The Washington times., 1919-04-24


statement on the Italian claims To-
lows:
'In view Of the capital import.
ance Of the questions affected,
and in order to throw all possible
light upon what is involved in
their settlement, 1 hope that the
following statement will con-
tribute to the final formation OF
opinion and to a satisfactory So
Dution:
when Italy entered the war
she entered upon the basis Of a
definite private understanding
with Great Britain and France,
now known as the pact of Lon
don. Since that time the whole
face OF circumstances has been
altered. Many other powers,
great and small, have entered the
struggle, with no knowledge OF
that. private understanding.
Austria-Hungary Gone.
THE Austro-Hungarian empire,
then the enemy of Europe, and at
whose expense the pact Of Lon
don was to be Lept in the event
OF victory, has gone to. pieces and
no longer exists. Not only that,
but the s<Veral parts OF that en-
pire, us agreed now by Italy and
al her associates, are to. be
erected into independent states
and associated in a league of. ma
tions, not with those who were
recently our enemies, but with
ltaS2 herself and the powers that
stood with Italy in the great war
for liberty.
We are to establish their lib
erty as we'll as our own. They
are to be among the smaller
states whose interests are hence
forth to be safeguarded as scru-
pulously as the interests Of the
most powerful states.
Peace Principles Accented,
The war was ended, moreover.
by proposing to Germany an
armistice and peace, which should
De founded on certain clearly de-
nned principles. which set up q
new order of right and Justice.
upon those principles the peace
with Germany has been conceived,
not only, but formulated. Upon
those principles. it will be exc
cuted. We cannot ask the great
oody OF powers to propose and ef-
rect peace with Austria and es-
tablish a new basis of independ-
ence and right in the states which
originally constituted the Austro-
hungarian empire, and in the
states Of the Balkan group on
principles of another kind. We
must apply the same principles
10 the settlement of Europe in
those quarters that we have ap-
pied in the peace with Germany.
II was upon the explicit aYowaI
or those principles that the ini-
tlatiVe for peace was taken. It is
upon these that the whole struc-
ture Of peace must rest.
Small States Need FIume.
'If those principles arc to be
adhered to, Fiume must serve as
the outlet Of the commerce, not
Of Italy, but of the land to the
north and northeast of that port:
Hungary, Bohemia, Rumania,
and the states of the new Jugo-
Slav group. To assign Fiume to
Italy would be to create the feel
ing that we have deliberately put
the port upon which all those ,
countries chiefly depend for their
access to the Mediterranean in
the hands of a power of which it
did not form an integral part and
whose sovereignty, il set up there.
must inevitably seem foreign, not
domestic or identified with the
commercial and industrial life OF
the regions which the port must
serve. 1t is for that reason.-no
doubt, that Fiume was not in
cluded in the pact OF London. but
there definitely assigned TO the
Croatians.
Forts VIII BE RaEed.
And the reason why the line
Of the pact Of London swept
away many OF trr islands of the
eastern coast OF % Adriatic and
around the port Z the Dalma-
tian coast whic most open
to that sea was 1t only that
here and there on those islands and
here and there on that coast there
are bodies of people of Italian
blood and connection, but also,
and, no doubt, chiefly, because it
was felt that it was necessary
for Italy to have a foothold
amidst the channels of the east
ern Adriatic in order that she
might make her own coasts safe
against the naval aggression of
Hungary.
But AustriaHungary no lon
ger exists. 1t is proposed that
the Qualifications which the Aus
trian government constructed