The sedate mellifluence of the British Broadcasting Corporation's news announcer was not proof against an obvious desire to chuckle as he quoted from an unsigned article in an Italian journal an opinion purporting to come from "political circfés in Lisbon" on the attempted assassination of the Portuguese Prime Minister, Dr. Antonio de Oliveira Salazar. The "authorities" cited by the unnamed Italian writer had apparently come io the conclusion that the attempt had been organized by the "British military intelligence." It is easy to imagine the comment which Signor Benito Mussolini, whose recent fulruinations against the "lies of the anti-Fascist press" reverberated in the cables, would have felt constrained to make had so ingenuous an effort of the imagination found hospitality in a reputable English newspaper. As all Italian journals are under rigorous Government control they must be reputable—technically at all events. Mr. Anthony Eden has revealed that representations have been made to the Italian Government regarding the anti-British propaganda emitted from certain Italian broadcasting stations. If this bland accusation in the Italian press is typical of the fodder on which anti-British appetite has been fed it is not surprising that Sir Eric Drummond has been instructed to protest—action which apparently has had some effect, judging from a Reuter cable to hand. The British Broadcasting Corporation's announcer seems te have given the appropriate comment in the form of his polite but undeniable chuckle, It was not to be expected that the unprecedented task of organizing a modern municipality in an ar so closely interwoven with and impinging on two neighbour foreign administrations would be free from difficulty and embar ment. Moreover in the early years of the decade of Cinderella's existence political issues greatly complicated that task. Nor would it be fair to ignore the differences of opinion and outlook which were bound to intrude. The elder sisters were perhaps apt to resent the sudden emergence of this vigorous Cin-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.