Sta,—Although nobody can doubt the sincerity and good faith in
Dom Columba Cary-Elwes' article, one yet tresses any logical conclusion. The plight of Spain which he describes (shortages, &c.) is on his own admission due partly to natural causes like drought, and partly to the failure of the "rich " countries to supply Spain with the necessary goods. Great social or, rather, financial inequalities have always been a feature of Spain, and even a Government so bent an social reform as General Franco's (again on Dom Columba's own admission) could not have eradicated them in such a short period. Furthermore, these same glaring differences between rich and poor are now, in the post-war period, to be noted in many countries of Europe, even though their con- stitution may be perfectly democratic, as in France and Italy. There is no reason to suppose that this inequality would disappear if General Franco were replaced by a hundred-odd squabbling political party leaders, the traditional curse of Spain, who assuredly would use their opportunity to the full. That such a change would open the door to Communist infiltration and destroy Spain's value . as the present anti- Communist bastion of Western Europe goes without saying. Dom Columba's arguments are thus, at the present time, purely destructive, offering no solution. One is reminded of Madame de Stael, who, in the words of a contemporary, " thought that if the weather was bad in the place she was staying at, the reason was that the English Constitution had not been adapted in the particular country."—Yours, &c., C. DE NINEVA.
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