THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1928. ITALY AND FRANCE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20362, 20 March 1928, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 1928. ITALY AND FRANCE.

Amid so much talk of disarmament and protestations of peaceful intent, it is perplexing to receive the cable news of the extensive submarine programme now being undertaken in Italy. Signor Mussolini is practically a dictator; what he says “ goes ” —to use a colloquial expression. His recent bellicose utterances towards Germany and Austria leave little doubt of what may be expected from him should a crisis arrive. The Italian attitude towards France is more puzzling. Signor Mussolini recently spoke of the differences between the sister Latin nations, as they are called, as merely family disputes that end only in a renewal of love. Yet the attitude of the Italian Fascist press in Rome, Milan, and Turin has of late been markedly and consistently hostile to France. French publicists complain of the repeated newspaper articles from south of tho Alps, which belittle Frenchmen and their ways, referring to them as decadent, degenerate, and effete. On the other hand, tho French distrust Mussolini: a democratic republic cannot bo in harmony with a democracy that is only nominal in a country where the Government has beased to govern and where monocracy would be a more fitting .title for the

existing polity. The main causes of the ill-feeling that expresses itself in the press, despite public official assurances that all is well, are the bid fer the command of the Mediterranean, the condition of the colonies in Tunis and Tripoli, the French treaty with Jugo-Slavia, the migration of thousands of Italians into France, and the alleged harbouring by France of political refugees hostile to the Fascist regime. The French seem to have been very successful iu their development of Tunis, both materially and educationally. They have spent large sums in building roads, railways, and schools there; but they have utilised the services of a very large body of Italian workmen. Further, the question of frontiers between Tunis and Tripolitania has increased the friction. Italy has an over-plus of population, and must seek an outlet; on the other hand, she is not rich in territory or indispensable raw materials such as coai and iron. With France the reverse holds good—rich territory and raw material in her colonics, but not a surplus population. While Italians have .since the war flocked into France in great numbers, they have gone as Italians, often accompanied by their own priests and schoolmasters, and maintaining at the same time thoir own industrial associations. Mussolini desires to retain those as nationals; the Republic very naturally requires that they be ” nationalised ” as her citizens, and consequently resists the demand that those migrants should remain under the sole jurisdiction of Italian consuls. The political refugees —fuorusciti, as they are termed in Italy—are a fertile cause of friction. After the assassination of Matteoti, the Fascists expelled a large number not only of political enemies, but also of professional agitators and criminals. These, naturally enough, found a harbourage in France, To what extent, if any, France is guilty of deliberately fomenting hostility and allowing or encouraging plots against the southern dictatorship, it is impossible to say. Anarchists, bomb-throwers, and prospective assassins must ensconce themselves somewhere to hatch out their nefarious plans. France offers asylum, and so they go there. Hence, the charges made by the Italian press, and hence, no doubt, the feverish construction of submarines. The dispute, or rather the present friction, between the Latin sisters is obviously of supreme interest to the whole British Empire, for the Mediterranean is a vital artery to the life of British commerce. Britain could not look on unconcernedly at any struggle for supremacy in the Midland Sea, holding, as she does, Gibraltar, Malta, and the Canal. If Mussolini were off the scone, the tension would bo relieved. He may not bo a Napoleon or a Cromwell, but he is very powerful, very autocratic, and possessed by a spirit of boundless ambition. Dwellers in far-away peaceful New Zealand would naturally expect that these old war-worn peoples, encumbered with enormous debts, would turn gladly to any means of avoiding further conflict. If the press of Italy were a free press, an existing provocative agent would be removed. Of course, at this distance no one can judge fairly between the two. Indeed, the only possible mode of clearing the atmosphere is the very factor that is at present missing—a frank and free discussion of difficulties with the determination ro reach a peaceful settlement honourable to both parties. It cannot be wholly wondered at that the United States holds aloof from European international affairs. Though there is no danger of war between the two Latin nations, the existing resentment is likely to cause a series of minor troubles. It seems a pity that the League of Nations cannot be invoked to bring about a better understanding. If two of the leading civilised nations, with their great traditions in literature and art, cannot live amicably together, how shall the less enlightened peoples of the world fare? The citizens of those far antipodean lauds can only hope that common sense and mutual consideration will bring about a lasting settlement of difficulties.