Arizona republican., 1911-09-29

daining to put forth the pretext that she has a grievance against Turkey, she boldly demands that the Turkish province of Tripoli be handed over to her as the price of peace. Italian warships and Italian transports loaded with troops are standing off the shores of Tripol, prepared to enforce the Italian demands.
 The Turco-Italian trouble comes suddenly to disturb the powers of Europe, just at the moment when the peacable settlement of the Mo- roccan controversy between France and Germany promised a permanent peace for all Europe. But the ap- pearance of the new war cloud is surprising only because the world has been kept in ignorance of the Italian plans by a rigid censorship of the Italian press. It now develops that Italy has been preparing for weeks for the forcible seizure of Tripoli.
 Tripoli is the only African terri tory remaining in Turkish hands. the nominal connection of Morocco and Egypt with the government at Con stantinOple being farcical. Egypt to all intents and purposes is British territory, and Morocco is French. It is not a country rich in mineral and agricultural resources, like Morocco. is mostly desert, in fact, but in the estimation of the Italian govern ment it is a territory worth seizing. The area of the country is approxi- mately 100000 square miles, or con- siderably more than three and a half times the area of Arizona. and its population, almost wholly MOslem. is estimated at 1,SOO,OOO. It is chiefly valuable to Italy because of its long shore line on the northern coast of Africa and its frontage on the Medi- terranean.
 It is believed, however. that
  sire to maintain her prestige as a power to be reckoned with, than by any notion that the ownership of Tripoli would be compensation for a bloody war with Turkey. Within the last year and half Austria and France, respectively, have success fully pulled off, two highway rob- berries, and Italy has decided that she will suffer in reputation as a first class power if she does not seize some territory for herself. Austria forcibly annexed the Turkish prov inces of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but had the excuse that a majority of the population of the two states was Christian and largely Austrian, and that Turkey was unable to give pro- lection to the Christian inhabitants; civil war was chronic, and Turkish control was weak. Moreover, Aus tria forced upon Turkey the accept ance of a large cash compensation" for the loss of Bosnia and Herzegov- mia. The annexation of these two states to Austria was displeasing to Italy, because Austria was thus en- abled to push Austrian territory to the shores of the Adriatic. Fol lowed the. extinguishment of the Moroccan empire by France, with no compensation" to Italy. But here again there was excuse for the stronger power to crush the weaker. for France had heavy investments in Morocco, there was no protection for foreign citizens or foreign property, and the local government was in a state of anarchy.
 Noting the progress of the negOtia- tiOns between France and Germany, wherein France was given a free hand in Morocco while Germany got compensation" in the form of a re of part of the French Congo, Italy quietly prepared to get "compensation" for herself elsewhere in TripOli.
 In its larger aspects. the Turco- Italian difficulty promises develop ments more interesting than a mere war between the two countries, al- though a war confined to these two mowers would not be a small affair A Turco-Italian war would result in a general scramble among the Euro pean powers for slices of Turkish territory, and it is by no means cer- tain that they could reach an agree ment as to division of the spells un- til after a general war. In other words, the peace of Europe will again hang in the balance until the end of the Turco-Italian dispute.