Evening star., 1936-09-04
Belated Diplomacy.

In light of the frightful casualty toll
of dead and wounded which the con-
fiict has already taken, to say nothing
of stupendous property damage, it savors
of locking the stable door after the horse
is stolen for foreign diplomats accredited
to Madrid now to be attempting to
"humanize" the savage strife which has
turned Spain into a shambles. Negotia-
tions, in which Argentine Ambassador
Mansilla is apparently taking the lead,
seek to induce both the government
and the rebel forces to send delegates
to a conference at st. Jean de Luz,
France, to discuss ways and means of
Curbing the carnage which has marked
the latter stages of the civil war.
The "humanizing" program to which
the loyalists and insurgents alike are
asked to commit themselves aims at
protection of the civil population, non
incarceration of hostages, preservation
of public health, prevention of bonn
bardment of defenseless cities and con-
servation of works of art. In every
one of these directions ruthlessness has
been more or less the order OF the day
on both sides, amid claims and counter
claims as to exactly where principal re-
sponsibility for barbariSm rests. Dis
patches from the theater of hostilities,
distinguished in their eighth week by
intensified ferocity, reflect only a modi-
cum of hope that eleventh-hour diplo-
matte intervention will serve its merciful
purpose. Passions have been aroused on,
a scale of bitterness that threatens to
thwart all efforts to check no-quarter
tactics.
Ambassador Mansilla explains that the
diplomats would stop blood letting and
destruction not only on humanitarian
grounds, but as "the only way of pre-
venting world war" From the inter-
national standpoint that phase of
SPANS tragedy is, of course, paramount.
To that end, it is indicated that truce
in the war will be sought at the same
time the diplomats are comforting with
spokesmen of the government and Gen.
Franco concerning "humanization.
There are unfortunately indications
that not all of the European powers are
innocent of ulterior purposes and selfish
hopes in the Spanish conflict. Despite
official proclamations of neutrality in
various continental capitals, active par
ticipation Of aircraft and artillery of un-
mistakable non-Spanish origin, not to
mention the apparently unceasing sup
plies of munitions flowing in from mys-
terious sources, strongly suggests that
in some important cases neutrality is
more honored in the breach than in the
observance. simultaneously Europe re-
verberates with ugly and more or less
circumstantial reports that German
Nazis and italian Fascists yearn for
rebel victory in Spain in the expectation
of eventual rewards in the shape OF
Mediterranean territory concessions, and
as a means of encircling Popular
Front" France on three sides. ContribI-
tions of Communist gold to the Madrid
governments cause reveal that Soviet
Russia, too, has not contrived to main
tain strictly hands-off policy.
Grave incidents that might precipi-
tate armed Intervention in Spain by
some aggrieved power have happily thus
far been avoided, but the temptation to
fish in troubled waters is strong, and
the danger that they may be perilously
muddied by some power on the make
cannot yet be dismissed.