WHY ITALY DECLINED

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 55, 6 March 1916, Page 6

WHY ITALY DECLINED

Behind the indictment- of AngloFrench hesitancy there is now another witness, and a weighty one, Baron Sonnino. The failure of Paris and London to come to Servia's rescue at the right time, and their fatuous rush to be there when it was too late, were obvious at the time to any sane observer, and in the latter category was the Italian Foreign Minister. When Servia might have, been saved, Italy lienself urged the occupation of Salonika for that purpose; when the chance had gone by, Italy refused to join in a proposition which she had herself originated, but which she would not entertain after half its virtue had been destroyed by the " incredible ineptitude " of the French and British Governments. This bit of history will in the time to come be read with amazement. Not only did Italy penetrate Bulgaria's Germanophile intention ; it was also plain to SeTvia, who wished to seize military advantage by attacking Bulgaria, before Bulgarian mobilisation was complete, but who was discouraged, if not checked, by a message from Sir Edward. Grey. The strongest indictment of the British Government's policy is that it- was inconsistent with itself. On 11th October, the British War Council decided that it was too late to save Servia, but at the end of the same month-it decided that the Macedonian Expedition should proceed. " The Government," wrote Sir Edward Carson in his famous letter, "decided that what was too late three weeks before was in time three weeks after" Fortunately, the issue was not wholly bad. Servia was not saved, but Salonika was, and from that decision will date the downfall of Ferdinand of

Bulgaria.