Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-05-27

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obligation OF prior consultation Of Italy
a. required by the special provisions O.
article Of the treaty Of the triple Al
lance. which in addition to the obi-
cation Of previous agreement recog-
nixed the right Of compensation 20 the
other contracting parties In case one
should occupy temporarily or perma-
nently any section of the Balkans.
ITO this end the Italians approached
the Austro- Hungarian government I'M
mediately upon the inauguration OF
Austro- Hungarian hostilities against
Serbia, and succeeded in attaining re-
luctant acQuiescence In the Italians
representations. Conversations. were
initiated Immediately after July = for
the purpose Of giving q new lease OF
life to the treaty which had been vi''-
lated and thereby annulled by the ACT
Of Austro- Hungary. This object could
be attained only by the conclusion OF
new agreements. The conversations
were renewed. with additional PROPOSE
tions as the basis, In December. 1915.
The Italian ambassador at Vienna At
that time was given Instructions TO IN
Il rm Count Berchtold, the Austro-
Hungarian minister for foreign CHAIRS.
that the Italian government considered
il necessary to proceed without delay -
an exchange of views and consequently
to concrete negotiations with the
Austro- Hungarian government con-
cerning the complex situation arising
out of the conflict which that govern
ment had provoked. Count Berchtold
at first refused. He declared that the
time had not arrived for negotiations.
subsequently upon our rejoinder ~
which the German government united.
Count Berchtold agreed to exchange
views as suggested. We promptly de-
clared as one OF our fundamental OBJ
jects that the compensation on which
the agreement should be based should
relate to territories at the time under
the dominion Of Austro- Hungary.
Pledges Demanded.
1.-The discussion continued for
months, from the first days of Decem-
Der to March, and 1t was not till the
end of March that Baron Burian Of
fered a zone Of territory comprised
within a line extending from the exist
ing boundary of Italy to q point just
north of the city Of Trent. In exchange
for this proposed cession the Austro-
Hungarian government demanded a
number OF pledges. including among
them an assurance of entire liberty OF
action in the Balkans. Note should be
made OF the fact that the cession of
the territory around Trent was not in
tended to be Immediately effective, as
we demanded. but was to be made only
upon the termination Of the European
war. We replied that the offer was not
acceptable. We then presented the
~ -, m, concessions uvh could meet
in part our national aspirations and
strengthen in an equitable manner our
strategic position in the Adriatic.
THE demands comprised: The ex-
tension of the boundary in Trentino; a
new boundary on the Isonzo; special
provision for Triest; the cession of GER
tain islands in the Curzolari archipel-
ago; the abandonment of Austrian
claims in Albania and the recognition
of our possession Of Ayalona and the
islands of the Aegean sea, which we
occupied during our war with Turkey
"At first our demands were categor-
icaliy rejected. 1t was not until an
other month Of conversation that
Austria Hungary was induced to in
crease the zone of territory she was
prepared to cede in the Trentino. and
then only as far as Mezzolombarmodo.
therby excluding the territory inhabited
by people of the Italian race. such as
the Val del Noce, Val di Fasso and
Val di Ampezzo. Such as proposal
would have given Italy boundary of
no strategica1 value. In addition the
\ ustro- Hungarian government main
tanned its determination not to make
the cession effective before the end OF
the war. The repeated refusals of
Austro- Hungary were expressly con-
firmed in a conversation between Baron
Burian and the Italian ambassador at
Vienna on April 20.
Sea interests Menaeed.
while admitting the possibility Of
recognizing some of our interests in
Avalona and granting the above men,
toned territorial cession In the Tren-
tino, the Austro- Hungarian government
persisted in its opposition to all our
other demands. especially those re-
garding the boundary of the Isonzo,
Triest and the islands.
The attitude assumed by Austro-
Hungary from the beginning of De-
cember until the end of April made 1t
evident that she was attempting to
ten,porize without coming to a conciu-
sion. Under such circumstances Italy
was confronted by the danger of losing
forever the opportunity of realizing
her aspirations based upon tradition.
nationality and her desire for safe
position in the Adriatic. while other
contingencies in the European conflict
menaced her principal interests IN
other seas Hence Italy faced the ne
cessity and duty Of recovering that
liberty OF action to which she was en-
titled and of seeking protection for
her interest apart from the negotia-
tons which had been dragging useless
ly along for Ave months and without
reference to the treaty of alliance
which had virtually failed as result
Of its annulment by the action OF
Austro- Hungary In July. 1914.
TT would not be out OF place to OBJ
serve that the alliance having termin-
a.ed. and there existing no longer any
reason for the Italian people to be
bound by it, though they had Loyalty
stood by it for so many years. had been
voluntarily repressed.
while the treaty OF alliance con-
tanned no normal agreement for the
use of the Italian language or the
maintenance OF Italian tradition and
Italian civilization in the Italian pro-
yinces of Austria, nevertheless II the
alliance was to be effective In preserv-
ing peace and harmony, 1t was clear
that Austro- Hungary should have TAX
en- into account the moral obligation OF
i..a.ac,;n, -, sxif,,fed come OF