THE ITALIAN FRONT.

Otago Witness, Issue 3336, 20 February 1918, Page 15

THE ITALIAN FRONT.

Italian official: Our artillery decimated a considerable force advanced by the enemy on the southern slopes of San »Sorosso and eastward of Val Frcuzela, preventing the development of any important action. It is announced that the British have taken over an extension of their line east of Montello Ridge along the Piave to beyond Nervosa. Press correspondents at the front report a large concentration of Germans in Southern Bavaria and tho Tyrol, with the object of preventing a move against Trcntino. Mr Warner Allen, in a despatch describing tho Alpine battle front 12.CO0ft above the sea level, says: The Alpine troops scale these heights daily., with the thermometer far below i zero, while blinding blizzards drive enow through the smallest chinks in their huts. Men who leave shelter cannot even breathe. All activity during bad weather is confined to tunnels cut in the snow or glacier ice. When the weather is fine the troops live in the healthiest conditions. Tho * only diseaso is frostbite, and there were in one particular instance only five men on the sick list out of a total of 1500. Aerial cables alone make mountain warfare possible._ Tho officers telephone for anything required, and supplies arrive in a few hours. Tho best of food is essential, and fresh butter and fruit are served to the troops, though these aro unprocurable in Milan. Both sides are compelled to husband their ammunition, and shells arc never used against isolated groups of men ; hence it is possiblo to stroll about in full view of tho enemy. The King and Queen of Belgium have arrived in 'the war zone, visiting the King and Queen of Italy. King Albert and King Victor inspected the Trontino front trenches and the Piave linos. The Italian Chamber of Deputies, by 178 votes to 39, authorised tho_ prosecution of the Socialist deputy De Giovanni, who is accused of anti-war propaganda.

A decreo has been issued with the object of obtaining labour for agriculture, war industries, and the public offices without remuneration. Both sexes, from 14 to 60 years of age, aro asked to offer their services, to release fit men for the front. If the volunteers are insufficient, conscription may be adopted. ITALY'S INFLEXIBLE RESOLVE. Signor Orlando, Italian Premier, in opening the Chamber of Deputies, said that Italy's inflexible resolution to continue to a victorious conclusion was based on considerations of justice, national aspirations, and the necessity for self-presorvahon. The- Brest-Litovsk negotiations indicated that Imperialism and selfishness animated Germany. Italy must rectify her land and sea boundaries, which exposed her to easy invasion. The Inter-allied Council, at Versailles had found peace impossible. They had carefully examined the military situation, and were taking steps to ensure final success bv a united effort. The Italian Socialists "attending the Paris and London conferences will present a memorial corresponding with Signor Orlando's programme, advocating the adjustment of the natural Italian boundaries, the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and an Italian rapprochement with the Jugo-Slavs. WHAT ITALY AIMED AT. The text of the Pact of London, determining Italy's entrance into and participation in the war, was divulged in the Chamber of Deputies. It stipulates that Italy shall receive Trentino, Austrian DaJmatia, Adriatic Islands, and the Gulf of St. Allona. Italy agreed that if a small autonomous State was formed in Alban/a sho would not oppose the division of Northern Albania between Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece. The Entente Powers acquiesced in Italian sovereignty _ being proclaimed over certain iEgean islands, and also in certain Italian rights in tho Eastern Mediterranean, and her rights to increase African possessions if Britain and Franco did likewise. Tho British Government agreed to facilitate an Italian loan of £50,000,000 in London. Article 15 said that Britain, France, and Russia pledged themselves to support Italy in declining to permit representatives of the Holy See to participate in tho Peace Conference and in the settlement of war questions. The New York Sun's Rome correspondent states that tho secret treaty between Italy' and the Entente Powers which barred the Pope's intervention in the war was read in Parliament. Deputies demanded an explanation why the Government had recently denied that the treaty existed. Baron Sonnino, Minister of .Foreign Affairs, in the 'Chamber of Deputies, stated that' the fifteenth article of the Pact of London wag published originally by the organ of tho Petrograd Soviet. He strongly protested against this unjustifiable breach pf faith. The Allie 3 agreed, withoui Italy's special initiative, that a separate reply to the Pope's Note was unnecessary after President Wilson's 'reply. The Bolsheviks' disclosure of the article was intended to raise distrust and hostility against Italy. AN ITALIAN TRAITOR. A large quantity of bombs arid grenades and a million copies of a manifesto have been found in a" cellar at Zurich in premises occupied by Gino Andrei, an Italian, who was incarcerated several months ago as a spy. The bombs and the manifesto were intended for distribution among workers in Italy, to rouse them to revolution. The manifesto accused Britain of causing and continuing the war. Andrei is the leader of a powerful gang of soies organised by tho Central Powers, and "well supplied by them with money. The discovery led to the arrest of many of Andrei's confederates, one of whom, named Donati, was recently arrested in Italy and shot.