30 Miles Out

Any Spaniard, no matter what his politics, who was a member of the pre-civil-war Spanish Cortes is more than welcomed by the Leftist Government if he has never actually taken up arms against it and last week 170 of the original 473 Deputies gathered in Barcelona. A newcomer, who has never before attended sessions in Leftist territory, was Rightist Deputy Pedro Rico who was Mayor ("The Fattest Mayor in Europe") of Madrid when the war began.

To keep the Rightist spies in Barcelona from tipping off Rightist bombers where the Deputies would meet, Leftist Premier Dr. Juan Negrin first announced "indefinite postponement," then bundled the 170 into motor cars which streaked 30 miles out to the monastery of Montserrat, where once the Holy Grail was hidden, according to Spanish legend.

There, safe and unbombed in a tapestry-hung medieval chamber, the Deputies met for three hours, with several members of the British, French, Yugoslav, Norwegian and Swedish parliaments looking on as guests. No attempt was made to legislate. When the Premier, generally regarded as a front man for Socialist Defense Minister Indalecio Prieto, mentioned Prieto's name and coupled it with the People's Army (see p. 15}, he drew the one loud cheer.

Keynoting, Premier Dr. Negrin promised to issue food cards to everyone in Leftist Spain to ensure equal nourishment for all; he thanked the Soviet Union and Mexico for their aid; flayed Hitler and Mussolini; promised to be "merciless with profiteers"; advocated "banking controlled by the Government" and climaxed: "the war may last six months, or a year or two, but however long it lasts our economic strength will not be exhausted!"

For the Gommunist Party famed Deputy Dolores Ibarruri ("The Passion Flower") entered "reservations" against points in the Premier's program speech, but joined the rest of the Deputies in voting "unanimous confidence." No further Cortes session scheduled, the Leftist Cabinet will thus continue to govern by decrees, ratified at long intervals.

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