Evening star., 1918-01-22

dld not XIII him. l executed him !"
- me Statement attributed to a peas
e ahe soldier who was drum headed .or
tne murder of an officer. He told us to
run when we should have fought"
se.ore the story of the strike Is told
a.her. - as a preliminary to that
sao. ..s~,e.hphasls must be laid on the
iaet that. as the minister of war "a id
IN ms unfortunate statement. "the
Itailan army is sound at heart" Rut
.ne meaning is not the meaning that he
Army of Peasants Deceived
me Italian army is peasant army
60 as us private soldiers are con-
eerned. There is no braver. more ma
tlent, more enduring soldiery in tbe
worid, IN my opinion. The dark story
OF the october debacle is frightened hy
instances of heroism no army could
nave oettered. After such a defeat as
anoes osher army IN the war has expert
ehceo, always saving the Russians.
these gallant men have held impossihle
lines by sheer heroism.
Ihey are emotional, like all Latins.
Iney are perhaps tickle, as their critics
say. inere are absolutely authenti-
following the debacle, when the Itai-
ian government covered the blank walls
with posters calling upon the thou
sands upon thousands Of deserters to
return to duty. They did, without Off
GERS. marching gayly through the
streets. improvised flags flying, wear
Ing the mien of conquerors.
yesterday We were deserters," they
sang. In the CHEEKY italian way ITO
day we go to take our vengeance"
But they must be well led. and they
have not been well led of late. This
and other phases of the military con-
ditfons in Italy during the latter half
Of the year will be gone into in time.
but for the moment the actual collapse
merits first attention. 1 have said that
it was a strike and not a defeat. That
statement challenges inquiry.
The bulk of the Italian army are
peasants, as have said. Mingled
through 1t is a percentage of men who
have worked on contracts In North and
South America or at home, and of
workmen socialists who are familiar
with the mocha nism of industry For
reasons which will be made clear later
the war had become Intensely distaste-
full to the army. To these men. tgno-
rant beyond our American understand
ing. the natural way to escape an un-
pleasant contract or to better condi-
tions was to go on strike. Negotfa-
tians were opened with Austrian regf-
ments which fronted the disaffected
elements.
When the Strike Began.
1--WE wiz quit and go home If you
will" is the naive manner In which the
proposition was voiced.
The probability is that the first sug-
gestion came from the Austrian side,
for there is abundant evidence not only
that the Austrians were aware through
their secret agents Of the conditions ex-
isting in the Italian army. but that the
plot was actually devised in and behind
the Italian lines. 1t is rather obvious
that the Italian soldiery would respond
more quickly to such proposition
coming from an enemy than il it had
been framed by a comrade At all
events the response was Forthcoming.
For weeks, perhaps for months. the
men of the second army and of certain
elements of other armies openly dis
cussed this plan to throw down their
rifles and go home, thus bringing the
war to an end. 1t is incredible that
general headquarters should not have
known of the existence of this strike"
propaganda That Gen. Cadorna and
other leaders were aware OF the dis
affection Of their troops is certain. II
must be they did not realize the danger.
During this period of incubation the
pro-peace traitors behind the line used
every means of propaganda possible.
Peace has already come. Do not
throw away your life" was the cry In
thousands upon thousands of letters
written by peasant wives to peasant
soldiers. Some one had told the women
that peace had been made. They were
obviously sincehe. The peasant soldier
was as ignorant of world conditions
and of war conditions as his wife. His
government has carefully and efficiently
seen to that. The effect OF such letters
is obvious.
Vatican Propaganda Aids.
Then there is what is called in Italy
the Vatican propaganda" This must
be gone into in greater detail later
on. For the moment it is sufficient
to say that while the unbiased OBJ
servers in Italy agree that the Pope
himself is truly neutral and has not
should benefit the central empires.
some members of his encourage are
known to be pro-German. Perhaps the
same proportion of Italian priests are
ranks of Italian grocers- There are
other honest, God-fearing. selfess men