PEACE PROPOSALS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 August 1943, Page 3

PEACE PROPOSALS

ALLEGEDLY DRAWN UP IN ITALY SOME ABSURD CLAUSES. OPPOSITION TO ALLIED OCCUPATION. (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) NEW YORK, August 4. “Intensive diplomatic activity in the Vatican and the Quirinal (the royal palace in Rome) reached a climax today when the Vatican called a special meeting of 16 Cardinals,” says the Berne correspondent of the “Nev/ York Times.” “Well-informed circles close to Marshal Badoglio hinted that the Church might be facilitating developments in the international situation preparatory to an important pronouncement 'by the Italian Hindenburg' within the next 36 hours.

“The latest private information from Rome predicts that the Cabinet tomorrow will draft a 10-point memorandum which the Italian Government intends to present both to Germany and the Allies. The points, it is reported, will be:

“1. Italy is disposed to sign an armistice immediately.

“2. The German troops will be ‘voluntarily’ withdrawn from Italy and Italian troops will be withdrawn from France and the Balkans. “3. The Italian workers will be recalled from Germany. “4. “Ports will be neutralised and disarmed under Allied supervision. “5. The Italian Fleet, surface as well as submarine, will be concentrated at Taranto and there disarmed and demobilised.

“6. All British and American prisoners in Italian hands will be surrendered to the Allies.

“7. The Italian territory annexed during the war will be abandoned immediately, with the exception of Albania, which ‘belongs to the Italian Crown.’

“8. Italy expects she will not be occupied militarily by the Allies, but accepts the installation of an Allied armistice control commission.

“9. The House of Savoy pledges a ‘continuation of democratic government.’

“10. Italy guarantees active collaboration in organising the post-war world according to the principles of the Atlantic Charter.”

GERMAN PREPARATIONS.

The correspondent adds that the Germans, according to reliable information, are preparing a line for all-out defence in the north from Ancona to Spezia (south of the main northern industrial area of Italy) and are rushing work day and night to complete the fortifications, behind which 15 to 18 divisions are concentrated. Other German defence preparations are being rushed in the Po Valley, which is regarded as the gateway to the Danube and also to the Nice area in France. Marshal Badoglio has issued a decree announcing heavy sentences of imprisonment for anyone who is found listening to British, American or other enemy wireless programmes, says the “Daily Mail’s” correspondent on the Italian frontier. Another decree forbids the Press to mention Mussolini or ' his collaborators. Reuter’s correspondent on the frontier of Italy and Switzerland says that the Rome representative, of the "Neue Zurcher Zeitung” declares that fresh developments are imminent in Italy.