Editor of the Nonaut-Ciuxa Daly News"
Sim—May a visiting confrere place' a word in your columns. about today's editorial on Anglo-Italian mis. Understanding? For the of future peace such a let-them-cat-cake attitude must be tempered, T think. 1t is the contention of your writer that Anglo-Italian friendship has very old foundations, that England never did anything to break it, that Italy, through her misbehaviour during the Ethiopian campaign, and after, has brought about the disapproval of the better portion of the British public opinion, Recognition of Ethiopia being out of the question, a rapprochement can be brought about only by Maly's renouncing her aggressive policy in the Mediterranean, which, you explain, the Iallans wrongly call mare nostrum, It would interest perhaps some of your readers to realize that millions of people, thinking, reading, cultured people, hold at this very minute entirely opposite views in the matter lind consider themselves just. logical and justified in their opinion og your editorial welter is in his. To begin with the Old. Anglo-Italian friendship has never been very apparent. "Gladstone wrote a booklet on the Bourbon prisons in Southern Italy, circa 1850, "Garibaldi triumphantly received in London, circa 1800, Some Itatinn political refugees found shelter in London, In the 40's. But regiments of French Zouaves charged Austrian infantry: a Solferino, 1959, for Italian unity, Polish and: Hungarian volunteers died for it, From the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy ti this morning all we ever heard from "English Sources was benevolent encourage ment, of the mildly surprised kind: "Tut, tut, look at what the tittle fellow thas been able to do all himself.... Jsn't he too clever for words." Which, at best, is irritating, The French say that the English think "Negroes begin at Calais". Heavy soled tourists, who can't speak the language, do not make many Ttaly, as you doubtlessly know, nas the same position as one of there model boats built, by patient sailors inside a glass bottle. The glass bottle is the Mediterranean, which English hands. Italians. Live, eat, thrive, trade by special permission of the British Admiralty. "Which a practical enough arrangement except when the interests of the two countries become antagonistic. This fs what happened in Ethiopia. Mussolini merely wanted to enforce the 1806 treaty signed by Menelik, recognized by the Powers concerned, which granted Italy a virtual. pro tectorate over Ethiopia. No corpses, alr-bombardments, ruthless destruc: lon of a pastoral elvillzation: mere: ly a few negotiations around a green table, a few signatures, and Italian advisers would have appeared here and there in Ethiopia, Italian buste ness houses, banks, factories. Some body advised Halle Selassie that tit was all a bluff, to resist, not to give up. War became inevitable." Italy had to go through with it, in spite of everything, Of course,' sanctions land their corollary, the non-recognttion of the Italian Empire, are the measures every. dutiful member of the League of Nations had to taka to save its self-respect. I never heard of sanction against Paraguay Ttaly wants to live, cannot tivo without raw materials. Let aly buy raw materials from the British Empire, America, is the usual answer to that, "Let "em eat cake". The British" Empire cannot sell raw! materials to Taly because Holy, has hho pounds with which to pay. Italy' has' no pounds because the British, Empire and the United States do, not buy enough Italian products. 'The Beitish Empire buys British, and the United States, protect the standard of living of the American working man, whatever that may be, behind high tariff walls. So Italy' decided to get her own colony, her ows ting, and her own currency circulating in it. She decided on Ethiopia because there was an old treaty between het and Tualy, and also because there was nowhere else to go. Apparently, the conquest of Ethiopia was a violation fof international law of such stupen+ duous and unusual magnitude as to provoke a mobilization of public opinion which had not been seen at the time of the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, or Is not seen even to-day.
What else was there to do? If the British Empire, which is the strongest, oldest," biggest organization in the World to-day wants to lead the world, it must solve the world's problems in a practical way, otherwise everybody will try to solve it in his own. That is what leadership means. People seem to want to eat, in spite of any barrage of propaganda, frowning from Downing. Street, and disapproval from the Archbishop of Canterbury. in London makes Itallon trading. even harder, The Mediterranean 8 dangerously small sea, in - which any nation feels uncomfortable when. threatened.—What can Italy do gainst the might of the British lion? Brosdcast propaganda from Bart, perhaps, that will reach a few wire' Tesg sets In Egypt and Palestine. Try and make friends with discontented politicians here and there along. the: Shores of the Mediterranean. That} what Italy is doing. What has England done, what was the British provoke—discontent evolution, In one of the most eritfcal moments of her national life, when she Was ¢% "in a foreign war? Let's weigh the Bari broadcasts in tone hand and the mobilization of world public opinion, the devastation fof Tiallan financial" and industrial Nito, the boycott, the false news, in the' other.
Let me close reminding you that mare nostrums is a gute of speech, fan old Roman saying, and that it does not mean that we think the Mediterranean is all ours. Just as} the Americans do not think for one moment that the United States the country chosen by Our Lord as] his adopted fatherland, when they say "God's own country", or the Irish believe cows, hens, houses are green in Ireland when they speak of the Green Island.
Luier Banziwe Ju.
"Corriere della Sera" Milano, Shanghai, Feb, 10,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.