The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1914-12-24
WAR MAY SETTLE
ROMAN QUESTION


York k)-Pope Benedict XIV has decid.
ed upon q settlement Of the noman
question-that 40 year old quarrel be-
tween the Quirinal and the Vatican,
which since 1870 has kept the popes
perpetual prisoners in the latter
palace.
Negotiations to this end have al
ready been gotten under way and
whenever q peace conference meets to
settle the questions arising out of
the present great European war the
Vatican hopes also to have peace.
The decision of Pope Benedict to
this end is only another evidence of
the energy and decisiveness which
has marked every act Of his pontif-
cate, already only a few months old.
Incidentally, it has also served to
establish him to a certain extent as
the follower of Pope Leo and Rom
pclja, under whom he was assistant
secretary of state, for the plan which
I tpe Benedict has evolved will bring
into play all of the subtle diplomatic
genius for which the Vatican rnder
Pope Leo was famous.
The negotiations which Pope Bene-
thority to have already opened with
England, and through England with
Rursia and France, to the end that
the Vatican may be officially repre-
sented at the peace conference when-
e-er it comes. With this official rep
resentation. the Vatican will then
have no dificulty through the iiplo-
matte pressure which it exerts ut the
ctlrts Of all the great powers of pre-
seDting its claims and Of arriving at
a settlement.
The Roman question, which devel-
oped when the new kingdom Of ITALY
in 1870 took Rome from the Popes,
has been handed down since then by
oLa Pope to another as q sort of leg
acy, that has been settled. Pope Plus
TX, under whom the temporal rower
was taken from the pontiffs, at once
shut himself up in the Vaticaa, de-
caring himself prisoner at the hands
of Italy. He refused to recognize the
law of guarantees enacted by the new
k;1gdom of Italy which guaranteed
no. only the life, liberty and spiritual
sovereignty as well within the limited
restrictions of the Vatican walls.
The legacy in this form was hand.
|el on to Pope Leo XIII, who COPIED
with it in his OWN peculiar way. II
vas the one aim of his whole pontifi-
cation to bring about, through subtle
diplomatic relations, the restoration
to the Holy See Of the papal tates
and the full temporal power Of the
pcrtiff. 1t was in the carrying out
Of these efforts that the present Pope
as under secretary of state had the
diplomatic training which promises
to play so important q part in the
plaE now accredited for q sett. ,ment.
Pope Leo's ambitions failed utter
ly and the unsolved Roman 1lestion
became again legacy to Pope Plus
x. He followed in the footsteps #
his predecessors, at least in remain
inc a prisoner in the Vatican, al
though no secret was ever made of
the fact that Pope Plus would gladly
have ended the quarrel. In fact, only
las. year an attempt was male by
him, an attempt which, although it
fsi'ed, will be the basis Of the one
now to be made by Pope Benedict
Ky.
The plan Of Pope Plus X, which
was given public utterance by the
Bishop Of Udine at q large national
Catholic gathering in Italy, provided
that the Law of Guarantees enacted
by Italy be internationalized by all
Of the leading powers. ITALY, the
Vatican, insisted, might some day be-
cume republic, might some day fall
a victim to some other power. In that
event, she would be unable to main
tain the integrity she had guaranteed
to the Vatican. This integrity, Pope
Illus urged, must be guaranteed NOT
by Italy alone, but by the powers II
large.
To this project, Italy raised q
storm of protest. She declared the
question purely an internal one, and
that the interference of any outside
power or the guaranteeing Of hel
owr guarantees would be an insult Il
her national honor and dignity which
she could not permit. So great wai
this storm Of protest, that the pro
sces was at once dropped and Pop'
Pius died shortly afterwards. AL
though ITALY will unquestipnably
continue its objection to any irterna
tionalization of her Laws Of ,auaYan
tees, the Vatican has reason to believ,
that the present European war La
created q situation in which Ital,
may be forced to yield
Tn the peace conference which viii
END the present war it is taken 70
granted that Italy will be oficiall,
represented. If she is not represen.
cd by reason of having actually par
tieipated in the war, she win be reu
resented as having claims for com
pensation for her neutrality and tn,
is where the Vatican expects to fin,
her amenable to reason.
4 In such large Catholic countries a
Austria, the Vatican has a powerf,
influence. In other countries, whic
are not ranked officially as Catholi;
she is still all powerful because o
the large elements Of Catholic populs
tion. Should, for example, Italy wan
certain compensation from Austria,
would be very much to her advantag
to have the help Of the Vatican an