The New York herald., 1922-09-03

| proletarian Italy was In rebellion
and an alarmed bourgeoisie was
calling for extreme measures, Clio
itti calmly turned to the Statute"
and permitted theN growth Of So
cialism under the protection OF the
laws. This wisdom looked, at the
moment, like a stroke Of genius, and
such, in the circumstances, 1t un-
doubtedly was. But only Giolitti
could have been SO unconcerned on
hours Of national bewilderment or
have penetrated so easily to the
measures that would restore peace.
He was not, like others, thinking Of
a solution for the struggle between
capital and labor; but for an ad-
justment that would safeguard, in
any event, the fortunes Of the House
| of Savoy.
As the majordomo, virtually, Of
his sovereign. and, with the passing
years, as a political leader Of un-
shakabie prestige, Giolitti has been
enabled to stand aloof from the
scramble for political preferment
and to avoid those dangerous COM
promises and changes of front to
which lesser politicians are exposed.
never liked patched up minis
tries," he says, commenting on the
Willingness of some men to ''as-
sumo power" and to maintain it at
all costs And he has profound con-
tempt (the chapter on PeI1oux and
the reaction Of 1885 will be an ex-
tremely interesting oneJ for the sub
terfuge which consists In standing
Tor control on one platform in order
TO exercise control on another. The
ideal Of politics which Giolitti rep-
resents calls for far subtIer tao
tic even than the common device of
the campaign phrase of double
meaning-for the invention of
which, in the United States, our po-
htleaI parties are nowadays re-
duced to offering prizes to the pub
nc at large. This experienced Ital-
Ian statesman believes that obiec-
tive reality itself furnishes the poll
tlcian with all the conditions neces-
sary for the furtherance of the
most varied policies. Only the in
competent and the dishonest have
to resort TO the cruder methods of
political warfare
| Many time honored maxim Of
diplomacy is discredited by this keen
critic of men and of events-among
them the famous device Of solving
domestic unrest by a vigorous for
eign policy. Enterprises" says Clio
Htt, which are undertaken with
such purposes in view are usually
adventures pure and simple and turn
out for the most part unsuccess-
fully" The examples he cites in
proof are the Italian colonial expedi-
tions into Abyssinia (under Crispi)
and China (under Pelloux). the
former resulting in the disaster at
Adua and the latter, to quote Clio
htt's exact words, ''in a retreat so
humiliating that later on, when had
assumed power and the bills for the
Chinese expedition came up. / felt
myself called upon out of sheer pity
for my country to beg the Minister
OF Finance not to publish the docu-
ments-a recommendation which he
accepted
OF the Adua disaster Of 1895 Clio
litti writes: "The facts which took
us to the Red Sea are well known.
Just before the Congress of Berlin
England had proposed our joining
hands with her and offered US Tunis
in recompense. Carroll refused, in
pursuance of his policy Of clean
hands, so called. The result was
that England came to an understand
ing with France in regard to Tfnis,
we were isolated at the Congress and
got nothing. In 1882 a second oppor-
tunity for Italy's entering on colonial
enterprise presented itself, when
England invited US TO participate In
the occupation of Egypt. We de-
clined again, because Magliani was
afraid our acceptance would irritate
the French at a time when he had
hopes of winning the good will Of
| French finance toward Itafv FinalIv