King Country Chronicle. Tuesday May 12, 1936. “EMPEROR OF ABYSSINIA.”

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXX, Issue 4844, 12 May 1936, Page 4

King Country Chronicle. Tuesday May 12, 1936. “EMPEROR OF ABYSSINIA.”

Signor Mussolini has declared King Emanuel Emperor of Abyssinia and that Ethiopia had been “placed under the full and entire sovereignty of Italy.” The announcement has been received with wildest enthusiasm by the people, and a huge iron statue of Mussolini 262 feet high is now being made and will be erected in the Mussolini Forum. So ends the most unpopular war of modern times, but the rejoicings in Italy may yet prove to be premature. The Italian forces have beaten the Abyssinians, but it yet remains to be seen whether they have beaten the League of Nations. Of all the League members France is the country whose interests are more vitally bound up with the League, and she now seems to realise her mistake in not giving greater support to Britain in trying to curb Italy’s military action in Abyssinia. France is now seriously .perturbed because she fears that now Italy has gained control of Abyssinia her interests in East Africa will be jeopardised. She is even more concerned over the threatened dismemberment of the League, which provides some measure of safety from German aggression. While Britain did everything in her power to carry out the terms of the League Covenant, she only had halfhearted support from France. This engendered a spirit of vacillation amongst other members of the League and they adopted the same attitude as France. The sanctions that were imposed on Italy proved worse than useless. They not only failed to stop Italy’s aggression- but raised ill-feeling without any result. Signor Mussolini now claims that he conquered Abyssinia in face of the sanctions, but the sanctions were only of a half-hearted nature. Had the more effective sanctions been imposed, Mussolini would have been compelled to listen to terms and take a more humane and reasonable attitude. Italy not only flouted the League but also an agreement with Britain and France drawn up in 1906, that the three countries would preserve the integrity of Abyssinia and not interfere with that country’s internal affairs provided all received equal trade rights. The Italian view is that it is absurd to consider the 1906 treaty, but how this repudiation can be justified is not explained. France owns the railway from Addis Ababa to Jibouti in French Somaliland, and it is a matter of small wonder that France is nervous over Signor Mussolini’s statement that Ethiopia is “forever Italian.” The dictator announces that the interests of all other countries will be respected, but his past foreign policies do not inspire confidence in the fulfilment of such promises. Meanwhile indignation is running high in Britain over the breach of faith by Italy. The feeling is that if Italy is allowed to get away with her unwarranted attack on Abyssinia, no country will be safe from aggression. At the meeting of the League of Nations Union held in London a resolution was passed calling - on the League to exert pressure on Italy until she was prepared to accept the League’s terms. It seems too late, however, to 'take any further action in this direction. Italy is now in possession, and any attempt to oust her from Abyssinia could only be done by force of arms. Are Britain and France prepared to go that far? It is very doubtful in view of the fact that such a war would probably involve the whole of Europe. One speaker said at the meeting of the League of Nations Union that France was again swinging towards Britain, but France is always on the swing and cannot be relied on to carry out a definite and firm policy. The absorption of Manchukuo by Japan and Abyssinia by Italy goes to prove that some nations are like jackals, ready to pounce on a smaller country whenever any weakness makes it possible to do so. If the League is disbanded there will be no such thing as international law, and common honesty will be sacrificed to national aggrandisement.