The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-09-13
Italy Has Refused 10 Join Germany
and Austria In the Pres
ent War In
Europe
REAL REASON IS SECRET
Three Powers Had Agreement Which
From 1852 up 10 Present
Had Prsvented
War.
tBy Henri Wood. Rome Correspond
ent Of the United Preaa-l

tBJ HENRI Wood. Rome Correspond
ent Of the United Presz-l
ROME Aug - SBy mail to New
York AFTER having effectively Pre-
served the peace OF Europe. at least
according TO its supporters. for the
/ past thtrtyfvo years, the triple nj
lance now IL NO more
| As yet no formal dissolvfng OF the
pact has taken place. Eor II 1t prob
able that there ever xsH. The thing.
however. that Is eFen more effective
To that end ID the fact that neither
Germany nor Austria. At least In the
minds OF all Europe. VIII ever be
able to forgive Italy the fact that she
did not take up arms with them IN
what they we're pleased to consider
their hour OF need
Whatever. therefore. may be the
NnaI outcome OF EuroFe's greatest
war. the hYzt and one OF the most i'm
portans results. unquestfonahiy will
be the end of what Bismark consider
ed his greatest stroke OF statesman
shir.
It vas In 1892 that the great Ger
man statesman succeeded In e6ectinE
the alliance. Germany had recently
~rested Alsace and Lorraine from
France; Austria had been given the
military occupation OF Bosnia and
herzegovina and the new kingdom Of
Italy had just succeeded in taking
Rome from the popes and making it
the Italian capital All three OF them
wanted to hang onto their spells and
ell three OF them were afraid that,
alone. they couldn't do it.
The basis OF the alliance was that
the three pows guaranteed each
other mutual help In preserving their
territorial integrity. To insure that
they might be able 10 do this, each Of
the three powers guaranteed each
tain certain sired army and to cos-
strucs . certain sized fleet, the com
bined strength OF which would make
It impossible for any other power TO
begin territorial asgressions- This
part OF the agreement each one OF
the three nations has hTed up to- The
contribution OF ita share has AL but
ruined Italy fndustrialiy. hut the
three powers have never failed to as
sert tina. II was this sacrifice alone on
their part that from 1854 Till 1914 pre-
vented any great European var
As regards Isaiys failure to take
iuy arms with Austria and Germany In
The present var. the real truth prob
ably never VIII be known Italian d.
plonacy. unlike that OF England and
Germany, never makes known any OF
its secrets or motives 1t acts and
the Italian people must accept with
out question O. protest
On the surface o. things. however,
Italy refused 10 join In the var On
the grounds that the terms OF the
alliance did not impose on il that
obligation The text Of the triple al
lance vas never made public hut II
is understood that the three powers
we're pledged to help one another
only u case one OF them vas attacked
By an outside power with the fnten-
cson OF violating it's territorial In
tegricy. Italy took the position that
the present war had its origin in
Auxtria-s aggressive and lot deten-
s,ve action against SerTiA, and that
Italy. not having been consulted re-
xa-ding this. could no. be held In any
way responsible for the Whole train
OF wars and evils following
In any event, for once At lsss: the
Italian government acted in harmony
with What vas the wishes Of Its pso-
pie.
The triple alliance, however nsoes-
sa-r i. has been to the Italian goT-
eminent, has never been popular with
the Italian people. They Gave neser
! been able TO forget that for ffty years
4. was Austria alone that stood De-
tween them and liberty The fact
that Austria still holds Trieste and
Tente-as dear 20 the hearts o. ltal-
ians as AIsace and Lor-ains 10 the
rench-dces not set veil with the
! Italian people either
Urquestionaaly the attitude o. the
people had something 10 90 with the
governments decision To have Or
Ssrea the Italian army to take Up
arms in defense ot Austria would
have been to provoke az internal war.
To have gent the Italian soldiers
AGAINST France would have been folly.
as tie French and Italians are linked
nv chains OF sentiment that are far
stronger than any treaty ties with
Austria The Italian government TOOK
this into consideration, too. il Is be-
! lisved-
another factor IN Italy's action was
the fact that the country is still stag
es-inz under the burdens involved bg
II. war in Tripo.i Another war, 20
matter what the outcome would speu
nothing but ruiz for the co1ntrJ-