It was only to be expected that the fall of Santander would ultimately follow after the capture of Bilbao by General Franco's forces, even though the retreating Basques put up a very stubborn resistance. The report that there was a successful rising supported by the Guardia Civil and part of the militia may very well be correct, for it has been apparent that in certain districts of Spain the civil population has become more than a little weary of the fighting which has lasted well over the year, and which has so severely interfered with their gaining the small livelihood upon which they eke out a frugal existence. It is to be expected that some little time will be spent in cleaning up the north of Spain which to all intents and purposes is in the hands of the rebel forces, while it may be necessary to leave some strength to garrison the area against the possibility of further trouble being created by' the irreconcilables. Nevertheless this latest success should permit General Franco to put practically the whole of his forees into the final. struggle against. the Spanish government, the position of which at this juncture appears to be sufficiently precarious. Unfortunately the nearer the insurgent forces come to victory the more dangerous does the situation become from an international point of view. The temptation to adopt dangerous courses is becoming more and more apparent in the recent attacks on shipping in the Mediterranean, and it will be only by the exercise of the greatest forbearance that a wider spread catastrophe than the Spanish civil war will be averted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.