Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1938. A SETTLEMENT IN SPAIN.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 April 1938, Page 6

Wairarapa Times-Age WEDNESDAY, APRIL 20, 1938. A SETTLEMENT IN SPAIN.

that the Spanish insurgent forces under General Franco have forced their way to the Mediterranean, coast south of Barcelona, cutting off Catalonia, from the rest of Spain, there can be little doubt that the days of further resistance by the Government are numbered. It is fairly clear, also, that the rebels owe their growing ascendancy largely to their having been assisted freely by Germany and Italy, while Republican Spain to a great extent has had to rely upon its own resources. The leading features of the position reached will be made clear by a. glance at the map. Of Northern Spain, the Republicans now retain little more than Catalonia, but they still hold about half the country extending south from a line running east from Madrid to the Mediterranean. Between these two main divisions of Republican Spain, however, the rebels have driven a broad wedge to the coast of the Mediterranean, where they have of late been extending their area of occupation day by day. When the Republicans recaptured Teruel in heavy fighting about a couple of months ago, hopes were raised that they had so involved the forces of the rebel, commander that he would be compelled to abandon the great offensive he had been planning. It was made manifest within a week or two that these hopes were illusory. On March 10 last, General Franco attacked on a wide front in level territory between Teruel and Saragossa, employing fleets of heavy and light tanks and strong forces of aircraft and artillery which the loyalists had no means of withstanding effectively. It says much for the valour of the Government troops that they have been able even to delay the rebel thrust to the coast. As to the source or sources from which General Franco obtained his heavy reinforcements of men and material there have been many assertions and denials', but the. Spanish Government stated a month ago that Italian Black Arj-ow troops had been heading the Aragon advance, that massed German and Italian artillery and 400 German and Italian warplanes were responsible for the Government evacuation of Teruel and the subsequent retreat, and that more Italians and a shipment of 30,000 Germans were then on their way to Spain. Whatever may be true of this or that detail of military force or equipment, it is fairly obvious that Italy and Germany have provided General Franco with the means of gaining his present measure of success and that he is to that extent the puppet of the Fascist States. On the facts in sight, the settlement that is now being approached may reasonably be regarded with misgiving by others than the people of .loyalist Spain. Some pleasantly worded, but apparently quite meaningless references to this settlement are embodied in the Anglo-Italian agreement, but the actual, position rather obviously is that Italy and Germany are carrying their experiment in power politics in Spain to a successful and unimpeded conclusion. Apart from the suppression of the liberties of the Spanish people that is involved, it certainly is not easy to believe that any helpful contribution will thus be made to appeasement and the establishment of peace in Europe. MOVING WITH THE TIMES. J? AGILITIES for the economical and expeditious handling of goods are a most essential condition of transport efficiency on the railways and elsewhere. It seems obvious that from this standpoint the two-ion crane at the Mastertoil Railway Station, of which some particulars are given in our news columns today, falls a Jong way short, of standards and requirements. Available evidence goes to show that the cost of handling goods at the. station is on fairly frequent occasions increased appreciably on account of there being no crane available that will lift more than two ions. A. carrying firm in Masterton actually is better equipped in this respect than the Railways Department, so far as the local station is concerned. Particularly in these days of high labour costs. Hie installation at the station of a crane capable of dealing with pantechnicon loads and other heavy weights should commend itself as readily to the Department as to the carriers, merchants and others concerned. A representative of the Department is said to have stated that not enough business i.s offering in .Masterton to warrant the provision of a more powerful crane. It seems most unlikely that any such dictum could, be sustained. Apart from Hie delays and increased, costs that are being incurred in existing conditions, adequate loading and unloading facilities at Masterton would do a good deal, to ,stimulate an expansion of business, notably by facilitating an effieiemt co-ordination of road and rail transport.