Evening star., 1936-12-06
blum VICTORIOUS
IN GRAVEST TEST
Spanish Neutrality Stand
Backed, 350-171, by
Parliament.
BY the Associated Press.


PARIS. December 5.-The "popu-
lar front" government Of Socialist
Premier Leon Blum tonight success
fully weathered the gravest political
crisis in its history.
The premier and his supporters
emerged victorious in o test vote Of
confidence on Spanish neutrality on
which the premier had pinned the
fate of his regime.
Despite Communist abstention, the
vote was $50 to I'll in favor of the
premier, who announced he was de-
termined to override Communist and
other opposition to his neutrality
stand.
Leaving the extraordinary session
which gave him the first vote of con-
fidence he ever asked, the premier
said his cabinet ministers were unan-
imous in their decision to retain their
posts because of the majority given
him.
After. the vote had been tabulated
and announced, the premier said:
Il must repeat what said in Par
liament-that 1t Is not only a CUES
ton Of surviving the stress of one hour,
but it is a question of solving our
| difficulties in such fashion that to.
morrow a united action can be fol.
lowed under conditions of confidence
and loyalty.
Answer in Future.
ut Is for the future to show Us
| ha he ;rt o,-fx, xx,;ll ooi,
Informed political observers con-
jectured whether Blum's supporters.
angered at the latest Communist at
tack, might force extremists to fall
in line or risk the formation of an
anti-Communist front.
The premier, in pleading for Par
Lament to demonstrate its approval
Of his hands-of1 policy in Spain. said
1t had not achieved all expected of
it, but that is no reason to con-
denim it."
The Communist leader, Maurice
Thorez. led the opposition by charg-
ing the intervention" of Germany
and Italy in Spain was tantamount
| to the start of a European war.
Accusing them of taking an almost
open side in the Spanish civil war.
he asserted their operations were di-
rected primarily against France, and
declared Germany aspired to rule the
Mediterranean.
In reply, Blum declared French
peace was bound up indivisibly with
that of all other European nations.
He received a storm of applause
from Socialists and radical-Socialists
while Communist deputies sat in
stony silence.
| Earlier his way in the Spanish sit
uation appeared to have been cleared
with unexpected support of rightist
partisans who hitherto had been
aligned against the Government.
Neutral Stand Reaffirmed.
The premier in a speech to the
Chamber of Deputies reafirmed his
determination to stay out of Spain,
and warned that if a dictatorship
should be set up by victorious insurg-
ents, 1t would constitute "a menace to
peace" and would disturb French
solidarity"
This would come about, he de-
clared, if the Spanish dictatorship
should be linked with the present
regimes in Italy and Germany which
| already have announced recognition
Of the Spanish insurgent Gen. Fran
cisco Franco.
Before the voting started the cham
ber cheered the premier after one of
his predecessors, Etienne Flandin, de-
clared:
When We vote for the govern
ment. We vote against war for Spain,
against an theological war-we vote
for peace against all interference
which would lead us to war"
Jacques Dulcos, Communist leader,
in explaining the Communist absten-
ton from the vote, made what many
deputies considered a veiled threat
Of new occupation strikes which have
been harrassing the Blum government
recently.
I'VE represent metal workers and
have been comforting with leaders of
their syndicates," he said. "and We
believe we have workers behind us in
asking the government to raise its
blockade against SPAIN
Recent occupation strikes have in
volved thousands of metal workers in
and around Lille.