Evening star., 1936-11-26
Troubled Waters.

Until guns 60 of or some other overt
act is committed, hope must persist that
irrevocable complications will not flow
from late events in the Spanish crisis.
But it would be idle to deny that the
imbroglio with General Franco, into
which Great Britain has been plunged,
brstles with the gravest possibilities.
These are not minimized by Spanish
government claims that undesignated
foreign warships are operating off the
east coast and that Loyalist cruisers have
been the targets Of strange aggressions"
at Cartagena. The situation is further
muddied by reported sinkings of Greek
and Norwegian steamships by rebel craft
near Barcelona. Conspicuous amid these
allegations and rumors are veiled charges
that the main offenders are German or
Italian submarines or destroyers acting
in the insurgents interest following their
recognition by Berlin and Rome. Thus
quite enough is piling up in the realm
of both fact and fancy to convert the
zone in question into an area of Sorely
troubled waters. Out of 1t critical de-
velopments may boil up at almost any
moment.
Great Britain, ever jealous of her
maritime rights and duties, has acted
promptly to safeguard her shipping in
terests and to prepare for any emer-
gency that may spring from General
Frances blockade threat and plan to
destroy Barcelona. The flagship of the
first Mediterranean submarine flotilla,
accompanied by eight undersea vessels,
has left Malta for the Spanish Medi-
terranean coast. The third destroyer
fotilla is proceeding to the same region
These movements give effect to Foreign
Secretary Eden'S assurance to Parlia-
ment that British shipping on the high
seas will be protected against inter-
ference by vessels of either party to the
Spanish conflict" London so far has
refused to recognize the insurgents bel
ligerency, in pursuance of the increas-
ingly delicate role Of absolute neutral
sought from General Franco a pledge
that a safety zone would be set apart at
Barcelona for British and other foreign
shipping, and also that adequate notice
of any intended bombardment would be
given. Ignoring these specific sugges-
tions, General Franco curtly replied that
other eastern ports still under Madrid's
control. Parliament is about to enact
law making it illegal for any British
ship to transport munitions to Spain.
Franco is thus warned that he will have
no excuse for stopping and searching
British vessels on the high seas, and that
If he does SO, it will be an incident bor-
dering on piracy, which Britain could
not ignore, even for the sake of peace.
France identifies itself with the British
position and has dispatched warships Of
her own to back 1t up.
The atmosphere would be partially re-
lieved of tension were Britain and France
to grant some such status in interna-
tional law as Franco has received from
Germany and Italy. According of bel
ligerency rights to him is probably in
evitable in the near future. 1t would be
hastened if Franco could demonstrate
that he possesses sufficient sea power to
maintain an effective blockade. Until
he can, London and Paris seem deter
mined not to take the humiliating step
of blindly following Frances Fascist
supporters in giving him premature
recognition.