Foreign News: Shadow Boxing

A bloody Rightist attack west of Toledo beaten off, and another that captured several hundred yards of dugouts and trenches on the Aragon front near Olivan, were the only actions of importance on the ground last week. No qualified observers would admit that the winter’s stalemate for which all Spanish noncombatants were devoutly praying, had yet set in.

Shelling of Madrid, resumed fortnight ago after a six weeks’ respite, continued heavy, an apparent prelude to another attack on the city. Bombers and pursuit planes of both sides were busy raiding concentration points, troop trains and munitions dumps, shadow-boxing violently to try to find out who was trying to do what, where. A sign that at least the Moorish reserves of El Caudillo Franco were beginning to run low came from Algeciras last week, where 500 bewildered boys were unloaded from the transport Cindad de Algeciras. None of them appeared to be more than 13 years old.

The red & gold flag of Rightist Spain went up on the Spanish legation at Tokyo last week, symbol of official recognition of the Franco Regime by the Japanese Government. The U. S. State Department moved three weeks ago to have the U. S. consulate in Rightist Bilbao reopened by Mr. W. E. Chapman, who has been promoted from Consul to Second Secretary of Embassy, a diplomatic rank, since the consulate was closed six months ago. Last week Senor Antonio San Groniz, protocol officer to Rightist Generalissimo Franco, stated that upon reopening of the U. S. consulate “we would not infer that we were fully recognized by the United States Government.” This caused Secretary of State Cordell Hull to change his mind about reopening the consulate. He gave Mr. Chapman a vacation, thus squelching any notion, however remote, that Washington had been about to recognize the Spanish Rightist Government.