THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22987, 16 September 1936, Page 4

THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir. —Those of your readers who are not entirely dependent on the cable service for their information on foreign affairs are well acquainted with the way in which this service distorts and grossly misrepresents items of foreign news.

The cables concerning; the Spanish Civil War are no exception in this regard. Their persistence in referring to the Communist minority as " Loyalists" and "Popular Front," and to the national and patriotic majority as "Insurgents" and "Rebels"; their habit of emphasising the atrocities committed by the Nationalists, and of minimising or entirely overlooking those perpetrated by the Communists; their reluctance to admit Communist losses and Nationalist gains—all these are examples of a process which goes on constantly in our cable system. This is something to which we are quite accustomed, and for which our papers can hardly be held responsible. But can we blame the cable service for misrepresentations such as that which appeared in your issue of today? Here we are told, in small print, that the Communists crucified a priest. Yet, in a large headline, we are informed that this atrocity was the work of the rebels. At the very best this would seem to be an unconscious, but lamentable, mistake. At the worst, though I cannot think that this is the case, it would be a subtle means of misrepresenting what your policy forces you to print.—l am, etc., September 14. Justice. [What our correspondent means by the • reference to our policy in the last sentence of the above letter is not clear. Our policy is to present the news of the day, and to the extent that the news consists of records of events overseas it is sifted and supplied by an organisation which can be relied upon to furnish an adequate and accurate abstract of current history. We do not agree that the atrocities committed by one faction in the Spanish Civil War have been emphasised in our cabled news while those committed by the other faction have been minimised or overlooked. It is necessary to remember that both factions censor, as far as is possible, the reports that are despatched from within Spain. We regret the inadvertence by which an outrage perpetrated by the Communists was attributed to the rebels. As our correspondent objects to the labels attached to the contending forces, perhaps he would suggest other names by which the parties might be known. We are unable to see any reason why forces which have risen against, and are attempting to overthrow, the constituted authority in a country should not be called " rebels "or " insurgents."—Ed. O.D.T.]