TO CANADA 15 APPENDIX “D”

p D E C L A R A T I O N of the Joint Meeting of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, the National Executive of the Labour Party and the

Parliamentary Labour Party held in London on August 28, 1936.

The Military Rebellion in Spain which has raged with increasing fury for the last six weeks emphasizes once more the grave dangers arising from the growth of Fascism. Organised labour pays homage to the steadfast courage and sacrifice of the Spanish people, who have cemented with their blood the foundations of liberty and democracy.

The struggle has been brought about by Spanish officers who have broken an oath of loyalty to the Republican Government which they had recently renewed, have seduced Spanish soldiers from their duty, and have organised an invasion of their own country by foreign mercenary troops. The workers, peasants and youth of Spain, unorganised for warfare, have rallied to the defence of the people's rights with a bravery, unanimity

I and energy without parallel in history. Events have shown that the spirit of the Spanish

nation cannot be broken by any dictator.

It was clearly the right of Spanish Government by rules of international law to obtain arms for its defence, but by the supply of arms to the rebels in clear breach of international law, in circumstances which showed fore-knowledge of their plans, Fascist Italy created a new and immediate danger of war. This danger was simultaneously aggravated by the adoption of a similar policy by Nazi Germany which had already established a vast system of espionage, corruption and intrigue in Spain. Fascist Portugal has aided and abetted the rebellion, and its territory has been used as a base.

The Conference expresses regret that it should have been thought expedient on the ground of the dangers of war inherent in this situation, to conclude agreements among the European Powers laying an embargo upon the supply of arms and munitions of war to Spain, by which the rebel forces and the democratically elected and recognised Govem~ ment of Spain are placed on the same footing.

In the meantime, we again call upon all sections of the British Labour Movement to accord the fullest possible financial support to the International Solidarity Fund for Spain, which has been created to provide humanitarian assistance to the Spanish people.

OFFICIAL BRITISH LABOUR VIEWS

The following extracts are from an official pamphlet issued by the National Council of Labor. London, entitled: "The Truth About Spain".

The conflict in Spain is not a Communist revolution. It is not a fight between "religious" and “anti-religious” sections of the Spanish people.

The Spanish workers are fighting against monarchists, Fascists, and corrupt Clericals, who are striving to overthrow the democratically elected constitu- tional Government of the Spanish Republic by force of arms.

The head of the State was President Azana, a Liberal Republican. The Prime Minister was Senor Giral. also a Liberal Republican. There was not a single Socialist or Communist in his Government.

In this struggle against the rebels, the workers of Spain, irrespective of party, have willingly taken up arms in defence of Freedom and Democracy.

They are fighting to maintain representative Government and the demo- cratic rights of the people, and their struggle is of vital importance to all men and women concerned that Democracy should _not be trampled under ‘by Fascism.

The Spanish Supreme Court of Justice, a Conservative body, also issued a statement calling upon Judges and Magistrates to remember that the acts of the Fascist rebels are illegal.

September 4 the Giral Cabinet was succeeded by the Caballero Government. The ex-Prime-Minister has stated the reasons for this change:

“In view of the duration of the civil war, Ministers expressed the view that all political parties, the workers. and syndical organisations should be represented in the Cabinet.

"I think I fulfilled my mission in the most diflicult circumstances. Other men and other forces must assume control with the primary aim of ending the war. I remain a Minister without portfolio, to show the country that the new Government is only a development of the last."

Senor Prieto, the Socialist Minister for the Navy and Air. declared, in a Manifesto issued to the workers: . g _

"The Cabinet is the direct representative of all the political forces fighting on the various fronts for the maintenance of a democratic republic against armed rebellion.”