THE NILE SOCIETY

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4753, 1 October 1935, Page 7

THE NILE SOCIETY

AN ETHIOPIAN ADDRESS. ATTITUDE TO ITALY. London, September 7. Lord Semphill presided over a meeting of the Nile Society, which was attended by 500 men and women of eminence ambassadors, diplomats, members of Parliament, and the Services. Dr. Martin, the Ethiopian Minister, was the chief guest. In an address, Dr. Martin, said that Ethiopia's difficulty with Italy began when the Emperor Menelik, in a weak moment, gave Italy the highlands in the Eritrea province. The Wal Wal incident was "a trumped-up pretext to cover a bare-faced encroachment and trespass on Ethiopian territory." "I need hardly mention," he said, 'that if it were really a question of over-population in Italy, which has only 341 inhabitants to a square mile, against 500 in Great Britain, 437 in Japan, and 350 in Germany, we would not object to their coming and settling peacefully in Ethiopia, as they have done in some other countries. But if they must have another colony why don't they bravely go and take one from those who have a lot and to spare? Anyway, they won't get Ethiopia.' There was not the slightest evidence to substantiate the accusation that the Italian colonies in Abyssinia were in danger of being attacked by the Ethiopians.

Italian Encroachment.

"To tell the truth," said Dr. Martin, "it is the Italians who have. always been encroaching on Ethiopian territory, while our good neighbours, the British and the French, have sedulously respected our territory and independence. As regards concession and employment there are no discriminating regulations on the subjects, the grants being altogether dependent on the circumstances and qualifications of the candidates. . . . As a matter of fact, an Italian already has a valuable concession for mining gold and platinum, while the British a'nd others have none.

"When the Italians have proved themselves to be faithless, and are known to be always intriguing against us, is it any wonder if they are not considered to be reliable enough to be employed in the Ethiopian Government service?"

Referring to the League of Nations, Dr. Martin said that "if this threatened aggression by Italy cannot be stopped I am afraid that the repercussion of this attempt at conquering Ethiopia will be exceptionally serious. Given a fair fight, we shall not fail to defeat anyone who unjustly tries to take our beloved country and independence. Anyway, if we don't succeed we shall certainly not live to be anyone's slaves. If the worst came to the worst, I think my people would rather be under the just and considerate administration of Britain than that of Italy."