Pressure

From a 400-square-foot pocket among the 10,000-foot peaks of the Upper Pyrenees Lieut. Colonel Antonio Beltran last week led his troops of Leftist Spain's "Lost Division" into France. There, French police took their customary secret poll of the refugees to determine to which side of Spain the men wanted to return, then herded them into trains for the border. Only 980 voted to go to Rightist Spain; the remaining 8,820 elected to return to Leftist territory. Arriving at Gerona, the first contingent of the "Lost Division" received a rousing greeting from Spanish Leftists led by Foreign Minister Alvarez del Vayo.

No blame was placed on Colonel Beltran or his men for the retreat from what had been called an impregnable position. Cause of the retreat was lack of ammunition; blame for the scarcity was laid to the heretofore obliging Republic of France. From its start the course of the Spanish Civil War has been largely decided in European capitals far removed from hostilities. With France apparently no longer a reliable friend, the diplomatic front looked black for Leftist Spain last week.

"Great pressure has been brought to bear upon French political circles by British diplomacy," cabled French Ace Political Commentator "Pertinax" (Andre Geraud) to the Chicago Daily News. To the same newsorgan, London Correspondent William H. Stoneman wrote: "The British Government wants Rebel Generalissimo Franco to win the Spanish War and to win it in a hurry." British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain refused last week to act to protect frequently bombed and sunk British ships in Leftist ports.

In the French Parliament, Communist and Rightist deputies howled at each other over the question of aid to Leftist Spain, were prevented from fistfighting on the Chamber floor only by a hastily formed wall of old-soldier ushers. Speaker of the Chamber Edouard Herriot suspended the sitting twice to restore order and next day Premier Edouard Daladier adjourned Parliament until November, thus freeing his hands to do as he likes without parliamentary interference. Reported moved to the Spanish Leftist border as a frontier patrol were 30,000 Mobile Guards. Then came the official announcement that no longer would France allow munitions from anywhere to go to Spain through its territory. Meantime, the Spanish Rightist Army advanced ten miles down the coast toward Valencia from recently captured Castellon de la Plana. met stiff resistance at Villareal. At week's end the Rightists held 131,000 square miles of Spanish territory. Leftists only 48,000 square miles. Disputed territory covered 16,000 square miles.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.