GERMANS DEFIED

Taranaki Central Press, Volume V, Issue 457, 26 June 1937, Page 5

GERMANS DEFIED

SPANISH DETERMINED Patrol Of Coasts Press Associacion —-Copyright. London, June 2b. The official spokesman at Madrid declared the Spanish Government was determined to maintain sovereign sea rights against German and Italian “bandits and pirates,” whoso ships had no legal right to patrol the Spanish coast. President Roosevelt played an active part in the diplomatic moves to ensure the- relaxation of tension following the Leipzig torpedoing incident, the Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent discloses. He instructed 1 Mr Dodd, United States Ambassador at Berlin, to give full support to the British and French Ambassadors in their counsels against hasty, incautious 1 acts. The Berlin correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says official quarters state that the German warships will remain in the Mediterranean to protest legitimate German trade but the fleet consisting of two pocket battleships, including the Graf Spee, which has already left Germany, four cruisers, nine destroyers and four submarines seems rather large for this duty. Official quarters declare Germany has no intention of blockading Spanish Government ports, but it may be assumed that ships laden with arms for the Government will not be allowed to pass. French newspapers report that France is pressing Britain to join her in taking complete naval control in the Mediterranean. France be lieves the Spanish problem is becoming more openly a question of commercial and military interest. Germany and Italy’s decision to withdraw from the scheme of naval supervision on the Spanish coast was c-ommuniciated in the form of Nates to Mr R. A. Eden, British Foreign Secretary. No date has been fixed, for a fur ther meeting of the Non-Intervention Committee, of which both Germany nd Italy remain members