Evening star., 1938-02-16
By ELLERY SEDGWICK.

| y.
The crisis always produces the man
and by unanimous conviction Gen.
Franco Is the man OF men for ma
tional Spain.
A civilian can make no fair ap-
praisal of his military competence,
but several Of the FIRST soldiers in
Europe. including Marshal Lyautey,
have testified to his soldierly ability,
a reputation apparently confirmed by
his dih1cult and successful campaign
in the North, eliminating in the fall
/ Of Bilbao. But. whatever his military
gifts. any thoughtful traveller in White
Spain must admit his political shrewd-
ness
The change from civil to military
control has been carried out with a
minimum Of commotion Everywhere
the permanent civil STATS are vir-
tually unchanged. In every province
there Is civil As well as a military
governor. Often the civil governor
is military governor in multi. but
the duties are carefully defined and
no friction exists.
Many Progressive Followers.
But Gen. Frances political acumen
is put to = sharper administrative
diversity of his following Monarchists,
great landowners. rich manufacturers
make up out 4 fraction of his sup
port. Progressives, Is We should call
them, follow him in great numbers,
and tens of thousands of genuine rad
icab shout themselves hoarse in his
honor. There are many conservative
elements, some of them sharply re-
dictionary, but the liberal spirit is
clearly in the ascendant. People who
cannot agree on principles can agree
on q man. and Gen. Franco has about
him a quiet, self-contained assurance
which convinces every group in turn
that he Is Of their mind
When the war Is over the generals
task will have just begun. Never
again will his moral authority be
universal but while the war Is on
there is but 4 single cry, Una patria,
uno caudillo" tone country, one
leader).
In considering the radical purposes
OF White Spain we must use some
other test than american democracy.
Contrast the capacity Of the two peo-
Piles for democratic government. In
America We regard our few illiterates
as = disgrace. In Spain over 40 per
cent OF the public can neither read
nor write, and do not even care to
think. Education comes before democ-
racy.
FalAnge EspanOla.
But the radical ideals of the great
mass Of Spaniards can be clearly
shown by the manifesto which ex-
presses the will Of the largest single
party amongst Gen. Francois followers.
the 'Falanse Espanola"-the Spanish
Phalanx. The Falange, loosely called
the Fascist party, was organized early
In the 1930s by the son OF the
famous dictator, Primo de Rivera.
Primo was not as other dictators. He
had in him . streak of idealism and
marked sympathy with the under
privileged. A great administrator VINO
brought peace and order to Spain for
six years, Primo was disliked by the
aristocratic landowners ana the Kings
party generally, who dBtrusted his
sympathies with the proletarist. Tory
Socialism was not popular IN those
days, and Primo was dismissed oy
the King he had served 50 well.
Primo died in disgrace. and his son,
inheritor Of his fathers name and his
fathers sympathies, threw his own
abundant energy into the rehabtlita-
ton of = great reputation. He gath
cred his friends into compact party.
which achieved At the outset 30 mod
crate . following that in the election
Of 1896 it did not win . single scat
In the Cortes. But as the clouds black
ened and civil war grew more certain
the party began to roll up like 4 snow
ball. After the murder Of Calvo SoteHo,
the hero Of moderate ond wise reform,
young men hocked by tens Of thou
sands to the FAlante. Young Primo
himself was arrested ana murdered by
judicial process, but the banner he had
raised became the rallying point OF
the largest party in the state.
FraDco Needs Falange.
The FAlAnge IL recognise - essen-
tion to the success Of National Spain.
After the victory u won, pressure from
the conservatives and Gen. Francos
own judicial intelligence may well
modify the more extreme demands Of
the Falange. shrewd guesses ars made
OF constitutional monarchy, with
the popular Prince Juan wearing his
fathers crown. But there should be no
misapprehension about the fact that
civil war IN Spain y not between rad
ie.1 and oon''r'''1f''' but between