Dirt In Vain!

A trickster, a hypocrite, a liar, a backstabber and a would-be dictator were among the various things that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was called last week when he announced to the House of Commons that his Government had recognized Franco Spain. Few predecessors had ever taken such a verbal licking on that floor.

The Laborite motion of censure brought against Mr. Chamberlain declared "that in the opinion of this House, the decision of His Majesty's Government to grant unconditional recognition to the Spanish Insurgent forces, dependent upon foreign intervention, constitutes a deliberate affront to the legitimate Government of a friendly power, is a gross breach of international traditions and marks a further stage in a policy which is steadily destroying in all the democratic countries confidence in the good faith of Britain."

No Liberal or Laborite seriously doubted that Generalissimo Franco had won his war, would soon be master of Spain and sooner or later be recognized as such by all the world. But for two years the Opposition had been balked in their desire to put Britain on the Leftist side and they were at least going to say their say at the finish. If the censure motion was bitter, it was nothing compared to the way in which terrier-sized Clement Richard Attlee, Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition, tied into Mr. Chamberlain. Said Major Attlee: "It looks as if the Prime Minister has given away everything and got nothing in its place, not even a 'thank you' from General Franco. This is not in the interests of democracy or the interests of the safety of the British Empire. The Government is thinking all the time of the interests of British capital." When Attlee tired, Sir Archibald Sinclair took up the attack for the Liberal forces. Said he: "Unlike this Government, Franco will remain faithful to his own principles and own friends. . . . Don't forget that a part of the policy of Franco's supporters is the recovery of Gibraltar from Britain." The British Government's epitaph, asserted scornful Sir Archibald, should be "We have eaten dirt in vain!"

Mr. Chamberlain, visibly disturbed, attempted to soothe the Opposition by reading a telegram which he had received from General Franco, giving what the Prime Minister chose to interpret as "assurances" that Loyalist rights would be respected. When Mr. Chamberlain read a Franco passage saying that "Spain is not disposed to accept any foreign intervention which might injure her dignity or sovereignty," the Opposition laughed derisively and long. But the Government had the last laugh, defeating the censure motion 344-10-147.

Hours before the debate began, the British Government had assisted Franco's longtime representative in London, the Duke of Berwick & Alba, in taking over the palatial Spanish Embassy in Belgrave Square. Britain meanwhile decided to send as her Ambassador to Franco Spain a routine diplomat, 50-year-old Sir Maurice Drummond Peterson, until last week Britain's Ambassador to Iraq and a man who has seen previous service in Madrid as counselor of the British Embassy. Franco promptly accepted him.

Teacher to Pupil. France, where a bitter debate over recognition had taken place fortnight ago, decided last week to send as her first Ambassador to Franco Spain a man who could wield the most influence over the Generalissimo. Premier Daladier called from retirement 82-year-old Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, France's greatest living soldier and her "hero of Verdun." Some 30 years ago the white-mustached old Marshal was an instructor in France's famed war college, the Ecole de Guerre, and one of his not-too-bright pupils was a young Spaniard named Francisco Franco. During the Riff wars pupil and master met again when Marshal Petain, General Franco and the late General Jose Sanjurjo (No. i Spanish Rebel until his death in an airplane crash in 1936) jointly planned the French-Spanish campaign of 1925-26 against Abd-el-Krim.

The old Marshal will probably remain in Spain only until the next critical weeks have passed, when he will be succeeded by a career diplomat. His first job on his arrival this week will be to convince his onetime pupil to send home his Italian helpers, but there was little evidence last week that General Franco or II Duce would take kindly to such a suggestion at present.

General Franco did not bother to appoint a big-name Spaniard as his Ambassador to France. He proposed Jose Felix Lequerica, a stanch opponent of the Spanish Republic since its 1931 inception and a Basque who has long opposed the traditional nationalism of the Basque country. Since the Franco capture of the Basque town of Bilbao, Lequerica has served as its mayor. France accepted him as the first Ambassador of "New Spain."

In another effort to curry favor with General Franco, the French Government closed French ports to all supplies moving to the Loyalists, authorized Franco agents to seize Loyalist property in France.

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