Until Mussolini's "irrevocable decision" caused the gates to be closed, Italy got by far the greater part of her imports from countries out-side the Mediterranean. In 1938 she imported 1,571000 quintals of raw Cotton. Of these at least 1,537,000 quintals came from Allied countries and from neutrals outside the Mediterranean. She imported 14,742,000 quintals of crude oil; of these over 13,500,000 came from Allied or extra-Mediterranean countries. The same proportions are true for scrap iron and raw wool, and are almost as high for iron ore. These figures show what the closing of the Mediterranean gates means for Italy in the long ru The Allied naval sentinels at each end of the sea will now apply the contraband control automatically. Even within the Mediterranean British warships may be expected to stop supplies which Italy may hope to get from her own possessions or from neutral States around the sea.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.