El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-03-11

. Trieste. however. the slavonic claim
I is worthy OF note. because ali the
J populations surrounding the town
are slav and Trieste has a large and
( growing Slovenian minority.
The Italian Fine Hand.
The Italian claim TO Fiume rests
upon the fact that within the mar
row limits Of the town, a majority
I of the people are Italian Under a
strict Interpretation Of the Il points,
| self determination might establish
Italian rights. But, or the other
hand. the real desire Of the Italians
is founded upon the wish TO domi-
nate the Adriatic coast. TO control
the two ports Of the Slav hinter-
land and thus to establish economic
ma political control Of this portion
Of the world.
II Plume were TO pass out OF Ital-
ian hands, Il would at once become
the formidable rival OF Trieste and
IL is by no means certain that this
would not spell the ruiz Of Trieste.
because the Slavs would naturally
use Fiume while Trieste would be
deprived OF its commerce. It would
lie within Slav power, since the
JuEo- Slavs control the whole hin
terland with its railways. to divert
all traffic TO Fiume and Trieste
would perish.
BY contrast. II Italy gained
control Of both Of the available
ports OF JuEO-SIavia. that eOuu-
try would be economically at the
mercy OF Italy. Nor IL the Ital-
ian fnEistence upon the -avniI-
Utility OF other ports worth dis
GUESSING. The character Of the
country which is mountainous,
forbfds the construction, save. Mt
prOhibitive costs, OF any alterna-
tive railway line. Actually II the
Italians acquire both Fiume md
Trieste they have JuEO-slnv
commerce Mt their mercy.
In this situation president VIII
sons opposition to the original pro-
posal that Italy have Fiume is IN
derstandable. is in fact, unassaiiable,
as question OF light and wrong.
a Great Danger.
A country Of 1000. 900 Of people,
as large as italy in area and des-
tined TO have a population nearly as
large in a future not too Tar dis
tant, cannot safely be deprived OF a
sea gate or placed in economic sub
lection 20 the italians. Moreover. II
the population OF Fiume. less than
0,000, contains a majority Of Ital-
ians. very large areas with q purely
Slav population have been assigned
to italy on grounds which could be
cited 10 warrant Jugo-Slav claims
TO Fiume.
Unfortunately the naked question
Of right or wrong has little to do
with the larger aspects OF the Ques-
ton In 1915, when Great Britain
and France needed Italian aid. they
made a secret treaty with the Italian
government by which they promised
italy the Austrian territory in the
Trentine and Tyrolese districts, as
far north as the Bremen Pass, Tri-
este and the Istrian peninsular. the
northern half OF Da1matfa and certain
other things in Albania and Asia
Minor.
All this was done long before the
Il points were even born. Italy ac-
cepted the promise, entered the war
and performed her part Of the bar
gain She therefore feels entitled TO
claim her reward and, looked at
purely as contraetural obligation,
neither France nor Britain has the
smallest warrant to decline 10 carry
out the agreement Of 1915.
Mr.. Wilson's fsI8ack Up.S
But, when the mater was raised
AT Paris. president Wilson firmly OPP
posed the performance BY Britain
and France OF their contract. His
was based upon the solid
foundation that this meant placing
many hundreds Of thousands OF Slavs
under Latin rule. depriving them OF
their own nationality and also de-
priving the Slavs Of the hinterland
Of access 70 the sea A more ia