ITALIANS' AIM

Taranaki Daily News, 5 August 1937, Page 7

ITALIANS' AIM

By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.

talks with britain CONQUEST RECOGNITION LEAGUE DECLAR ATION FRENCHMEN CAUTIOUS GUARANTEE NECESSARY

Rec. 10 p.m. London, Aug. 4. Recognition of the Italian conquest of Abysslnia is the question underlying the exchangc of letters between Mr. Neville Chamberlain and Signor Mussolini, says the diplomatic correspondent of the Morning Post. No reference is made to the subject in the letters, and Mr. Chamberlain made no promises as the matter is one for the Cabinet, but Signor Mussolini, it is gathered, would not be satisfied with less than a League of Nations declaration that the Abyssinian Empire no longer exists. Signor Mussolini is apparently convinced that the British Government is in a position to give the necessary lead, which other members of the League of Nations would follow, adds the correspondent. No Unconditional Concession. The Paris correspondent of the Times says the French /Government's attitude towards Abyssinian recognition will almost certainly be govemed by the advantage that can be gained from suchfc a step. However, no French statesman is prepared to make an unconditional concession with the risk of finding it is hailed as another triumph of Fascist strength over democratic weakness, France is ready to go a long way m order to secure a change from the present disastrous state of French-Italian relations, but she is not prepared to take any step not giving a real promise of progress in the right direcUon. The exchange of letters between Mr. Chamberlain and Signor Mussolini is still subject to much comment in the Press, states a British Qfficial Wireless message. In British official circlcs the fact that the Italian Government freely accepts tlie view of relations of Powers with interests in the Mediterranean which Mr. R. A. Eden exprcssed i* his recent House of Commons speech and reciprocates the British desire for a friendlier atmosphere is welcomed as encouragirig thc hope that the Anglo» Italian declaration of January last will be permitted to have full effect in improving the relations between the two countries. Speculatioh in Press. Inevitably at the holiday season an event such as the exchange of personal letters between the head6 of the British and Italian Governmente was required to yield the maximum news value, and journalistic ingenuity was severely taxed for the purpose, so that reports Teaching London to-day as ,,well as comments in the English newspapers themselves show a fine crop of rumours regarding the impltcations of the correspondence and the developments to be expected from it. • . . Inquiries in authoritative quartcrs mdicate that these reports are tmprofitably speculative and in some cases the shots fall very wide of the mark. A Paris cable says it is believed that Mr. Chamberlain demands Italian evacuation of the Balearic Islands and Morocco and the cessation of propaganda arnong the Arabs in return for recognition of the Abyssinian conquest. One message from a news agency purpprting to give, the contents of the Duce's letter seemed wide of the mark and was not pubiished generally. A Rome message says the Press considers that the exchange of letters between Mr. Chamberlain and Signor Mussolini is likely to be followed by dcfinite steps for consolidating AngloItalian relations.