UNEASY ITALY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21819, 23 November 1940, Page 7

UNEASY ITALY

Mussolini’s Doubtful Adventure Name Of Greece Stands High British Official Wireless RUGBY, November 21 “Never in her long history has the name of Greece stood so high nor that of Italy so low,” declared Lord Halifax in a speech in the House of Lords today. “Three weeks of war have only served to confirm the admiration which the House felt at the outset. The Greeks have driven their foes almost back to their starting point and carried the hostilities into Albania. “Mussolini made a speech in which he assured the Italians that the war with Greece was really going well. I cannot help fancying that despite these exhortations a growing number of people in Italy are not too happy. They are not too happy to hear about Taranto and see the humiliation to which they are exposed in this new war which was forced upon them by the ambition of a leader who they have been taught is always right.” Lord Halifax said he thought that the most significant passage in II Duce’s speech was his admission that the war was likely to be a long one. Italian Treachery Denounced Referring to the remarkable statement that Mussolini asked for the permission of the Fuhrer for direct Italian participation in the battle against Britain, Lord Halifax said: “Britain must, therefore, draw a clear conclusion, which is that Italian participation in the indiscriminate bombing of the women and children of Britain is entirely wanton and gratuitous. Britain will take due notice of it.” “It was Mussolini and he alone who wantonly launched his country into the conflict a few days before the collapse of France, gambling on the prospect of victory and an early settlement,” continued Lord Halifax. “That stab in the back of our former French allies will, I suspect, hold an almost unrivalled place in history as a calculated and cold-blooded act of treachery.” In France, Lord Halifax said, Hitler was pursuing his usual policy of combined tyranny and brutality. The difficulties in unoccupied France had been greatly increased by the German evacuation of French people from Alsace Lorraine, and against that action the Vichy Government was reported to have made a strong protest, but so far as he could judge, entirely without avail. Negotiations With Soviet Lord Halifax told the House that there was little news he could give of M. Molotov’s visit to Berlin. “We have made certain proposals for a trade agreement with the Soviet and these are still before the Soviet Government. We are awaiting a reply to the proposals and we have some reason to believe that they are likely to be acceptable. “Proposals were also made for a compromise settlement of various questions arising out of the Soviet annexation of territories, having due regard to the existing relations between the two Governments and removing, perhaps, some misunderstandings. We have made certain proposals of a general character of which some account has appeared in the press, that were also designed to establish greater confidence between the two Governments in the political sphere. We are still awaiting a reply to these proposals.”