The rapidity with which the Spanish insurgents are marching towards the Mediterranean coast of Spain must rouse gloomy forebodings in the hearts of those who sympathize with the Republicans, Unless the loyal troops in Catalonia can stem the rebels' advance, there is every possibility of that province quickly falling into the hands of General Franco's armies. As was recently pointed out in this journal the Catalonians have probably more at stake that the inhabitants of any other section of Spain, and their subjugation would mean the end, once and for all, of all the separation movements which have originated in their midst. The present movement is reported to have aroused the gravest anxiety concerning the fate of the 50,000 anarchists, communists and syndicalists, who, it is reported, have already been condemned to death in advance by the rebels in the event of their securing complete victory. It is inconceivable that in this day and age anything like so huge a massacre can be contemplated by any civilized beings. The civil war in Spain, developing throughout two s what was hoped would be a short and sharp coup d'état into one of the most savage wars which have ever been perpetrated in history, has been horrible enough in many of its features, but nothing would be worse than the rounding off of this period of wanton slaughter by a holocaust such as has been suggested. It cannot be believed that General Franco contemplates any such thing. If he does, and if indeed murder on such a wholesale scale is carried out the effect upon world opinion will be disastrous for him. It is true that dictators have up to the present been able to defy: such opinion, but that does not mean they will be able to continue to do so with impunity. The time will come when the whole universe will rebel at all brutality which has been and is being demonstrated and that moment will come all the quicker if any such hideous scheme as the slaughter of 50,000 men, because of their political beliefs, is ever carried into effect.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.