Untitled

Press, Volume LV, Issue 16508, 28 April 1919, Page 6

As might havo been expected, the feelings of the Italians towards President Wilson have changed since his deliriously enthusiastic reception in Italy at the beginning of the year. Throughout his brief visit he was received overywhere with royal honours. The King's train was waiting for him when he reached the frontier, and

throughout Ins journey to Rome the President was continuously acclaimed by the* people, who thronged each side of the line. At Romo he was met by the King and Queen, and a tremendous' crowd gave him welcome. In the presonce of the King he addressed a joint session of tho two Houses of Parliament, and at the Capitol, whither 110 was attended by the Royal Guard, tho Mayor, Princo Colonna, conferred on him tho citizenship of Rome. Tho Pope received him at the Vatican, and presented him with a mosaic valued at £8000, the King entertained him at an official dinner at the Quirinal, and tho Royal Academy of Science elected him a member.

Wherover the President went, lie ivas greeted by cheering crowds. At Genoa he was made an honorary citizen, and laid laurel wreaths before the statues of King Victor Emmanuel IT., Mazzini, and Columbus. An ovation for which there had hardly Ijoen a parallel in tho city's history, awaited him at Milan, and at Turin, where he shook hands and subsequently lunched with, more than a thousand mayors of towns and villages in Piedmont, the populace acclaimed him with equal fervour. A cable messapy* today refers to the Italians having regarded the President at this stage as tho saviour of mankind. The phrase is hardly ioo strong; indeed, more than one of the correspondents who accompanied Mr Wilson to Italy spoke of his rocoption as comparable only with that that might lie accorded to a new Messiah, so vehemently warm was it. It must, indeed, havo been something out of the ordinary, for whereas the remarkable greetings of Paris and London failed to disturb the President's calmness, that of Italy seemed to move him out of himself, and tho Mr "Wilson who blew kisses at the opera in tho Scala theatro, in Milan, to the ladies who shrieked vivas at him from their boxes, was not at all the dignified, impassive Mr Wilson of the Peace Conference.

There is no doubt Cliat, at the time, the frenzied acclamations that accompanied the President throughout his tour in Italy were the outcome of very deep and genuine admiration. Certainly Mr Wilson said nothing in any of his public;,utterances to suggest that he was in any way seeking Italy's favour. He resolutely refused to identify himself with Italy's openly-avowed territorial aspirations in regard to Albania and Dalmatia. These aspirations were pressed upon his notice. On his way to the Quirinal, for instanco, ono of tho streets was hung with banners bearing the names of conquered territories, including the city of Fiume. In Milan, a more direct appeal was made, the walls being placarded with red posters, printed in English, urging tho President to support Italy's claim as he had supported that of France to AlsaceLorraine. But Mr Wilson's speeches wore, no doubt purposely, vaguo dealing mainly with generalities regarding which there could be no question, and to that extent they were no doubt disappointing. But at least they gave Italy no reason for complaining that' the President misled her as to his views on i • Adriatic question, because ho was careful to express none.

In the past the "Almanach de Gotha" has been the "Who's Who" of the reigning families and the diplomatic services of the world. Compiled with meticulous care it has given every title held, every honour bestowed upon, and every high position held by the kings and queens, princes and princesse's, grand dukes and duchesses. This year's edition, however, is well described as a register of fallen royalties, and tho space allotted to thoso who have lost crowns and thrones in the revolutionary ware that followed the end of the war has been shorn of much of its former proportions. Ten years ago the mere recital of the Kaiser's many titles and distinctions occupied nearly a page of close small print. This year he is dismissed with little more than a statement of his birth, succession, and abdication, antf of the fact that he is a. "Doctor in Law of the University of Berlin, Doctor in Medicine of the University of Prague, Doctor in Science of the University of Klausenburg, engineering director of the Polytechnic Schools ,of Germany," formerly Grand Admiral and Field-Marshal, etc. ,

Ten years ago university honours countod for little compared with the honorary colonelcies which the Kaiser held in German and foreign regiments. The only universities mentioned as having honoured him were those of Oxford and Pennsylvania. To-day some of these distinctions seem to be all that ho has saved out of tho wreck. So, too, with the Crown Prince. Gone are all the military honours and the foreign orders that followed his name in the "Almanach," and he now appears as retaining merely his honorary degrees of Doctor of Law of Berlin, Doctor in Engineering in the Polytechnic Schools of Berlin and Charlottenburg, and "Doctor in Veterinary Medicine, Higher Veterinary School, Berlin." Kings have beforo now found relief from the cares of State in some handicraft, but we cannot at the moment recall one who, when compelled to renounce his royal state, earned his living by his hands or his brains. One can imagine the Crown Prince doing many things, all more or less discreditable, but never anything so useful as setting up in practice as a "vet."

If there is one tune of which tho public should he, and probably is, sick to death, it is that of "Over There." It has been played by every band, it has become one of the chief items of tho repertoire of street musicians, and as we all know too well, it has been whistled in season and out of season, and morning, noon, and night, by every boy in the city. Whatever pleasure the tune was once able to yield has long been killed by this perpetual repetition. It was therefore a surprise to some people that at the conclusion of the fine memorial service in the Cathedral yesterday afternoon, the Christ's College Cadets, who havo been described by a high military authority as the best corps of its kind in the Dominion, marched from the Square to the strains of this American song. Is there none of the famous marches of British regiments that the Cadets could use on ceremonial occasions such as yesterday's?