It was, perhaps, inevitable that the meeting of the 6th Committee of the League of Nations, dealing with the Civil War in Spain, should have resulted in a deadlock, and it is by no means certain that even after the adjournment which was arranged matters will to any great extent be bettered. Mr. Walter Elliot, the British delegate had submitted a 10rmula which, it is understood, appealed to all governments scrupulously to refrain from Tnterfering in the internal affairs of another state, and to make a fresh effort for the speedy withdrawal of foreign volunteers from Spain, while the Spanish Foreign Minister, refused to accept the British draft resolution for discussion. He insisted that the resolution should embody specific points such as the recognition of Italian aggression in Spain and the opening of the frontier to arms traffic for the Spanish government. It is clear that the British and French governments still favour a policy of non-intervention, and in its favour it was argued that, however imperfect it might have been, it had succeeded in preventing the spread of the war. How shaky is the future of that policy is reflected in his statement that if breaches of the non-intervention. agreement were intensified from any quarter the Policy itself might be doomed. The precariousness of the easier situation in the Mediterranean which is noted is emphasized by such remarks. That there has been an improvement, especially in connection with the Nyon agreement, is welcome news indeed, but such betterment is not yet sufficient to justify any belief in a lasting solution, of present difficulties. At the best all that European statesmen can hope to do is to manceuvre as well as is possible to avert any breaking down of present agreements, however insecure they may have proved to be. The contentions of M. Litvinoff and Senor del Vayo that the war would have been finished if arms had been supplied to the Spanish government is not particularly convincing in view of the fact that neither side have been completely bereft of such assistance in the past, and would only have received more had it not been for the policy which they condemn in the light of self-interest alone.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.