-2-
Thirdly
: It can be seen from this that whatever may
be the fate of the plan of the London Committee, and whether
or not it is considered as being in force, there is a fundamental
and permanent reason for opposing the concession of belligerent
rights to the insurgents before the withdrawal of all the foreigners
taking part in the Spanish struggle has been, by one/means or
another, within or without the framework of the London Committee's
plan, virtually completed. It is not a question of a purely formal
connection between the recognition of belligerent rights and
the London plan, which might disappear so soon as the latter
ceased to be considered in force. Respect of the basic principles
of international morality demands the maintenance of the principle
which inspired the plan of the London Committee. This principle
requires that the recognition of belligerent rights shall not
even be discussed until the virtually complete withdrawal of
foreigners has shown that the actual situation which the insurgents
bring forward as a justification of their demand is a genuinely
Spanish one and not the result of foreign assistance.
Fourthly
: That this is the case as far as the Spanish
Government is concerned, has been proved not only by their immediate
and unreserved acceptance of the plan of the London Committee
for the withdrawal of foreigners, but also by their proposal
for the unilateral withdrawal, under the auspices of an international
commission appointed at the Government's request by the League
of Nations, of the genuine foreign "volunteers" who
were fighting in its army. (This proposal was immediately acted
upon, and as a result all the foreigners have been withdrawn
from the fronts and the majority repatriated.) And if the acceptance
of the plan of the London Committee, and the proposal of unilateral
withdrawal of their own foreigners is authentic proof that the
situation of the Government has been brought about exclusively
by the suppo %rt given by genuine Spanish elements, the refusal
of the insurgents to accept this plan, and the absence of any
proposal on their part for the integral and complete withdrawal,
under international control, of all the foreigners assisting
them, must be logically considered as equally authentic proof
of the contrary. To