WILL BE A BURDEN.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 209, 12 June 1940, Page 6

WILL BE A BURDEN.

ITALY'S COWARDLY ACTON. CONDEMNATION IN BRITAIN. LONDON, June 11. The Minister for Information (Mr A. Duff Cooper) in a broadcast, said; “An important and tragic event in European history has taken place to-day, Mussolini, dictator of Italy, has declared war upon the Allies,-with whom Italy fought in the last Great War, and who then, by their efforts, saved Italy from destruction. “He has timed his blow with characteristic cowardice and treachery. He has waited for more than nine months, until France was fighting desperately against great odds, hut at last the opportunity to stab an old friend in the back in the hour of that friend’s greatest peril has proved too strong a temptation for Mussolini to resist, j It, will be remembered for generations as one of the vilest acts in history.

“It is also very tragic because there is so much we all like and admire in Italy and in the Italian people. We can be quite sure that had' they had a democratic system of Government, which allowed the will of the people to prevail, they never would have entered into this war on the side of their hereditary enemies and against their hereditary friends. “Germany is no more likely to win the war with the assistance of Italy than she was without her. On the contrary, it is more than likely that Italy will prove a liability rathei than an asset, as indeed, she proved to her Allies in the last war, when, after the disgraceful flight of the Italian Army at Caporetto, the Brh tish and French had to dispatch troops at great inconvenience to themselves, to restore the position in Italy. f - “From one point of view, the entry of Italy will prove of immediate assistance. The Italian peninsula lias formed a great gap in our blockade ot Germany. Through that tunnel supplies of all kinds have been reaching the enemy. From to-night that tunnel will be closed, and the effectiveness of the blockade will be increased enormously. “No war lias ever been declared with so little provocation as this. There was no subject which the Allied Governments were not ready to discuss. I believe that the news that Italy lias joined in the war is well timed to strengthen the endurance and encourage the hearts of the French and British people, because we know the Italians of old, and we know that whatever other qualities they may possess, we can never fail to beat |them on the field of battle.”

Italy had never won a war without assistance except against the unfortunate Abyssinians armed with spears against tanks and bows and arrows against poison gas. Italy has now allied with the barbarians who had destroyed the Roman Empire and who sought again to destroy civilisation. Mr Duff Cooper also referred to Italy’s vulnerability. She depended entirely on outside supplies for war materials—oil, textiles, metal, rubber, iron ore, coal, 'etc. The Minister for Economic Warfare (Mr Hugh Dalton) said: “Italy is most vulnerable to economic blockade. She is dependent on outside sources for almost every war material oil, war metals, textiles, rubber, iron ore and 'coal. “She cannot last long. Indeed, once her present stocks are exhausted, she will become a grave economic liability t.o Hitler.”