The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890) MONDAY, MAY 4, 1936. A STORY NOT FOR CHILDREN.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 121, 4 May 1936, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post With which is Incorporated "THE EGMONT SETTLER" (Established 1890) MONDAY, MAY 4, 1936. A STORY NOT FOR CHILDREN.

THOUGH it may make stirrin g and inspiring reading, the opening chapter of the history of any colonising venture is seldom prett}'. It is the kind of literature that, if it were filmed, the censor would class as "not suitable for general exhibition." Mussolini has written the ugliest chapter of all. It is not altogether his fault: part of it has been written for him by scaremongering journalists and part by notoriety-hunting and hot-headed Red Cross officials. What made the story so vile to read was that Mussolini went to war with all the brutal might of modern armaments against an ill-armed native people. Gas and machine-guns seemed far more horrible than the muskets of the colonisers in other lands at other times. But what else could Italy do? Having once made the regrettable decision to go to war, her job was to finish it as quickly as possible. Apparently she has done it. Against this chapter of sheer horror, the story of the League's activities make a contrast of tragedy or comedy, depending on the strength of the spectator's sense of humour. It is funny, in a way, to think of the earnest futility of sanctions, now proved beyond all doubt; there is grim amusement for the cynical in the applying of sanctions to Italy when Japan and Germany, those other treaty-breakers, go scot-free. But it is not funny to see high ideals shattered, and high hopes brought low, and good work rendered useless, and a fine dream smashed and soiled. That is what has happened. Selassie has lost his kingdom, and the League has proved its impotence. Nothing can be done for the Emperor. Italy has got what she wanted, and that is all there is to be said. From this black and violent story, which is so definitely not for children and sentimentalists, Europe can learn that the League must' be reorganised to be effective, and the diplomats can learn to turn again to their proper job, which is keeping the peace of Europe, not pinpricking a nation determined to steal the territory of an inferior native race.