fail to do, seeing
that the second half of 1936 was a time of utter chaos,
when Largo Caballero was at the head of the Govern-
ment but real power was in the hands of the murder
gangs. There could hardly be any doubt, therefore,
that revenue in 1937 would show an improvement in
Red Spain over the figures for that quite abnormal
period.

The revenue collected in National Spain, however,
shows an improvement over the figures for the normal
period of the first half of 1936 ; and that is, indeed, a
remarkable achievement. This improvement, moreover,
is not only in State revenue, but in the revenue of the
autonomous bodies, such as the Provinces and Munici-
palities, whose finances are more dependent on the
economic condition of the district they refer to and which,
therefore, reflect more truly the state of trade in the
country.

In considering the financial situation of large cities
in Government territory, it would not be fair to take
Madrid as an example, since it is subjected practically
to a siege. Barcelona, however, is a fair example. A
large city having normally a population of over a million
which is at present very much swollen by refugees, is
typical in its municipal affairs of the administrative
capacity of local Government in Red Spain.

Fortunately, figures showing the financial state of the
city are available from statements made to the press by
the local authorities themselves. Thus, the Municipal
Councillor entrusted with the management of the
finances of Barcelona, Vicente Bernades, in a statement
made to La Vanguardia on December 5 said that a
drastic restriction in expenditure had had to be made in
order to face the " desperate position created in 1936 as
a result of the disturbances in the city."

Prior to the rising the daily collection of rates in
Barcelona amounted to 275,000 pesetas, a total of
ordinary revenue of over 90 million pesetas per annum.
In October, 1936, these receipts fell to less than 65,000
pesetas per day. The Municipality was saved from bank-
ruptcy by the Catalan Government, which guaranteed
all its commitments and, in addition, made considerable
advances in cash. It is not to be wondered at that
since then conditions should have improved ; they could
hardly have been worse. What is important is to point
out that at present, on the statement of the Councillors
themselves, the city is very far from obtaining the
revenue it collected in the normal months of the first
half of 1936, The reason is not far to seek.

On the failing of the National Rising in Barcelona and
throughout the east of Spain, control of the munici-
palities was seized by the Anarchists and their allies
who were the real Shock forces of the Republic. They
had fought with Republicans but not for the Republic ;
rather against the principles of patriotism or order and
tradition represented by the National Movement. Their
ideal, if such it can be called, was that mixture of econ-
omic revolution and political anarchy with which
primitive minds have imbued the Spanish working
masses under the pompous title of Libertarian Commun-
ism—a doctrine in which ideas have been replaced by
slogans, and work and organisation, by indolence and
improvisation.

" Neither God nor master," " Neither ownership nor
authority," " Neither money nor banks," were some of
their slogans.

Not having control of the Government, all these
masses, which were grouped into more or less picturesque
parties, had to be content with applying their " pro-
grammes " to local government bodies. Thus, it was
the municipal and provincial councils that bore the
brunt of the Revolution. The central Government,
meanwhile, could only look on helplessly, comforting
itself with the doctrine of " wait and see."

One of the first demands made by the masses was
one which the authorities disguised under the euphem-
istic title of " Municipalisation of dwellings" and
which was to wreak havoc in local finance. This
was nothing less than the realisation of the popular
desire to enjoy the first fruits of the Social revolution
in some tangible form, such as free rents. Ever since
the Republic came in, a demagogic campaign had been
carried on against urban rents ; it may be said that rents
in the towns, and wheat in the country were the two
main sources of revenue.

The first of the revolutionary governments, that
presided over by Giral, published a decree reducing all
urban rents in Red Spain by one half. This measure,
however, did not satisfy the revolutionary mob who in the
true Spanish spirit wanted all or nothing ; as a matter
of fact, a few months after the outbreak of the civil war,
very little rent was being paid, and then only near the
scene of military operations where the presence of the
Nationalists produced a healthy scepticism as to the
ultimate success of the Revolution.

It should be borne in mind that Spanish munici-
palities, particularly in the larger cities, collect their
rates mainly on the basis of the rent paid to the land-
lord. And with the disappearance of the rent—and in
many cases, often of the landlord also—the munici-
pality found itself faced with bankruptcy.

Madrid and Barcelona, the two great Spanish cities
whose municipal revenue exceeded 100 milhon pesetas,

WHEN the Nationahst forces had fought their way
up to the walls of Teruel, the Command could
afford to call a halt. With the occupation of the
Villastar heights in the south and the hne of the
Alfambra river immediately to the north, the forces of
General Franco had not only rewon all the territory
lying to the west of the city, but had, in addition, driven
the enemy out of positions they had held ever since the
beginning of hostilities. Teruel itself had always been
closely besieged by the Reds, whose lines for a year and
a half had lain, in some places, less than a mile and a
half from the walls. Now, with the Nationalists com-
manding the roads to the south and the north, the city
itself had become practically no man\'s land. The
Red civil authorities, whose alleged installation
in the city had been stressed in their lying pro-
paganda, were established at Puebla de Valverde,
some 27 kilometres to the southeast, and even the
military command had its headquarters several miles to
the east of the city. Teruel, battered and bloodstained,
burnt and in ruins, lay like a city of the dead, into which\'
the Red soldiers could only penetrate in armoured cars.

In seizing the vast amphitheatre of heights over-
looking Teruel, the Nationahsts had not only estabhshed
themselves in positions dominating the city, they had
also won the initiative. Nor did the enemy attempt to
wrest it from them in the sector of Teruel itself. Alar-
med at the seizure of the Celadas heights, the Red
Command sought to check the Nationalist advance by
striking at their lines of communication with Calatayud
and Saragossa, their two main bases of operation on the
Aragon front. This was the more feasible inasmuch as
the railway and main road running to Calamocha and
thence on to Saragossa were dominated by the Red
positions on the Palomera Range, for the whole length
of which the Nationalist line of communications ran
along a secondary road a few miles westward.

Accordingly a series of desperate attacks were launched
by the Reds" all along the Palomera Range, beginning
on January 25 and lasting until the 28th. Fighting
was particularly severe at Buena and Singra, but it
extended southeast towards Celadas. A number of
fresh divisions had been brought up for these counter-
attacks from other fronts and were hurled into battle
in repeated attempts to break the Nationalist line. If
that line could be broken or driven in, there might even
be a chance, they hoped, of repeating on a larger scale
the operation undertaken on December 15 against the
inner lines of Teruel and cutting off the Nationalist
forces in the whole salient. At any rate, by bringing
pressure to bear on the left wing of the Nationahsts,
their advance to the north of Teruel could be stopped
and the city continue to be occupied, if only nominally.

All the attacks were beaten off, however, with extra-
ordinarily heavy losses. The Nationalist line was not
only held, but strengthened by the accumulation of
artillery and air force concentrated to deal with the
offensive, and that accumulation of strength was to
prove of great importance in future operations. The
Reds, on the other hand, had achieved nothing beyond
the destruction of several of their fighting units. The
number of wounded brought back from the bleak up-
lands of Aragon to Barcelona struck terror into the
hearts of the Red inhabitants.

There were other and stronger reasons for fear to be
felt at Barcelona. The period under review was marked
by activity in the air, which took the form of air raids
carried out by both belligerents behind the enemy\'s
lines. The bombing of centres of population is a hard
and painful feature of modern warfare and is particularly
tragic in the case of a civil war. But now-a-days it
is difficult to draw a line between the actual field of
operations and the rear. In fact, that distinction is
practically impossible. Far behind the fighting line are
centres of more effective warlike action than many of
the units stationed at the front. Factories engaged in
the production of war material, depots, means of trans-
port, power stations, are all fair military objectives
which, surrounded as they may be by a non-combatant
population, are none the less affected by the hard law
of war.

The Nationalist air force, which had brought down
some seventy enemy planes in the long drawn-out battle
of Teruel, towards the end of January struck at the
more vulnerable spots behind the enemy\'s lines. Raids
were carried out only against definite military objectives :
the petroleum depots at Valencia ; the principal centres
for the production of war material at Barcelona ; the
hydraulic plants at Tremp and Noguera that supply
power to all the war industries in Catalonia ; the railway
station at Puigcerda, in the sidings of which several
hundred of trucks lie loaded with war material imported
from France ; and, finally, some military concentrations
in Red territory.

To these air raids upon purely military objectives
the Reds have replied with reprisals aimed at
inoffensive towns and villages. Seville is the head-
quarters of the Nationalist forces in the South of Spain,
but no operations are carried out from there, nor does
it contain any war industries worth mentioning ; the
adjoining aerodrome of Tablada would have been a fair
objective, but the raids were made upon remote quarters
housing harmless civilians. Salamanca and Valladolid
are open towns ; yet in them, and in the neighbouring
villao\'es, large numbers of men, women, and children
have^failen innocent victims to Red savagery. By their
cowardly procedure the Communists of Soviet Spain
have added fresh horrors to tlie long list of crimes they
have committed against civilisation.

I Government to secure immunity from air attack
for their munition centres, has been conducted with
every device of showmanship. In order that the appeal
should not faU fiat the. Mayor of Barcelona was brought
to England and an intensive programme was arranged
for him, including a meeting at the House of Commons.

His speech on that occasion, as far as can be gathered,
was characterised by the customary omissions of im-
portant detail, and some of this may be set down so
that the matter rnay
be seen in correct
proportion. . His
plea was that Bar-
celona is an open
town and. so " den-
sely populated
that it is barbarous
to use aeroplanes
against it because
of the risk to the,
non-combatant pop-
ulation, particularly
the women and
children. He om-
itted to tell his
audience of the oc-
casions .J on which
the Government
had themselves
bombed Barcelona.
from_ the air.

When the Ci-vil W ai bioke out the Air Force which had
remained \' loyal\' to the Government bombed many
parts of the centre of Barcelona and machine-gunned
them from the air. This bombardment occurred on
July 19y 1936. and an eyewitness records that it was so
effective that to it, in large measure, was due the sur-
render of the troops. The bombardment was most
violent in the Plaza Cataluna, n; the heart of Barcelona,
and a single bomb in the corner ox the Plaza de Cataluna
and Rambla de Cataluna caused over 60 casualties, of
which a considerable number were civilians.

The planes also bombed and destroyed docks, part of
the harbour district, the Capitana General and the
houses surrounding it. It was in this partlcu/ir place
that the wife of General Goded and several children
lost their lives. The same planes machine-gunjied at
frequent intervals the Via Layetana, one of the principal
thoroughfares of the city.

This bombardment, however, was not the only
occasion on which the Government showed that sensi-
tiveness to the. safety of the. civilian population which
they are now pleading, to the civilised world. In May
last year when the x^narchists rose against the Barcelona
Governrpent, two planes from the aerodrome of Prat de
IJobregat opened an intensive, indiscriminate bombard-
ment on the quai ter of La Torrasa, .where.the residents
were thought to be in sympathy with the Anarchist centres by means of them.

party, and many casualties were caused.

Why has Barcelona suddenly become an " open city "?
It was not an " open city " in July, 1936, if the Govern-
ment\'s behaviour is to be taken as a guide. It was
apparently not an " open city " and not " densely pop-
ulated " as recently as last May. Presumably the Gov-
ernment can kill indiscriminately when they wish, but
when the Nationalists open fire on military objectives
they are to be condemned.

One last word may be said as to the military objectives

in Barcelona. In
the city there are
at present no fewer
than 157 military
objectives which
were not in exis-
tence in July, 1936,
when the Govern-
ment aeroplanes
bombed the city.
These obj ectives are
factories manufac-
turing war material,
munitions, gas, etc.,
and they are scat-
tered all over the
city, many of them
being in the very
heart of Barcelona.
One example will
sufhce ; the " Eliz-
alde Motor Co.," manufacturers of air engines, aeroplanes,
etc., is situated in the Calle de Provenza, at the corner of
Paseo de San Juan, and is entirely surrounded by the
houses of the civil population. Many other examples
might be given. Indeed, it is difficult to see how it can
be otherwise if the Government insist on turning the
most " densely populated " city into their main centre
of defence.

If the Mayor of Barcelona reaUy wishes to protect the
non-combatants against the air-raids of the Nationalist
planes, his course is simple and clear. He can remove
these military objectives from the centre of the city.
But this, of course, would not suit the policy of the
Government who wish to secure immunity not for the
civil population—which they have persistently sacrificed
here and elsewhere—but for munition works. The
Government bombed Nationalist open towns repeatedly
when they had a superiority in the air. They have
deliberately exposed their own civilians in Madrid to all
the terrors of war by defending the city.

There are certain traditions of humanity which guide
civilised Governments in the conduct of war. The
Madrid-Valencia-Barcelona Government have persis-
tently ignored them under the direction of their Russian
masters. But they insist on pleading them when there
is a chance -of securing immunity for their mihtary

Photographs of jnigmcnls of Red shells which fell during the raid on Salamanca. The markings on Ihem

r I IHE Government which has its seat at Barcelona,
I while pretending, for foreign propaganda purposes,
to be hberal and democratic, is in reality Com-
munistic. National Spain, on the other hand, seeks
inspiration in the traditional ideals of the country. This
fundamental difference is apparent in every sphere of
Government activity and accordingly is manifest also
in the postage stamps issued by either side.

The Republican Government, in their philatelic
designs, have exalted the revolutionary chiefs whose

St. James and the admirable cathedral of Compostella.
Finally, on the other side of the Straits, special stamps
have been issued in the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco
and at Cabo Juby, which show fine scenes of Moroccan
life.

On August 5, 1937, the issue of two special stamps was
authorised of a face value of two and four pesetas, the
former, in sepia brown showing the Alcazar of Toledo

Nationalist stamps showing the Alcazar of Toledo
before and after its destruction by the Reds.

hands are soaked with the blood of their murdered
victims ; and, proclaiming their servitude to Russia,
have issued an extraordinary series of stamps to com-
memorate the twentieth anniversary of the proletarian
revolution.

Nationalist Spain has chosen purely Spanish subjects
for its designs, some of them, such as the defence of the
Alcazar of Toledo, being worthy of perpetuation as a
popular and official manifestation of the spirit of heroic
Spain. The designs depict the landing at Algeciras of
the troops brought over from Morocco ; the ruins of the
Toledan Alcazar, and views of cities that remained
faithful to Spain, such as Pamplona, Burgos, Saragossa,
Seville, Cordova and Granada. Other stamps show
historic figures, such as the Cid and Queen Isabella the
Catholic, both of whom symbolise the unity of Spain,
the struggle against the invader, and the traditional
Hispanic genius. In addition opportunity is taken to
commemorate the Jubilee Year of Compostella by the
issue of a special series of stamps showing the Apostle
intact, and the latter, in green, showing the patio of the
Alcazar after its destruction by the Reds in their assault.
These stamps will only be on sale until June 30, 1938,
after which any surplus stock will be called in and
destroyed.

The stamps having legal currency in National Spain
were specified in an ordinance dated July 21, 1937,
when all stamps not issued by the legitimate Government
of National Spain were withdrawn from circulation.
The stamps recognised from that date onwards are as
follows :—

An issue printed at the Portabella works in Saragossa,
consisting of the following stamps : 1 centimo, emerald
green, the design being the figure of the face value ; 2
centimos, chestnut brown, the design again being the
figure of the face value; 5 centimos, sepia brown,
showing Burgos Cathedral; 10 centimos, light green,
showing Salamanca University ; 25 centimos, dark red,
with the design of the Giralda Tower of Seville ; 30
centimos, red, Castle of Navarre ; 50 centimos, dark blue.

showing the Lions\' Courtyard of the Alhambra; 60
centimos, Hght green, with a view of the Mosque at
Cordova ; 1 peseta, black, with a view of Toledo ; 4
pesetas, purple and red and yellow, showing a gateway
with a soldier carrying the National flag ; and 10 pesetas,
sepia brown, depicting a scene of the landing at Algeciras.

Another issue, printed at the works of Hija de
Fournier, Burgos, comprises the following stamps :—
1 centimo, green, with the design of the figure 1 ; 2 cen-
timos, chestnut brown, also with the design of the figure ;
5 centimos, sepia brown, depicting the Cid ; 10 centimos,
green, again depicting the Cid ; and 10 pesetas, blue,
also depicting the Cid. The series depicting Isabella
the Catholic is as follows : 15 centimos, dark green ;
20 centimos, violet; 25 centimos, red ; 30 centimos,
crimson ; 40 centimos, orange ; 50 centimos, dark blue ;
60 centimos, yellow ; 1 peseta, steel-blue ; and 4 pesetas,
purple lake.

By an ordinance published on January 30, 1938, at
Burgos, the use of certain stamps, printed in block
form, was permitted for a certain time : these are four
stamps showing, firstly, the Basilica of Covadonga, in
purple, with a face value of 20 centimos ; the Cathedral
at Palma de Majorca, in red, 30 centimos; the Alcazar
of Segovia, in green, 50 centimos; and the Cathedral of
Leon, in grey, 1 peseta.

The issue in commemoration of the Holy Year of
Compostella was printed at the works of H. de Heraclio
Fournier at Vitoria and comprises the following stamps :
15 centimos, sepia brown, showing the image of the
Apostle St. James ; 30 centimos, crimson, with a view of
the Cathedral of Santiago ; and 1 peseta, orange and
blue, showing the Porch of Glory at that Cathedral.
This issue was only in circulation from July 14 to
December 31, 1937, Spanish stamp collectors have
shown extraordinary interest in the above-mentioned
issues, as also in the surcharged stamps of the Republican
regime, and in the numerous charity stamps issued by
Social Aid, the Winter Crusade, and other charitable
organisations in Nationalist Spain.

{Reproduced from an article in "La Nation Beige" of Brussels,
published on January 9, 1938. The author escaped from Madrid).

\'"pHE only satisfied folk in the Red camp are the
parvenus, the scoundrels and the murderers who
have enriched themselves on what they have looted from
their victims ; the vagabonds and brigands who have
joined the army and have managed to win their \' stars
the young Communists, the new \'young gentlemen\'
who have monopolised the most important jobs in the
administration. But even they are becoming ever
more the prey of anguish in proportion to the ever more
nearly approaching threat of Franco\'s arms. Up to
now they had experienced an emotion comparable to
that produced by a bullfight. But now that their thirst
for blood has been assuaged they are staring at their
blood-stained hands. They have but one obsession—
to remove the traces of the fatal stains. But they can
never do so. Their tragedy is like that of Macbeth.

" It is also the tragedy of Macbeth that torments the
men of the Red Government. What is the reason of
their propaganda in the press, the radio, in their comings
and goings to the League of Nations and Paris to try to
make the world believe they are a possible democracy ?
Why all these invitations to visit Red Spain addressed
to foreign personages, if not with the object of cleansing
the bloodstains from their hands ; if not because they
are choking with the smoke of burnt churches, and that
they feel themselves alone

"As Madrid is the most sensitive nervous centre of
all the Red zone, it is there that one most observes this
spirit of hostility, distrust, discouragement and anguish
that has taken possession of the population. The
poverty and distress all around help to exasperate them
still more. Walk along the streets and you will see
nothing but empty, closed shops; trampled gardens,
ruined motorcars, and long queues of downcast, hungry
and ragged folk who wait for hours and hours with
Asiatic patience in order to buy, at long last, a single
kilo of onions or a couple of ounces of rice, which may be
all a family has to live on for three days."

^ 1937) whose original author is anonymous has
been translated into French by M. Francis de
Miomandre. It presents a series of indisputable facts
written by the capable and thoughtful pen of one who
evidently has a thorough first-hand knowledge of Spain.
Not only does the author express his grief for the poli-
tical sorrows which Spain has suffered, but he reveals a
spirit wounded to the quick at the irreparable losses to
the national wealth in art and architecture by the icon-
oclastic mania of the masses, incited by those who hate
Spain and everything Spanish.

The first part of the book deals with the causes and
forerunning events of the war ; it is a calm analysis
which proves that one of the greatest factors in the
tragedy was the determination to destroy the Catholic
religion. The second part of the book gives an impres-
sive and saddening summary of the churches destroyed
both before and after the movement began, the attacks
on culture and the martyrs among the religious and
secular clergy ; a panorama of persecution which so
many are apt to forget. The third section of the work
shows how the Spanish case exemplifies destruction as a
methodical plan and attacks on culture as part of a
systematic process. There are seven appendices which
furnish documentary evidence of the theme.

A fine poem by the great French poet, Paul Claudel,
furnishes a fitting prelude to the work. This moving
composition has already been translated into Spanish
under the title " Los Martires de Espana," (the " Martyrs
of Spain ") by an eminent Spanish poet, Jorge Guillen.
The second canto, dedicated to Spain, is of surpassing
beauty. " Oh ! Our holy Spain, at the land\'s end of
Europe, explorer of a double iirmament, employing both
the plummet and the prayer." Claudel has overcome the
difficulties engendered by the use of a biblical tone, pre-
serving all its peculiar style and giving his work all its
impress like a prophet. His indignant voice is all
solemn feeling and his complaint all sorrowful agitation.

Le Drama du Pays Basque (Paris S.G.I.E. 1937) is
also the work of an anonymous writer, but a perusal of
the preface shows him to be one versed in public affairs,
and a lover of the Basques. This booklet is a warning
to those who have been deceived and a revelation to
those who could not see the real cause of the trouble
below the surface. The whole theme is clear and orderly,
and firmly based on historical data. He starts from the
same point of view as Victor de Montserrat, who pub-
lished Le drame d\'un Peuple Incompris, in Paris last
June. But he arrives at a diametrically opposed
conclusion. As the book is intended for a distant and
perhaps insufficiently well-informed public, it contains
a historical and informative introduction on the Basque
region, its language, laws, economy, relations with the
Central Government and the part it played in the
Carlist Wars of the past century. Then followed the
Republican swerve, especially from the Summer of 1934,
the internal division of the country before the National
movement, and the finale in that Statute, so long in
coming, which was granted to them in October, 1936,
when the self-styled \' legitimate\' government had
reached perfection.

The concluding section describes events during the
war with its sequel of assassination—the flower of
Hispanism in Bilbao murdered in prisons and ships, the
systematic destruction of churches and towns, Guernica,
smashed and smoking, and a whole series of infamies
committed by those who in their madness started by
being faithless to the traditional Basque spirit.

La Guerre d\'Espagne et le Catholicisme, by Vice-Admiral
H. Joubert (Paris, S.G.I.E.), is a crushing reply to the
statements of M. Maritain in an article in " N.R.F." in
which he tries to twist the facts into an argument
against the rising in Spain. Maritain called his article
" The Holy War," and thus it is indeed; but not as he
thinks it to be. It is a holy war such as Vice-Admiral
Joubert shows it to be with unanswerable logic. The
author bases his reply on well known documents—
chiefly the letter of Cardinal Goma to Aguirre, ex-
President of Euzkadi and the Letter of the Spanish
Bishops. To this documentary evidence, the author
adds his own direct knowledge of Spain where he spent
three years, and a clear perspective of a Franco-Spanish
friendship. Like a good seafarer, he likes straight-
forward language and has a keenness for strict exactitude.
■ " Let us be Catholics," he declares, " but without com-
promise or calculation." Vice-Admiral Joubert ex-
presses, in his hearty, sailor\'s way, exactly the same
feeling of a sound Catholic, as may be read in the
exquisite poem of Paul Claudel.

IT is always pleasant to be able to tell the world
what you feel in your inmost heart. To-day we
shall indulge in that pleasure by fully expressing the
Spanish Phalanx\'s feelings towards its National Leader.

" In these grim days of a war that the Phalanx
resorted to as the last means of saving Spain from the
abyss, when many were sinking her into quicksands
where others wished to keep her, the National-Syndic-
alists are bound to their Leader by bonds of fighting-
men and by force of example, gratitude and faith.

" Spanish youth to-day, with its will to daring, its
ambition to serve and its constant state of being in dan-
ger, clearly perceives the permanent and shining example
of the Generalissimo, which he has given since those
African days when he was the youngest of the Army
leaders and already gave evidence of great promise as a
soldier and, in the uniform of the Foreign Legion, faced
death with a scornful smile. To-day he is burning the
midnight oil in his ofhce, to keep sure watch and ward
over the safety and destinies of Spain. Throughout his
entire life he has always been a model of austerity,
eschewing unnecessary gestures and idle words.

" National-Syndicalists feel compelled by the very
strength of their own faith to express their gratitude.
The tempest of war tragically thinned the ranks of our
leaders. The cruelty of the enemy has wrapped the
figure of the Phalanx\'s famous leader in uncertainty.
Criminal bullets took the lives of its best leaders. And
when, through lack of a guiding hand, it was in grave
danger of losing its bearings, the hand of the Leader was
at once extended to steer its course. Under the leader-
ship of General Franco, the great protagonist of youth,
the Phalanx has made enormous progress.

" Our attitude towards the Leader to-day is therefore
one of devotion, and, as regards the morrow, one of
faith—absolute and immense, with all the weight and
volume of the iron doctrine of the Phalanx.

" We Phalangists both desire and are able to robe the
person of the Leader in the mysticism of faith ; and not
only because of our ideological certainty in the benefits
of a single command, which shall be supreme and
permanent. For to that we add our knowledge of the
personal qualities of our Leader.

" Nobody has reached the august position of leader of
his country who has brought with him such a load of
services to his country as General Franco has done.
The Phalanx, which is the standard of Spain, assures
him of its irrevocable faith in him.

" Standing to attention before him, and giving him
the sahite of the nations that are consumed with the

fiery thirst for Empire, it greets its leader with the words
of loyalty that can never be broken.

\'\' Leader of Spain ! In life and death, the
Spanish Phalanx swears to be true to you !

" Gazette de Lausanne " in its issue of Feb-
J- ruary 7, gives an outline of the moral and spiritual
renaissance of Spain. After speaking of " the perfect
organisation of the National area, to which the Swiss
Delegation for repatriating Basque Children can bear
witness," the article goes on to say :

TM restoring public services in the liberated areas,
the National authorities are taking care to develop and
improve their pre-war administration. Thus, as soon
as the Asturian coal-mines were recovered, their output
was increased to such an extent that it has since allowed
of the export of coal. The repair of the railway lines
destroyed by the Reds in their retreat has had as a
corollary the electrification of them.

" Finally, barely four months after the fall of San-
tander, the Mmister of the Interior, General Valdes, has
been to that Province to inaugurate the reclamation of
the fens near the port of Santona, whose steep promon-
tory, like that of the Rock of Gibraltar, gave Napoleon
the idea of turning it into an impregnable fortress."

" This achievement is due to the hands which have
been left available by a still restricted mobilisation
which only embraces the first reserves—compared with
the levies en masse of the other side—and to the enrol-
ment of women of every social class who lend their aid
in hospital, workshops and farm-work."

At a meeting of the Belgian Export Chamber
recently held at Brussels M. Marcel Dessy spoke
on the subject of Belgian interests in Spain and
the necessity of establishing relations with General
Franco\'s Government. He stated :

" Belgium is an over-populated country which has to
import 65% of the wheat it needs. Our capital is
represented by what we produce,\' accordingly we have to
produce as much as possible and must seek markets for
our products. Belgium is officially neutral; but public
opinion in the country is favourable to Franco. His
power is becoming more consolidated every day and he
already rules over two-thirds of the country. It is,
therefore, to our interest to establish relations with thé

Nationalist Government and to follow the example set
by Great Britain, Switzerland, Holland and other coun-
tries in sending commercial delegates to its President,
whose final victory can no longer be doubted. Sympto-
matic of the trend things are taking is the quotation of
the peseta : the Barcelona peseta is quoted at 30 French
centimes, while the Nationalist peseta is quoted at
3.30 francs.

" Prior to the civil war, Belgium had very large
interests in Spain in various undertakings, such as
mines, electrical companies, tramways and railroads,
representing a total of 7,000 million francs, and situated
mainly in Nationalist Spain. Our exports to the
peninsula, the Canary Islands, and Spanish Morocco
total 375 million francs per annum, and in normal times
Spain bought of us manufactured goods of a value of
650 millions.

" As Franco gradually reconquers the country, Belgian
concerns are having their business undertakings re-
turned to them, while the concerns situated in Repub-
lican Spain have been confiscated. In addition, the 100
million pesetas owing to our exporters which were
deposited in the Bank of Spain at Madrid, have vanished
into thin air."

M. Dessy ended by urging the importance of estab-
lishing relations with Franco\'s Government as Belgium
ran the risk of losing important markets to her com-
petitors.

At a meeting held on December 22, the Belgian
Export Chamber unanimously passed the following
Resolution ;

" To call the attention of the Government to the
shrinking of the export trade and to the need of
measures to increase or at least maintain our dealings
abroad. A large part of Spanish territory is supplied
through the ports of Seville, Malaga, Gijon, Santander
and Bilbao, and they are under the control of an
authority which is not recognised by our Government.
The absence of any commercial representatives in
Nationalist Spain represents a grave drawback for the
Belgian export trade. The Chamber calls upon the
Government to examine the matter as soon as possible
and take the necessary steps to remedy the position."

The Paris magazine "Revue des Jeunes " has issiied
a number specially devoted to Spain, in which M.
Maurice Legendre writes an admirable article on " The
New Gateway of Glory " in the famous Cathedral of
Compostela, shrine of St. James the Great. The
following extract gives some idea of M. Legendre\'s
interesting contribution.

The ancient Gateway of Glory is the main entrance
to the Cathedral of St. James (Santiago) at
Compostella. It is situated at the end of what was
called by the Spain of the Middle Ages \' the French
Road "...

" The Gjateway of Glory is a masterpiece eloquent of
a spiritual brotherhood that has stood the test of
centuries, in which two great nations have employed in
common their fearless courage, their prolific poetry and
their fervent prayers.

" Nothing is of more present significance for us than
this lesson of the Gateway of Glory. It may be that we
shall understand later on how Spain, through her hero-
ism, is delivering the West from the aims of Soviet
barbarism.

" Spain has again become a great power through her
present trials and is to-day the only great power in the
world to reach a pacific state, by which I mean a state
where there is no longer any reason for war, nor desire
for external war. Sovietism has tried to wrest from Spain
that splendid privilege, but Spain has successfully
defended herself. The triumph of Spain over the
Sovietism that has brought about innumerable individual
murders and the greatest mass-murder that the world
has ever known, is a matter of importance to every
nation."

drew some 65 millions from the rent-proportioned rate
combined with an unearned increment tax on the rise
in value of urban property. The latter tax also failed
when urban property lost all its value, so that the
" Municipalisation of dwellings" brought disaster to
municipal finance. This, at a time when the needs of
war raised a whole number of new problems, such as the
feeding of the population, and the care of refugees,
which called for greater rather than less expenditure.

In order to avoid complete financial collapse, the
improvised councillors, drawn from the motley ranks of
the revolutionary front, have had recourse to the most
convenient, but at the same time the most unpopular
and arbitrary of all rates—the Octroi System. This
system of municipal customs duties was the very one
that the popular masses in Spain had fought tooth and
nail 25 years previously and had succeeded in getting
abolished after years of active and passive resistance,
only to find it now re-established by their own leaders.
Prices of foodstuffs in the Government zone, as has been
shown in former articles, are four or five times higher
than in Nationalist Spain. The tax, therefore, falls
upon these high quotations and in its turn, tends to
raise them.

Therefore the financial policy of the municipalities
in Government Spain is self-contradictory. They spend
immense sums in purchasing foodstuffs, which they
later sell to the inhabitants of their cities ; but at the
same time they impose rates on the very foodstuffs that
enter the town. Thus, as late as last December the
municipality of Barcelona established fresh rates of
over 50 per cent, ad valorem on wines and liquors, in
addition to raising by 50 per cent, the rates hitherto
imposed on meat, poultry, game and on all foodstuffs
and drinks consumed on public premises. Perhaps the
most typical item in the list of new dutiable articles
is horse-offal; this in a great city like Barcelona which
is a long way from the front and is an open port on the
Mediterranean.

1. To defend tlie Christian Religion against the attack of
the Anti-God campaign ;

2. To defend Spanish Civilisation and with it all Western
Civilisation against the attacks of the Bolshevik
Comintern ;

3. To cultivate good relations between the British
Empire and the Spain of the future ;

4. To assist His Majesty\'s Government by the creation
of an adequately informed Public opinion ;

5. To establish a permanent centre for the study of
Spanish affairs and the improvement of Anglo-
Spanish relations ;

Capt. Victor Cazalet, M.C., M.p.
Douglas Jerrold, Esq.
Brig.-Gen. p. R. C. Groves.
Arthur F. Loveday, Esq., O.B.E.
Sir Henry Lunn, M.A., M.D.
The Marquis del Moral.
The Rt. Hon. Lord Newton, P.C.
Sir N. Stewart-Sandeman, Bt., M.P.
Lawrence Venn, Esq.

CAPT. VICTOR CAZALET, M.C., M.P. THE VERY REV. W. R. INGE, D.D.
MR. DOUGLAS JERROLD MR. ALAN LENNOX-BOYD, M.P.

Admission by ticket only (free) and Reserved tickets at Five Shillings and Two Shillings and Sixpence which
may be obtained from the Offices of the Friends of National Spain, 53a, St. Stephen\'s House, Westminster, London,
S.W.L

(Hutchinson 10/6). A clearly written and carefully
documented history of the conflict in Spain,
showing the relevance of the causes of the Spanish
tragedy to British affairs.

(Eyre and Spottiswoode 10/6). A personal account
of a year\'s civil war operations in Spain by an un-
prejudiced observer who was the correspondent of
the " Daily Mail."

\'\' A Correspondent in Spain,\' by E. H.
Knoblaugh (Sheed and Ward 7/6). Personal ex-
periences in Red Spain. A vivid and objective
account of the actual conditions prevailing.

(Eyre and Spottiswoode 2/6). Mrs. Tennant, who
represents no political interests, gives a plain and
unvarnished account of daily life in Nationalist
Spain. Her interviews with British residents are
curiously at variance with quasi-ofhcial and B.B.C.
news.

" Conflict in Spain," by G. M. Godden (Burns
Gates and Washbourne 2/6)) Paper covered edition
1/6). A detailed record of Soviet intrigue in
Spain which led up to the civil war, with copious
references and quotations from on.cial Communist
documents.

"Franco Means Business," by Georges
Rotvand (Paladin Press 2/-). A "close-up"
picture of the man Franco, what he is like and
what he stands for.

"Red Terror in Madrid," by Luis de Fon-
teriz (Longmans 2/6). An eyewitness account of
the first six months\' " terror " in Madrid, graphi-
cally describing the ordeal of all who were not
" Reds."

"Spain: A Tragic Journey," by F. Theo
Rogers (Macaulay, New York $2.50). The
account of nine months spent in Spain during the
Civil War by a newspaper man, formerly an
enthusiastic supporter of the Madrid Government.

(Longmans 7/6). An account of the Religious
background in Spain,
" S pain\'s Pilgrimage of Grace," by J. A.
Eraser, former vice-consul of Spain in Bristol.
(Burns and Sons, Glasgow, 2d.). A documented
record of events leading to the Nationalist Rising,
and a justification of the Movement.

" The Church in Spain : Rich or Poor?" by
the Rev. Thomas J. Feeney (Cati:oLc Truth
Society 2d.). A carefully documented refutation
of the Communist charge that the Spanish Church
was fabulously wealthy.

" Second Thoughts on Democracy in Spain,"
by Reginald J. Dingle (Spanish Press Services
2d.). A new pamphlet examining the issues in
Spain eighteen months after the outbreak of the
Civil War.

" The Legend of Badajoz," by Major Geoffrey
McNeill-Moss (Burns, Gates and Washbourne
2d.). The truth of the " atrocity " myth.

" Impressions and Reflections," by Douglas
Jerrold, reprinted from the " Nineteenth Century
and After " (April, 1937). (Constable & Co. Ltd.).

" The Conflict in Spain," Refutation of Com-
munist Mis-statements, by the Marquis de
Merry Del Val (Catholic Truth Society 2d.).

(Burns, Gates and \\,ashbourne, 6d.). A useful
and detailed pamphlet giving information con-
cerning French and ivussian intervention in the
Spanish Civil War.

\'\' Spain—The Truth at Last,\'\' by Sir Henry
Page Croft (Bournemouth Guardian, Ltd. 2d.).
An exposure, among other things, of the Red
destruction of Guernica.

" Conquest of Red Spain," by Maj.-Gen. J. F.
Fuller (Burns, Gates and Washbourne 2d.).

\'\' The War in Spain,\'\' Pastoral Letter of the
Spanish Bishops (Catholic Truth Society 2d.).

" I Accuse France," by a Barrister (new and
enlarged edition), (Spanish Press Services, Ltd.,
6d.).

Magnificent sculptures on the entrance to St. Marys Church, smashed by blows from hammers.

Printed in Great Britain by E. S. Wheatley, Ltd., Barnet, for Spanish Press Services, Ltd., 99, Regent Street, London,