OLD TREATIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 October 1943, Page 3

OLD TREATIES

GIVEN NEW VALIDITY ♦ FULL AMERICAN APPROVAL. ' RELATIONS WITH SPAIN NOT AFFECTED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day. 10.30 a.m.) RUGBY, October 12. When Azores ports are used under the agreement now made, British warships will not be obliged to quit within the usual 24 hours allowed by a neutral to a belligerent. The same considerations will apply to aircraft escorting convoys and patrolling sea routes. It is pointed out that the British Government considered the moment h fipe for the implementation, on behalf of the cause of all the United Nations, of its long-standing alliance with For- j tugal. The agreement was negotiated | during recent weeks with the Portuguese Prime Minister, Dr. Salazar, by the British Ambassador, Sir Ronald Hugh Campbell. The United States, which is in full accord with the agreement, is concerned perhaps more than any other of the United Nations, since the object is to improve the security of American traffic on a route which is under the protection of the British and American navies. The Soviet Government also was kept informed of the negotiations, but the circumstances were not considered such as to call for consultation with Russia, as the project was one which could not fail to be of advantage to all the Allies. It is stated that both Portuguese relations with Spain and the British attitude towards the Spanish Government remain unaffected by this important and valuable development. It is understood that the Portuguese Government, by virtue of its treaty obligations with Spain, informed the Spanish Government of the agreement. The original Anglo-Portuguese Alliance of 1373 was followed by similar treaties in 1386, 1642, 1654, 1660, 1661, 1703, 1815, and a secret declaration in 1899. The validity of the old treaties was generally reaffirmed in treaties Britain and Portugal concluded in 1904 and 1914. The alliance involves a general obligation by Britain to defend and protect Portugal and her empire. Many ancient clauses have become obsolete, but in respetc to mutual assistance to be rendered by the parties, the treaty retains its validity. The present agreement gives it a fresh validity.