The Washington herald., 1920-12-05
Says Slaus Made
Great Concession
Colonel AtDood Declares
Treaty of Rapallo in
Interest of Peace.

~ wood, who has recently Returned
to this country after a year in
Serbia as chief technical adviser to the
Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slo!
venes, the treaty of Rapallo between Italy
and Jugo-Slavia represents great conces-
sion on the part of the Jugo-Slavs in the
interest of peace. The loss of Fiume and
approximately one-haIf million of their
countrymen will be keenly felt CONNER
cially and sentirhentally by the Juglo-Slavs.
Referring to the negotiations on the
; Adriatic question which have preceded the
treaty of Rapallo, Col Atwood said:
The claims of the Jugo- -Slays presented
TO the peace conference were based on
chronological grounds and thus covered not
only all the former Austrian territory of
Slovenia, but also small sections of terri
tory formerly within the borders of Italy
They also claimed the ports of Trieste and
Fmme, as well as all of Dalmatia, though
the Italian population of both cities was in
a majority, this majority being very small
in case OF Fiume. This claim was based on
the necessity of these ports as outlets for
the Slav population of the hnterland. The
peninsula of Istria, on which the Austrian
naval base of Pola is located, is almost
entirely Slav in population
due TO pressure from President Wilson
and others, the Slavs gave up their claim
TO the territory east of the so-called Will
son line, which territory contained about
400, 900 Slavs. This was done with the hope
of receiving Fiume and Dalmatia and
reaching prompt settlement. Fiume is
the only available outlet for the entire
kingdom, and after the construction of rail-
roads to other ports must remain the only
practicable outlet for Slovenia and Western
Croatia"
Fiume, Col Atwood explained, does not
have larger harbor and it could not be
enlarged except at unreasonable expense 1t
is not large enough under any condition for
the entire kingdom when the transportation
system is sufficiently developed to deliver
the exports of the country at the seaboard
and there is no other harbor between
Fiume and Spalato susceptible of develop
ment to serve this purpose. Col. Atwood
has inspected these ports and speaks from
hrst-hand knowledge s. -
@Zara," Col Atwood continued, as of
sentimental rather than economic impor-
tance, but Italy has no ethnographic claim
to It. Not over 10 per cent of its popuia-
ton is Italian. The harbor is small and 1t
would be difficult to construct railroad to
it from the interior"
Summarizing the provisions of the treaty
of Rapallo, Col Atwood said: "The Slavs
by the treaty of Rapallo have given up, in.
addition to the territory ceded to Italy
under the Wilson line,' about 100000 addi-
tional Slav population, the great quicksilver
mines of 1dria and number of coal and
other mines. This is bound to create a
storm of protest in the kingdom, as Italy
cept that she wanted all she could get, and
there are a great many refugees from the
ceded territory all through the kingdom.
The Rapallo treaty therefore gives Italy
large Slav population which will be a
source of weakness,rand it gives her con-
troll of the commerce to the Adriatic, as
well as the rich mining district north of
Fiume and Trieste, the Slav city of Zara
and islands populated by Slavs in the upper
to the important ports of Spalato and Cat
taro, as we'll as number of minor ports
such as Sebeniko, which will be useless to
the kingdom until sufficient capital can be
provided for building railroads to connect
the interior of the country with the sea-
Il feel that the Slavs have given up a
great deal more than they could be reason
ably expected to in order to receive peace;
and for the present at least the loss of
Fiume will be serious one commercially,
as is also the loss of approximately 100000
of their countrymen. The Slavs are senti-
mental people and they will feel this loss
on that account, as we'll as economically.
They undoubtedly agreed to the settlement
feeling that they were abandoned by the
United States, which has been their only
supporter in their efforts to obtain their
rights. They can, however, if they are able
to secure the necessary capital for railroad
development, secure adequate outlets for
their commerce"