London, Mar, 8.
Italian arguments against stoppage of coal by Britain from Germany present only a one-sided picture without mentioning the "greater shortcomings of which Germany is guilty," declares the Brussels newspaper "Libre Belge" in a leading article quoted at length in a special commentary released here, Discussing the Italian protest to Britain on the coal question, the paper notes that the arguments are based firstly on juridical, and secondly on material, grounds. Juridical arguments, the daily points out, "constitute a summary of complaints which neutrals undeniably have a right to raise against Allied blockade methods." The article continues: "These arguments present only a one-sided picture, not mentioning the greater shortcomings of which Germany is guilty. Naturally the unilateral character of these complaints removes much of their weight, nor can one forget that Italy, during the last war and the Turkish-Italian war of 1911, never felt such respect for maritime international law."
Another Brussels paper, the "Peuple," according to the commentary, says: "If Italy thinks she can use her non-belligerent position to put pressure on the Allies, compromise the Franco-British blockade or render the German war machine clandestine service, she shows profound ignorance of the true equilibrium of the forces in Europe."
The Cairo paper "Al-Balagh," after explaining Britain's attitude toward Italian coal imports, states: "It is most typical for the Germans to try to exploit the incident, saying the British action is illegal, but it really causes laughter to hear the Germans, who violated every law, say this is legal and that illegal" The journal predicts that the dispute will be amicably settled.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.