The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1919-04-04

Fume as well as other sections of, the ,Dalma- :,
tan coast that rocky stretch of country that is To-
Gated on the Adriatic shore opposite Italy.
DR.. Antonio Grossich acting. president ofs the
Fiume international council, political group
elected by the citizens of Italian descent in the
town, directly accused the French of backing the
JugoSlavs, while Vice Admiral, Cagni, of the
Italian navy, commanding the port of Pola, O. few
miles up the coast from Fiume, repeated the accur
satiOn and strengthened it. NNIn1 NlS!
, 1.-THE Jugo Slavs," Admiral Cagni said, fare, pec-
pies that formed a. large portion of the old Aus
trfanh army! They remained faithful to Austria
until the final defeat. They fought Italy to the
last ditch. Now these same troops are being
armed by the French, against Italy. We under
stand the perfectly" . .,.,..lt .nt...
Other Italian officials of lesser rank, repeated
the assertion in one form or another. :" ."'.'
This in brief, was the kernel of the probem,'
not only of FiuIne. but of most of the lands along
the Balkan side of the Adriatic No ne.,eyceptt the
most inipressonabIe pretended to- belieKe the stu7
alton would develop into real war tIhe solution
was to be some kind of compromise to be made
at the peace conference.
Thomas Nelson Page, American ambassador at
Rome was of the opinion that satisfactory COM
promise solution could be arrived at But he as
serted that in his belief the Italian people would
fight for what they considered their rights in case
the ITALIAN claims to the eastern Adriatic shore
were ignored. .- ,
The ambassador did not mean that the peace
conference would award Italy every inch Of lands
claimed in this region. Other American diplomats
who were familiar with the problem expressed Eir
tually the same belief-that Italy is entitled to
very fair consideration of her, lstrian and uaiIha-
tian claims but that these claims will probably
not be fully awarded. .. 81 q "''"
There was some talk in seriiiofical quarters of
an internationalized Fiume--a kind Of free port
serving Hungary, the Balkans. and the Istrian penG
insula is the transshipment of overseas freight.
Prize Worth Seeking. '@..t, ".
Fiume is prize worth striving for Whatever
flag finally flies from it's government offices will
wave over town famous for the beauty of it's
buildings and the amplitude of its docking facili-
ties ..,. .. ..r...tE. 4f,t f.-i e.. >
At q cost of more than $4,000 900 the HtfriL
rorians built magnificent StoneF WhafHes along
nearly half a mile of waterfront, where. the big
ocean-going ships can tie up and unload. The
docks face the principal business street of the
CITY On the one hand you have forest of maStS
and 800 feet away, across paved street, is vista
of stone business houses and hotels.
In the city there are $4,000 people, hundreds of
whom speak seven languages a matter of every
day routine. Italian, French, German, Hungarian,
and English the principal tongues. The other
languages are the common tongues of the
Balkan states including the Croatian. .,,.
The Italian tongue, however, is admittedly the
common Language of Fiume, for the reason that
ma iOrity of the citizens claim Italian ancestry.
The mayor of the town claims that 10000 of the
$4,000 inhabitants Italian, and pointed 10 the
fact that the schools of the city italian,
we'll as the inscriptions on 90 per cent of the
grayestOnes. All Of which he considered as fair
proof of the italian character of the place, WHICH,
had been preserved through centuries Of Austrian
rule. .... s. .,-. 80 t..' VS." ..'.