The Evening Star TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1935. ITALIAN AMBITIONS.

Evening Star, Issue 22070, 2 July 1935, Page 8

The Evening Star TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1935. ITALIAN AMBITIONS.

Ever since he' assumed power Signor Mussolini has inspired the Italian popple with; visions of a great destiny, a necessary accessory to which is colonial expansion. The present dispute with the ancient Kingdom of Ethiopia has certain features in common with Japan and Manchukuo. Like Japan, Italy wants an outlet for her surplus population. Italy also is short of natural resources, and in Abyssinia these are to be found in great variety. It cannot he supposed, however, in view of past events, that Italy will altogether disregard the League of Nations and jettison the treaties to which she is a signatory. If she were to do so she would pursue a short-sighted policy, for, apart from ..the Abyssinians, she would meet strong opposition in Europe in the event of her trying to establish a protectorate over Ethiopia, pr, to use a curious word that has crept in lately—a “ mandate,” which it is solely within' the power of the League to grant. Britain is also a close neighbour of Abyssinia, and has important interests there, France has railway concessions, and huge sums of. American capital have been invested in the country. The grounds for Italy’s acts in mobilising a great army at home and in despatching strong forces to Abyssinia are of the slightest. Small border troubles are inevitable with a people which includes semicivilised tribes, but there is no serious difficulty in dealing with them. When we are told that Italian subjects have been killed the assumption is that these are natives of the Italian African colonics. If Britain took such incidents so seriously there would be constant alarms. Italy’s losses and the wounds inflicted upon her national honour bear no comparison whatever to those suffered by the Britiah authorities in the Anglo*

Egyptian Sudan. They have for many years patiently endured marauding Ethiopian tribes, and have spent thousands of pounds in patrolling an extended frontier, magnanimously recognising the honest efforts of the Abyssinian Government to control the turbulent Rases responsible for the raids, and patiently auditing reforms. The Tripartite Agreement between Great Britain, France J and Italy guaranteed the status quo in Ethiopia and engaged them to refrain from action there without mutual consultation. But .the Pact of Rome, signed on January 8 of this year, created a new position. Two of its signatories came to other arrangements, and the third, Great Britain', could not disturb them without jeopardising the supreme aim of this meeting, which was the appeasement of Europe. Thus we see the working of the old diplomatic methods. France and Italy made territorial sacrifices in Africa, and each agreed to territorial compensation for the losses.

The Abyssinian Emperor all through has adopted an attitude both reasonable and dignified. Ho intimated that he was willing to sit in conference with France, Italy, and Britain in order to settle favourable terms for Italy’s claims to greater facilities' in, exploiting the mineral resources of Abyssinia, but he was emphatic against surrender of the political independence which Abyssinia had enjoyed for a thousand years. It was stated that in order to secure this result, and achieve a peaceful settlement, Britain would have been willing to compensate the Emperor by ceding a portion of British Somaliland to form an Abyssinian corridor towards the sea. Mussolini would not consider these proposals, even as a basis for negotiation. Nothing, it was suggested, would satisfy him but a military protectorate, which implies little less than annexation. It was supposed that a distinct gain was made through the adoption of the arms embargo, but it qan be seen how inequitably it works in the present instance. The Emperor put it pithily by remarking that': “ Italy is a great industrial country and is working day and night to equip her troops with modern weapons Abyssinia is pastoral and agricultural, and cannot do more [owing to the embargo] than purchase a few riflbs and, guns to prevent her soldiers entering war armed only with swords and spears."

Italy’s warlike operations have no justification. It was officially stated a day or two ago that 100,000 troops had either arrived or are en route to East Africa. This ,may be a demonstration in force to overawe Abyssinia, but if so it is an extremely costly one. The position as it stands now is that the Ethiopian Emperor, ruling over a people supposed to be only partially civilised, puts his faith in the great international instrument of peace. Mussolini, on the other hand, judging by his acta in the last few months, would settle what is July a minor dispute by a display of overwhelming physical force, possibly leading to war.