Evening star., 1946-08-25
By Copt. Froncis Noel Baker

ne Iohnd.J
By Copt. From
FRENCH SPANISH FROM
TIER have Just crossed the
frontier back into France. My
To-day visit to the Spanish
underground had taken me
across Spain from Bilbao in the
northwest through Madrid to
Barcelona, with detour to San
Sebastian, where Gen. Franco
and his ministers have their
summer headquarters. The OBJ
ject of my journey was to meet
the leaders of the democratic re-
sistance movement, to find out
something about the strength of
popular opposition to the die
tatorship and to have a look
without official supervision-at
general conditions in the coun-
try.
A combination of good luck and
good organization enabled me to
complete the program almost on
time and without hitch. There
were anxious moments while wait
ing to cross the heavily guarded
border and while passing police con-
troll along our route. Though l do
not know the real name of the COM
panlons who guided me, I do know
l have nothing but the greatest ad-
miration for the skill and courage
with which they planned our
journey.
Guides Risked Death.
I ran the risk of possible arrest
and expulsion from Spain, but the
guides were in constant danger of
their lives.
Most of the men I met had spent
months in Spanish prisons, several
had already been sentenced to
death by Falange courts. But they
are still very much at work.
Several thousand guerrillas are in
the mountains-in Asturias and
Galicia, around Toledo and in the
Guadarramas Through which we
passed-but there is no prospect of
an armed uprising inside Spain.
There are two reasons for this
/. The Spanish democrats do not
want, and will not prepare for, a
second civil war. and, 2. The Span
ish army and police are SO WELL
equipped and so numerous that
without the cooperation of some
of the Spanish generals a coup
d'etat has no chance of success.
But the loyalty of the Army to
General Franco land, indeed, of
several of his minister's is a doubt
full quantity. Despite the privileges
they enjoy today, many are think
ing of the future. Each time Allied
pressure on Franco intensifes, these
potential Quislings begin to wobble
Then comes a statement from Lon
don or Washington which they in
terpret as renewal of non-inter-
vention, and once again they gang
up with the regime
Allies Aid Falangists.
1t has often been said that the
Spaniards are a proud people, and
that outside interference merely
unites, them behind General Franco.
There could not be more false in
depreciation. One has only to see
the groveling contortion of the
Spanish government today, as it
tries desperately to disprove its
past solidarity with the Axis, to
know how far that pride" extends.
It. was not the closing of the
French-Spanish frontier which So
lidified the regime last spring, but
Allied declara lions which-rightly
or wrongly-Were believed in Spain
to mean that the governments con-
cerned were prepared to tolerate the
continuance of the dictatorship.
Two great opportunities were
missed-the end of the war and last
years Labor Party victory in Brit
ain. At both those moments tran
sition might we'll have been
achieved. Today the task is more
difficult.
Repeatedly my friends of the OPP
position movement have warned me
that British prestige is falling fast.
The people, living under conditions
of near starvation and intolerable
oppression are getting disillusioned
Communist influence in Spain is still
weak today, but Russia (who, as far
as they can see, is their only active
friend abroad is rapidly winning
the sympathy of republicans all over
the country.
Wages Low, Food High.
once again, as in Greece. British
policy is tending to drive a subject
ed people to extremes. The longer
the present terror lasts in Spain the
greater the chance of eventual
bloodshed and an extremist solution
of the problem.
1t is no eXaggeration to talk of
starvation and terror inside Spain
Even the skilled workers wage is
so low that he can hardly hope to
keep his family alive. Government
ratlons provide only a small portion
OF their weekly food consumption;
the rest must be bought on the black
market. And the black market, op-
Grated by the army from its own
ample supplies, sells at fantastic
prices just beyond the workers
reach.
In the slums of Madrid I saw con-
dltlons which I can only compare
with Greece Just after the liberation