The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1911. ITALY’S TASK.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13529, 10 November 1911, Page 4

The Wanganui Herald. [PUBLISHED DAILY.] FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1911. ITALY’S TASK.

Italy could scarcely have counted the cost, when- she rushed headlong into a conflict with Turkey, and she will probably learn before the contest is over that borrowing trophic necessitates the pay-' , merit of usurious interest. And the longer thin deplorable war continues, the more reason there is for the rest of the world to regret that it was ever allowed to start in the first instance, and that it ’was not: promptly nipped in the. bird by the European Powers in the second. As matters stand now, it is perfectly clear that Italy has not entered upon a military promenade at Tripoli, as at one time appeared to be the case, but upon a desperate struggle, from which she will. he lucky if she emerges without sustaining even heavier losses than she met with at Massowah. Latest news from reliable sources from tho front indicate that the Italian account of the recent fighting in and around Tripoli was anything but accurate and trustworthy. It will be remembered that the first news cabled from Italy was to the effect that the TurkoArab forces lost 2000 killed and 4000 wounded,’out of a ,total of 12,000 men cm gaged, while the Italian losses, were set down at only ,200. It turns out, however, that, the Italians lost heavily, and that complete disaster was only narrowly averted. The worst, feature of the war; — and one that will .entirely eliminate international sympathy with the Italian^—is ■ the commital of atrocities, atrocities which one British war correspondent describes as worse than any Russian pogrbon or Armenian massacre. He states that 400 women and children and 4000 men were sliot in cold blood by the Italians, who are described as being "drunk with the lusjt of vengeance,” and he'~himself saw 50 men and children executed in a batch. Cripples and blind beggars were deliberately shot, and sick people, whose houses were burned, were left on the ground and were refused a drop of water. Verily Italy will, have to pay usurious interest for borrowing this trouble, and she will •probably be staggered at tho blood and treasure she will have to expend to defend herself from the fanatical vengeance of the .Moslem forces which will now be arraigned against her. The desert force, in spite of its heavy losses, .has a vast hinterland to draw upon for men to make up the wastage, of war, and the attacking force can afford to bide its time and tp ; wait its opportunity. 'Flushed, with, success;' and maddened by the horrible atrocities committed by the Italians, the desert forces, of whom 60,000 were the other day .revealed'by aeroplanes, may at any moment by sheer force of weight and numbers completely ovcrwhclmn the Italian forces. , :

Serious as ,is the outlook for Italy, it is not devoid of anxieties forj'the other Powers that have remained rigorously neutral, lest they themselves should be drawn into the vortex of war. It is strange to note how unanimous the public opinion of, Europe is in condemning the action of Italy in declaring war. The Pope is practically the only eminent personage who has publicly approved of the war, and even in Germany, which is Italy’s senior partner in the alliance, public sentiment is reported to be strongly in favour of the Turks, while ;n every country, and especially in England, with its; large Mohammedan, interests, the reported massacres of. Arab women and children, and non-combatants .have aroused angry protests. Flagrant, however, as was t)ie grab , made : by Italy at the.-; territory of ra Power ■ with which she was at peace, 'there is no disguising the fact that a great Italian disaster in Tripoli—which is by no means aii , impossibility—might strongly stir the European nations. Others as well as the Italians might be moved ; to avenge a defeat suffered by a Christian nation at the hands of a Moslem foe, even though Italy has forfeited all claims to sympathy and assistance by her rashness in seizing Tripoli and by her atrocious conduct during the war. An appeal .for help, [sent by Italy when hard pressed by the warlike if semi-harharous Moslem enemy that she has deliberately stirred into activity, might quite conceivably produce an eager response from nations that feel the tie of a common culture and a common civilisation with the Italians, even though the bonds of race and language may be lacking.; But there are other nations whose political interests, as well as their sense of justice, might he expected to impel them to declare for the Mohammedan cause, and thus a possible line of cleavage is disclosed which might separate the: Powers of Europe into two hostile camps, and introduce an era of bloodshed calculated to exhaust the leading nations of the World, to the ultimate advantage of the non-Caucasian peoples. Sir' Edward Grey’s .hint that England would'intervene bn behalf of Turkey when the moment became more propitious may mean much. But propitious moments have a way of vanishing into the distance unless a resolute hand is stretched out to grasp them: It is inevitable that the events of last Thursday’s battle must have powerfully moved the Moslem world. The sooner the Turco-Italiaii war is stopped--the better, not only for the two belligerents, but lor the rest of the world also, and particularly for those countries like England and France, which number millions of Moslems among the population; of, their dependencies.