ENGLAND & ITALY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 March 1939, Page 8

ENGLAND & ITALY

FRIENDLY RELATIONS WANTED 1 FEELING IN NATIONALIST > SPAIN. ' 1 IMPRESSIONS OF TRAVELLER. ‘ The Rev Father C. E. Ardagh, of ? Queenstown, who has returned after j a tour abroad, during which he visited ; every country in Europe except Rus- j sia, as well as Canada, the United State, Palestine, and Australia, said in 1 an interview that Italy would never < fight alongside Germany, that Italy was 1 willing and very anxious to enter into ’ a friendship with Britain, and that Franco’s Spain was very well-disposed j towards Britain. < Father Ardagh was in the front tren- , ches on Franco’s side when he was in ■ Spain. He had a special permit from the authorities to travel about, and he ' saw a great deal of the country and the actual fighting. He tried twice to enter . Russia, but could not do so. ( “If Italy were cultivated by England ( she would certainly come in, and the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal would be protected,” he said. “There is no doubt that Franco’s Spain is very friendly to England. An alliance between Spain and England, with either Italy or France, or possibly both, would be in the strongest position of the lot.” “Mussolini is working wonders with the people and is ambitious of a friendship with England. If he could get an agreement with England there is no doubt as to where he would stand. He would not be likely to want any further possessions. The only thing he would like to do is to take Austria away from Germany. If Italy had had an agreement with England when Germany was

annexing Austria it would not have been taken. IN FRANCO’S SPAIN. ’ “In Franco’s Spain- every paper every day praises England as being a wonderful country. Every boy in the firing line is a lover of England and wants friendship with us.” Recalling that Franco had said that Nationalist Spain would not be subject to German or Italian domination, Father Ardagh said Franco had paid, and paid dearly, for the assistance given by Italy and Germany by imposing taxation and by exporting food, of which he had a great deal. On Franco’s side there was a won-

derful blood transfusion service, which was available for the prisoners from the other side as well as their own men. Girls gave the blood for this purpose. The wounded of the enemy side were taken to the hospital, and given blood transfusions when necessary, girls, standing by to give their blood. Franco’s soldiers would shoot only in battle, and he had seen an instance of this when an enemy soldier walked out after fighting had ceased, and was not shot at. “Franco’s belief is that those on th'e other side are not enemies, but that they have been led astray,” he said. "His aim is to build them up into good Spaniards and good Christians. “In Franco’s Spain they do without meat on certain days not because they have not enough, but because they want to have plenty to rush into newly conquered territories. Girls go in with them and help to look after the people. “The other side blow up or set fire to churches and other public buildings

when they are leaving a town. Franco’s men rush in and extinguish the fires. He does not wish to destroy Spain or its people, but to build up and to give Spain an honest and honourable place in the world. “Franco does not fight his way into a town and he leaves a road open for those who will not surrender, and does not bomb it.” • PERSECUTION OF CATHOLICS. -. Of Nazis and their attitude to the Roman Catholic Church in Germany Father Ardagh said that the Catholics were being persecuted as much as'anyone The nuns’ schools jvere being taken, away. The few that were left were threatened, and many had the pianos sealed so that they could not give music lessons. Some were told that they had to drop one class every

year. , “It.must be said,’” he added, that Germany is a progressive nation, orderly and clean, with the people apparently prosperous. The sad thing to think is that after doing so much good work Hitler has marred it by his persecutions. But it has made Catholics. in Germany more solid than ever, putting them on their mettle. “There are police in every church, taking down everything that is said, and at the least silencing the cleigy when they say anything against the views of the authorities. But all this is the work of a small coterie, and does not represent the attitude of the great body of German people. But Hitler wants to bring even the souls of the people under his power. He is afraid that anything may carry weight against him; he wants a German spirituality. “Cardinal Faulhaber is a great leader and source of strength looked to alike by Catholics and Protestants. He is absolutely fearless and at the same time humble. . , , “There is no doubt that Chamberlain is the biggest man in Europe. He is respected by every nation. And England is the biggest country in Europe. She is the best nation, with the grea - est freedom, tolerance, reliability and solidity. IN PALESTINE. “In Palestine our soldier boys arc loved by the Arabs. When I was there I felt proud of their behaviour. They can move freely among the Arabs except when there is actual raiding. The difficulty in Palestine is that the land has belonged to the Arabs, and they probably feel about the settlement of the Jews much as we would feel it New Zealand were to be given back to the Maoris.” . Father Ardagh said he felt that there was trouble brewing in Europe; there was underlying causes of strife, but he did not think it would come for five or 10 years. He considered that England and the United States would never

go apart. Canada was a link between the two, and it was taken for granted that the United States Navy would protect Canada in the event of a threat. When asked why he did not go to Russia, Father Ardagh said that he tried twice, the first time in May, when he was told that Russia was closed to tourists for a month. When Hfe tried again in October with another travel firm he got a reply in writing that there was not time to get a visa; this although he still had a clear month, and was able to get a visa to go elsewhere.