OCR Text |
Show SPAIN IS DUSY MAKING ARMS Factories Working Day and Night Military and Naval Commissions Sent to U. S. and Italy. Press Maintaining Rigid Silence Country Prepar- ing for Events That May Follow. (Correspondence of the Associated Press.) Madrid, June 22. The Spanish government gov-ernment recently has been active in the preparation of military and naval armament. Artillery, snall arms and projectile factories are working night and day and the minister of war desirous de-sirous himself of learning their capacity, ca-pacity, has during tho last several days visited those at Trabia, Ovideo, Granada and Seville. Military and naval commissions have left for the United States and Italy It-aly for the purpose of acquiring arms and ammunition as well as the machinery ma-chinery for their manufacture. There is talk also of the acquisition bv Spain of a number of submarines and of large quantities of mines for coast defense purposes. , Press Strictly Silent. All these activities are being conducted con-ducted with the greatest secrecy, the government having requested the press to maintain rigid silence on the t"?-60,'-. U ls sa,d tnat o motive behind these warlike preparations is by no means to enter the present European Eu-ropean conflict on either side, but to strengthen Spain and to prepare her for any event which may follow the present war. , Preparing for Defense. The dea seems to be that Spain should be able to defend her own ter- M ritory and particularly the Balearic Islands and the Canary islands, should Spanish possessions enter Into the calculations of the makers of the final fi-nal terms of peace Besides this motive the Spanish government, prominent Spaniards say, fully realizes that it haB been negligent negli-gent in military and naval matters and in view of the complete unexpectedness unexpect-edness of some of the events which have characterized the present conflict, con-flict, it now finds it the part of wisdom wis-dom to be prepared against any event Suggestions that these preparations on the part of Spain may be indicative of designs against Portugal or Gibraltar Gibral-tar are Indignantly denied here. |