WAR INEVITABLE

Hokitika Guardian, 9 August 1926, Page 4

WAR INEVITABLE

BETWEEN ITALY AND TURKEY. ITALY MUST EXPAND. ;

INTERVIEW AYITH ITALIAN JOURNALIST.

A good many sidelights are cast upon currents events by .Major Arnoldo Cipolla, the special correspondent of “La Suampa,” the leading journal of Turin, and one of the great newspapers of Italy. ALajor Cipolla is at present engaged on one of his many world, tours undertaken on behalf of his newspaper, and has already forwarded half a dozen articles on New Zealand to “La Stampa.’’ He has just come from America, and left by Tahiti for Sydney. He has been greatly struck with the prosperity, as well as the scenic beauty of those parts of New Zealand he has seen. “Coming from Tl-tupo through to Napier and then oil tb Palmerston North, tho country reminded me very

much of parts of Italy—the Apennines,” ho said. “If it were more closely peopled with little farms it would be another Tittle northed Italy. Another thing, you are a bright-and. happy people. Nearly everyone wears a smile, and there is real friendliness behind it for the stilnngcr whose ways may be so very different.” AA’hat is most interesting about the visitor is that during the Great AVar lie was .sent- by the Italian Government to act as puo of the liaison officers on Fkdd-Alarshal Haig’s, staff in Franco.

AIUSSOLINI. Major Cipolla said that Signor Alussolini was ono of the results of the condition of Europe generally. Not only was someone strong needed in whom the feeling against the growth of Communism in Italy could he centred, but lie was the one man who had realised that it was-essential to the life blond of the nation that Ttaly must expand—it must find ’an outlet for its surplus population. There were •12.000,000 people in Italy, and penh.aps 10,000,000 elsewhere in the world —in America, tlie Argentine, France, Germany—and everywhere they went there, was antipathy on the part of the northern peoples to Italians. It crops out every now and again. “To anyone who studio- ‘.he question closely,” safe! Major Cipolla, “it is not fdr to seek tho reason for this. Away at the hack of these actions, it is the old antipathy to Roman Catholicism by the Protestants or other factors opposed to Italian national religion. I have just been to Afexieo, where, as you see hv tho cablegrams, they are turning religious orders out of the countly. That is the result of a combination of forces against which the orders religiueso are powerless. It has to be remembered that it was Cortes who imposed the religion of Rome on ATcxico after his famous conquest early in the sixteenth century. After all these years there is a population of M. 000,000 in Arexico, only one million of which tiro really white people, the rest being Indies (not Indians, hut the descendants of ihe people that succeeded tho cultured Aztec civilisation). These Indios say they do not want. European culture, traditions, or religions, and now they are in power, with General Cailly as President, they are doing the things they have long wanted to do, and they do it in n way that shocks the civilised world. The particular urge at this time is to do away with the religious orders, who are the mainspring of the education system. AN ni POSSIBLE PEOPLE.

“You will remember how last year the British Ambassador was ordered to leave Afexieo, and on his refusal to do so his electric light, water and telephone were cut off from the Embassy, and soldiers were posted round the placo to watch every movement. Eventually ho had to leave, and for five months Great Britain had no representative in Afexieo City. There was possible Soviet influence behind that ; certainly it was the Bolshevism that gave tho Indios Government the opportunity to dispense with the Roman Catholic institutions and workers, as they openly stated they do not want a European religion, Imt prefer their own native Giuitemoc. It was a clover American who recently suggested that (lie map of Amerie.i should he reissued, leaving ATexico a blank. It was an impossible country.” AVAR AYITH TURKEY.

“To get back to Italy and its troubles,” ho continued. “Mussolini is a man who has put his finger on. Italy’s major necessity—expansion. We must expand, wo must find the means of allowing our people to live decently somewhere. Under the T red tv of Versailles Italy was promised opportunity for expansion in Anatolia (under Turkish suzerain itv), the southern half of Asia Minor, a country rich in minerals and good for agriculture, of only some 5,000,000 people only, hut that promise was not kept. The Greeks overran the country after the war, and were afterwards driven out hy the Turks. Now we are insisting that it is our right to be allowed to immigrate to this country. Rhodes, a largo island off the Anatolian coast, belongs to Italy, and is at the present time the centre of grout military preparations, and it is no secret and not exaggerating the situation to say that the Turks are daily in fear of an outbreak of hostilities. On Italy’s part there is immense enthusiasm for this war. Turkey was ou the side of the Germans in the war, and has flouted the desire of Italy to he allowed to eoloini.se this territory, which by treaty has been granted to her for that purpose; therefore she feels herself morally in the right, in going to war—and war it is going to he.” THAT TRIP TO TRIPOLI.

“You remember only a few months ago Mussolini paid a visit to Tripoli, and was escorted by a substantial part of the Italian Navy. At that time it was understood .that the fleet was to proceed to sea, and after visiting Tripoii and Malta (to secure the goodwill of England) was to mnke for the Anatolian coast to make her claims upon Italy at the cannon’s mouth. But just before he sailed from Rome Mussolini was shot through the nostrils by a. mad Irishwoman, and something else occurred to postpone the event, hut unless Turkey gets into line there is going to be another war, and who knows that it might not be a ' big one?”