The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1935. WAR ASPECTS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 December 1935, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1935. WAR ASPECTS

An English correspondent points out that the strongest defence of Abyssinia in the present war, is its climate, though that is not retarding the aerial activity. But as regards the movement of troops, there is something in the contention. The writer says: “Unless advices from Addis Ababa arc misleading, the defenders will not expend their greatest efforts at the outset, but are more likely to reserve their strength and forces until the enemy is well within the country. Their advantage will then be great and, furthermore, they will be able to exercise freely their undoubted genius for guerrilla, warfare. By that time they will almost certainly he handicapped by a shortage of arms and muni-

tions, but this wili not prevent them from continuing the fight with the arms at. their disposal nor will the'r fighting he much less efficient. It should develop into a- tost of endurance, with the Abyssinians possessing an enormous advantage. Supplies of food, water and clothing will not trouble them, nor will they be hampered by unwieldy transport and long lines of communication. The Italians will have these obvious handicaps to face, and, in addition, the greatest handicap of all —climate.” However, the Italians arc being directed strongly and even resourcefully in the face of actual circumstances, by Mussolini. A woman writer in an American rnaga-

zine, sums up the situation regarding the commencement of hostilities with the following comment on the three Powers chiefly concerned: “Not until Mr Anthony Eden was rebuffed in Rome in June did it seriously occur to the British public that Mussolini was not bluffing or that the Italians, besides challenging Geneva, were impinging on the preserves of the British Empire. It is characteristic of the British mentality that neither Government nor people awoke to the full implications of the Italian move on Ethiopia before the breakdown of the three-power negotiations in Paris. England feels her way alone; the solid power of the most masculine of nations is the triumph of an instinct strangely feminine. The Englishman is a very complex person who thinks he is simple. He does not rationalise himself and his motives as the Frenchman does; he is hard to interpret because even to himself he cannot explain himself. The French leap to conclusions; the rush of their logic carries them so swiftly toward the remote consequences of events that they often stumble over the next step. The British concentrate on the next step ; such foresight as their policy exhibits is intuition, but expert intuition, a sensitiveness developed by long and wide experience.” And the final settlement of the war appears to be in the hands of the same three Powers, with Britain at the apex of the triange. There is a good deal of bluff, no doubt, about Italy, and a modicum with France. Britain is fighting a. diplomatic battle mith her hack to the wail, first to end the African conflict, and second to avoid anything more serious nearer home.