THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

ESTABLISHED 1840 REGISTERED AS A NEWSPAPER

VOL. 169 No. 5068

LONDON JUNE 26th, 1937

SIXPENCE

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK

PRINCIPAL

. . 905

NAVAL CONTROL OFF SPAIN ; PACIFYING THE BASQUE COUNTRY ; A CURRENCY AGREEMENT ; THE REDISTRIBUTION OF GOLD ; THE NEW ROLE OF GOVERNMENT ; THE FALL OF M. BLUM ; ENTER M. CHAUTEMPS ; GASTON DOUMERGUE ; ASCETICISM IN FRANCE ; THE VICEROY SPEAKS AT LAST ; TWO MOTIVES FOR THE BOYCOTT ; UGLY BRITAIN ; THE CLEANEST ENTERTAINMENT ; THE MARRIAGE BILL IN THE LORDS LEADING ARTICLES.......................................... 908

FUNDAMENTALS AT THE CHURCH ASSEMBLY THE NATIONALITY OF MISSIONARIES CHURCH, STATE AND COMMUNITY 909

II. Concordats or Catacombs ? By CHRISTOPHER DAWSON SPANISH LIBERTY WHEN THE WAR IS

ENDED ......................................................911 By GIL ROBLES

CONTENTS

A CRITICISM OF M A R X .............................. 913

I. The Marxian Background By M. C. D’ARCY, S.J. THE FRENCH SENATE .............................. 915 ROME LETTER 916 THE CHURCH ABROAD .............................. 918 BOOKS OF THE WEEK .............................. 920

THE POPE IN POLITICS ; THE CRUSADE ; HALF A LIFE LEFT; THE EPIC OF THE ALCAZAR; THE GROWING CHILD ; SYSTEMS OF MEDITATION IN RELIGION ; STRATEGY AND TACTICS IN CHESS ABOUT BOOKS FOR CHILDREN . . . 928

By CECILY HALLACK LETTERS TO THE ED IT O R .............................. 930 TOWN AND COUNTRY .............................. 931 O B I T U A R I E S ..................................................... 935

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK Naval Control off Spain

For the second time Germany, supported by Italy, has withdrawn from the naval arrangements of the Non-Intervention Committee. The withdrawal is a mark of displeasure, directed at Great Britain, whose particular child the Non-Intervention Committee is. The Germans have taken umbrage at the British refusal to join in a naval demonstration off Valencia, or in some other way to make a forcible reply to the torpedo attack on the German warship Leipzig. But the British Government is thoroughly justified in stipulating that there must first be an enquiry into the facts. The Spanish Nationalists have suffered so much through a widespread tendency in Great Britain to believe the first and loudest version of any occurrence in Spain, and to make judgment precede enquiry, that well-wishers to the Nationalist cause must welcome an official assertion that facts must be established before strong attitudes are taken up. No violent isolated action by Germany is to follow the Leipzig incident, but the withdrawal at this moment is unfortunate and perturbing. It has been accompanied by the postponement of the visit of the German Foreign Minister, Baron von Neurath, to London, a visit on which the Germans, with some reason, were basing considerable hopes. The German attitude has been adopted at a moment when the tugof-war inside the British Labour movement has just gone in favour of a more spirited policy of protest on behalf of Valencia. The Labour Party has not hitherto agreed about Spain. There has been conflict between the intellectuals who are in favour of an energetic support of Valencia, and the more conservative and responsible Trade Union leaders who have accepted the Government’s arguments that the struggle must be at all costs localized and prevented from spreading. The Communists have at the moment achieved a marked success with the passing of resolutions by the responsible Labour authorities calling upon the Second International to support the programme of the Third

International, whose tactics are to try to make of Spain a League issue, and to mobilize behind the waning cause of Valencia all the feeling for the League of Nations which exists in Great Britain. Pacifying the Basque Country

Bilbao fell at the week-end. It has been peacefully occupied, and the population have found themselves able to breathe again, and to start rebuilding their normal lives with the disappearance of siege conditions. The pretence that a united Basque people was defending its citadel against a mainly foreign army can hardly survive the events of the past week. How far-reaching the fruits of the capture will be must depend on the next military stage. The regiments of armed defenders retreated early and in good order, leaving enough Basque troops to stop the usual farewell incendiarism of Anarchists and Communists. The Basque country is a large and mountainous region, but it is certain that Bilbao gives Franco an enormous material reinforcement, and that the reduction of Santander will be by comparison a small matter. The defenders of Bilbao sought to inflame the civil population to ultimate resistance by lurid stories of what would happen to the city if it fell : and nothing will more speedily assist the general pacification of Biscay than the utmost humanity on the part of the Nationalist command. It will soon become clear that the Basque children in this country will be better off in their own land again. A Currency Agreement

For some weeks now discussions have been going on between the American, British and French Governments, discussions in which the Belgian Prime Minister, M. Van Zeeland, has taken an active part. Their aim is threefold : to prevent a competition between great national currencies of the world, each seeking to be undervalued in terms of its rivals in the interests of national export trades. The more dollars a man gets