A SENSATION

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19816, 21 February 1936, Page 7

A SENSATION

PUBLICATION OF REPORT. BRITIBH INTERESTS IN AFRIOA. I ATTITUDE TO ITALIAN AGGRESSION I'nltcc/ Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright. LONDON. Feb. 20. The Daily Telegraph states that a ITrsl class diplomatic sensation has been caused by the publication in the Rome newspaper 11 Giornale D'ltalin of the text of Ihe report of a commit tee under the chairmanship of Sir John Maffpv, Governor-General of Hie Sudan, which was presented to the British Foreign Office on June 18, 1935. The report stated that Italy would endeavour shortly to -control Abyssinia. where, although there were no vital British interests which would compel Britain to oppose an Italian conquest, an Independent Abyssinia would be preferable from the ptoint of view of Imperial defence to an Italian Ethiopia. The latter would compel Britain to safeguard her interests in connection with the Nile and its tributaries by creating a Sudan corridor. The "Telegraph Bays the Foreign Office Is completely mystified as to how this official document, belonging to the British Government, passed into -the hands of a foreign country. Jt is suggested in Rome that it was pro fdred by “a clever piece of indiscretion." Gravity of Situation. The report was never published, Says the Telegraph, owing to the gravity of the Abyspinian situation. Tt would, however, be distributed to the departments concerned, also to Ihe members of the Cabinet, but the For- ; eign Office must possess a complete fist of (he copies Issued, therefore it should not be difficult, to find which one was missing. The matter undoubtedly will lie searehingly investigated, says the paper. The Government certainty will not allow so flagrant an Interference in its private affairs to pass without doing its utmost to discover how it occurred. The Rome correspondent of the Times says the publication of the report is regarded as an attempt to discredit the policy of the British Foreign Office. The Conclusions Reached. A further message from Rome states that II Giornale d’ltalia says the principal conclusions reached by the Matfey Committee were as follows: (1) That Italy certainly during the coming years would do her utmost lo secure control of Abyssinia, although she might at present limit her action to conquering the lowlands bordering on Italian Somaliland. (2) That there were no vital British interests in Abyssinia or in the adjoining countries necessitating British resistance to an Italian conquest of Abyssinia. As far as local British interests were concerned it would be a matter of indifference whether Abyssinia remained independent or was absorbed by Italy. (3) That from the standpoint of Imperial defence an independent Abyssinia would be preferable to an Italian Abyssinia, but the threat to British interests appeared to be distant ami would depend only on a war against Italy, which at present appeared improbable. (4) That the principal British interest in Abyssinia was Lake Tsana and the basin of the Nile, in which the Egyptian Government also had Rn interest which must be protected. Should Abyssinia disappear as an Independent State the British Government should try to obtain territorial control over the lake and over the corridor Joining It with the Sudan. (5) That although British commercial interests in Abyssinia were negligible every effort should be made in the event of Italy absorbing Abyssinia to ensure equal treatment for British subjects on Abyssinian territory. That was to say, an effort should be made to obtain the policy of the open door In Abyssinia. 1 In the Event of War. The report, according to II Giornale d’ltalia, also contained the following statement: “AVhereas in the event of an Anglo-Itallan war, an efficient Italian control over Abyssinia would be a menace to neighbouring British possessions, it would be a boon in normal every-day administration. Italian rigidity over grazing grounds beyond the frontiers of British Somaltiand might be expected to be softened if Italy satisfied her ambitions by the conquest of Abyssinia, and though Abyssinia’s control over the frontier districts has improved In recent years the neighbouring administrations undoubtedly would obtain advantages from, and would welcome, an efficient Italian administration. The advantages certainly would counter-balance the loss of British prestige among the Somalis in consequence of the fame the Italians would win as the result of their Abyssinian conquests.” The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says the MafTey -Committee was appointed in February, 1935, following the Italian Government’s suggestion that as the French Government had defined its Interests In Abyssinia the British Government might be prepared also to indicate where British interests in Abyssinia lay. It was suggested further that it might be possible then to reach an agreement between the interested Powers regarding the potential spheres of interest in Abyssinia. A Grave Aspect. Tho committee held a number of meetings, but did not reach its conclusions until the middle of June. By then the Italians’ activities in Abyssinia had taken on so grave an aspect that the British Government was obliged to inform Italy it would not be able to enter into the suggested discussion. Tiie committee’s report, therefore, was never published.