Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, MAY 29th., 1937. ITALY AND ARMS.

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 May 1937, Page 6

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE. SATURDAY, MAY 29th., 1937. ITALY AND ARMS.

j^JUSSOLINI ’S approach to President Roosevelt to call a limitation of arms conference, has met with a cool reception. With the object there is general agreement. but of the mover there is general suspicion. Mussolini has hitherto connected olive branches with bayonets, and hi?; sudden conversion to pacific ideals needs] explanation before it will be regarded as genuine. Mussolini has rejected former appeals for dis- 1 armament, and has extolled the' virtues of war. During his die- 1 I tatorship, Italy has gone completely military-minded, he has often challenged all comers, and rarel

ly tires of reminding all and sundry of his nation’s strength. Why, at this late hour, should he now seek arms limitation?

It may be that he realises that things are not going too well with Italian policy. The invasion of Abyssinia, always difficult to eondone, has been shown by Marshal De Bono to have been a long-pre-pared aggression, the other League members being duped meanwhile. The Italian conquest of Abyssinia must now be accepted, but Italy is meeting with many difficulties in settling the new possession. The financial cost of the campaign, and since, has been enormous, and, to-day. although Italy is militarily strong, she is weak where finance and economics are concerned. Her latest Budget showed a large deficit, and her unpopularity with other nations is adding to her trading difficulties. She has no supporter but Germany, and can retain this backing only so long as she does not oppose German penetration of Austria. German leaders have never had excessive admiration for the Italian alliance, and it is doubtful if the present co-opera-tion would stand real stress.

Austria, which has been relying on Italian aid, now believes that she has been let down by Mussolini, and she is turning towards the Little Entente, and is trying to establish friendlier relations with England and with the French system of alliances, especially with Czechoslovakia. There have been many conferences of late in Balkan countries, but few of the participators seem to know just where they and the others stand. Mistrust; and scanty trade interchanges weaken the Balkan countries’ solidarity, and each has been endeavouring to make its own selfinterest the dominant factor in any agreement. The folly of this is beginning to be realised, and for the niom/nt, there is a greater desire To have a real Balkan alliance.

In this connection, a message was published yesterday that Kernel Ataturk, the Turkish President, had issued a warning to both Rome and Berlin against the policy of Balkan penetration. A German-Italian combination should be able to deal with the Balkan Pact countries, if it came to a, matter of war, but such a conflict would not leave France, Russia, and perhaps Britain, as passive observers. The Balkans started the 1914-18 struggle, and history is apt to repeat itself. What is somewhat reassuring' is the general tendency on the Continent to look to Britain for a lead. Britain is for peace, and a live-and-let-live trading policy. Her efforts will continue in the direction of preserving European peace, but she will not" actively take sides, unless her own safety is imperilled. The developments, in Europe during the next few months will be awaited with interest.