SOME SURPRISING POINTS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 248, 1 August 1946, Page 5

SOME SURPRISING POINTS

TERMS OF PEACE TREATY ITALIAN DOMINATION REMOVED (N.Z. Press Association-Copyright.) (Ree. 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, July 31. The diplomatic correspondent of “The Times” says: “It is fair to say that the agreement among Foreign Ministers overshadows tiie loose ends of disagreement. There are some surprising points. For instance, there appears to be no general principle governing tiie return of prisoners to their countries. Reparations take priority over the restoration of property and the' payment of compensation to British and other foreign claimants.” The military clauses of the Italian treaty are primarily designed to remove the danger of the Italian domination of important sea routes, says the military correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph.” The demilitarisation of Sicily, Sardinia, Pantellaria and Lampedusa and the forfeiture of Cyrenaica render Italy powerless to close the Mediterranean narrows. The cession of the Dodecanese to Greece has removed the major obstacle to a free passage through the Aegean on the way to the Straits. The forfeiture of Eritrea and Italian Somaliland has removed a possible threat to the free passage through the Red Sea. The embargo on building bases in .the Apulian Peninsula and the Gulf of Venice and the surrender or demilitarisation of the Adriatic islands ensures free traffic through the Straits of Otranto to and from Trieste.

Italy Distressed

“We are deeply distressed at the proposed terms of the Italian peace treaty,” said a spokesman of the Italian delegation in Paris. “The draft contradicts the promises- made to Italy after the Quebec conference, when Ave were told that the more Italy helped the common Allied effort, the more consideration would he shown to her in the treaty. Tire treaty imposes heavy expenses on a nation Avitli an almost ruined economy. This almost means the economic liquidation of Italy and is eA’idence that the two memoranda sent to the Foreign Ministers’ Conference were not even considered.”

“The peace terms are hard—harder than expected. I fully share the public dismay,” said the Italian Premier (Signor Alcide de Gasperi) in a telephone message to Signor Nenni, Italian Foreign Minister Designate, who is in Paris heading the unofficial Italian peace conference delegation. The Italian delegation circulated to other delegations a. protest against the reflection on “Italian honour” in the proposed reduction of Italian naval strength. The memorandum insisted on Italy’s right to negotiate concerning the Navy without admitting an obligation to surrender it, and stated that the reduction of the surface fleet Avas wrong. Submarines Avere indispensable for the' training of anti-submarine forces, which Italy needed for her maritime trade, and demanded a naA’al personnel of at least 40,000 men.