PUPPET EMPEROR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 243, 14 October 1935, Page 7

PUPPET EMPEROR.

Mussolini's New Aim in Abyssinia. IN LINE OF THRONE. LONDON, October 13. ; The Rome correspondent of tlie British United Press states that Signor Musso- , lini is preparing to create a "puppet ; Emperor" of at least part of Abyssinia, 011 siifiilar lines to the action of the Japanese in Manchuria. His most prob- ( able is Degiac Haile Silassie Gugsa, son-in-law to the Emperor Haile Silassie, who was reported to have surrendered to (general Santini with 12,000 well-armed men. According to hints dropped in official circles Italian agents have been working in advance, ahead of the troops, in non-Amharic regions with the result that other important surrenders are expected. "La Tribuna" states that Gugsa, as great-grandson of the former Emperor John, is the only legitimate descendant of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and the only legitimate candidate for the Ethiopian throne, Menelik and Haile Silassie being impostors. The paper adds that Gugsa's father, when he was dying, bequeathed to his son instructions to join the Italians if they entered Abyssinia, thereby preserving the Tigre crown for the family. "I am not a traitor. lam really enhancing the welfare of my people, because from a military point of view I recognise that it is useless to fight the Italians," said Gugsa, 011 arriving at Asmara to make formal submission to General de Bono, the Italian Com-mander-in-Chief, who previously had received him cordially. Gugsa prophesied that wtien the news of his action reached his countrynicn the entire Abyssinian Army would dissolve. The population of Makale was awaiting the Italians as liberators. At the Italian general headquarters it is claimed that the submission of local Abyssinian leaders is reported from all parts of the menaced territory. The Italian advance is described as more like a peaceful colonial enterprise than hard fighting. NEW HOPE AROUSED. Italy Would be Glad to End Hostilities. STRANGE AUSTRIAN STORY. "Times" Cubic. LONDON, October 13. The Vienna correspondent of "The Times" says the Austrian Government newspaper "Beichspost" gives prominence to a message from its Kome correspondent, apparently based 011 credible information, intimating that Italy would be glad to end the hostilities in Abyssinia if her objects could be achieved by other means. ' It is already certain that the war does not aim at complete subjugation of Abyssinia, but at acceleration of a peaceful understanding with the Emperor. Italy's political aims, according to the correspondent, are: The cession of territory, the demarcation of frontiers, and a settlement of concessions which will carry exploitation rights. The writer adds: "The Lake Tsana zone would be indisputably reserved for Britain, while the Addis Ababa highlands and the Southern Kafi'a zone would represent the Emperor's historically founded sovereign realm. "Italy's military aim, therefore, seems to be the occupation, or at least the strategic control, of the highlands and the province of Ogaden from Italian Somaliland to the east, and from Eritrea to the north. The Italian forces are moving against this politically and militarily important area, which includes the railway to Jibouti and the country's oil deposits." The conquest of Addis Ababa, says the correspondent, has never been mentioned in the Italian Press. This, lie says, may be regarded as a sign of early hopes of peace and of the localising of the conflict to Africa.