June 7.
With the announcements by the spokesmen of the Spunish Government and the rebels, that each of them intend to fight until the unconditional surrender of the other, all talk of intervention on the part of Great Britain must be disregarded. Doubtless the British Government would like to offer its services for the final adjustment of this nearly two-year-old civil war, but despite the enormous] Slaughter, the hideousness of the fighting, and) the long delay in coming to a decision, there: are as yet no real prospects of an early peace. The time for mediation is not yet, and the predominant fear is that such a time will be Jong in coming. As things stand at the Present time the rebels contemplate fighting] until they have completely subdued the whole of Spain: the Republican Government is just as determined to fight to the bitter end, perhaps in the hope that by some caprice of fortune the defeat, Which seems to be staring them in the eyes, will be transformed into that victory without which it cannot hope to survive, This struggle in Spain has long ceased to be a civil war in the generally accepted sense and practically the only reason why it deserved the adjectival description of "Spanish" is because of the country in which conclusions are being tried Jout between-two political ideologies. In the circumstances mediation does not appear to be called for, firstly, because neither side appears to.be in the frame of mind to accept it, and the corelusion to be arrived at is that Europe—er at least that part of Europe not intimately bound up with the fortunes of this Iamentable struggle—must stand. by, helpless, until a conclusion is ultimately reached, and, secondly, because there can be no compromise between' such political faiths as. those represented by either side,. That latter reason accounts for much of the callous brutality which has been displayed by both sides in Spain, There has been a ruthless smashing towards victory on the part of the rebels, and an equally ruthless resistance on] the part of the Government in which the] ordinary, simple Spaniard has been ground between the upper and nether millstones,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.