The Washington herald., 1922-08-06

A14E ~ 00etkl
Egyptians. who have both political
and religious reasons for opposing
Italian aspirations, Add to this de-
tau quarrel bstHeen the British
ana the Italians over certain mat
teri in ths Britisk mandate OF
Palestine ana II win be seen that
relations even among friends are =
bit complicated.
Disappsistnsat in Italy.
In point Of fact II IL the recent
failure Of the italian cabinet. repre-
senssd in several London confer
encss a. It was At Warrington by
schanser, TO get anything material
from the British. which In part ex-
plains the recent fall Of the Facta
cabinet. Italy has steadily sup
ported Britain In all intsrnationaa
conferences for many months. but
so far the Italians feel they have
recsived no commensurate reward.
italian disappointment and resent
ment at British treatment, how
ever. do not weigh by comparison
with Italian anger at the French.
Indeed the dominant emotion In the
| Peninsula today 10 one OF hostility
to France which shows itself at
every turn. At London Italy will
| doub btless ask for q cancellation of
| her debt to Britain and agree to
cancel her share of German repara-
tions. since both are patiently book
| affairs. But even IL this be the
sum Of her gains she will probably
| support Britain against Francs.
Americans will hnd II rather
hard to explain the Franco-Italian
| animosity. which 10 largely on the
italian side. but. while II has recent
events (notably Clemenceau's atti-
! tude at the Paris conference) to
explain II. in the main II Is due to
a jealousy growing out of race re-
| lationship. Italy has now popula
| ton larger than France. but she
] has been distanced by France in
the acquisition OF North African
colonies and has been unable to
play a part In recent European af-
fairs. anything like as conspicuous
as that OF France.
had blood In Adriatic.
Today. France, In association
j with Poland and the little entent,
has a great IL not n dominant po
sition on the continent. Not onl,
is this gall and wormword to tn,
Italians but French association
with the little, entente givel
strength and aid to Jugo-Slavia
which is viewed by Italians as a
ultimate rival on the Adriatic
Italian efforts to build a counte
3 81
gary and Bulgaria as associate
has failed and weakened Italy still
further in the Danube countrie.
Some day the Italians will hav
to face Greco-Slav combination
in the Adriatlc and the Aegean
and the prospect Is not pleasing
The question of Tangiers is NOR
complicated than important. Whel
Morocco was divided betwee
Spain and France, following tn
Agadir affair of 1911. and as Al
ultimate consequence of the Anglo
French entente of 1904. Tangier
and little area about 1t was hel,
as an international territory. Thi
was due to British reluctance I
permit any European power L
hold the shore of the strait facini
Gibraltar. The arrangement work
ed badly: during the world wa
the Germans used the town as
base for operations and it wa
finally seized by an allied fore
and the Germans were abolished
French Seek Tangiers.
But Tangiers is the natural por
of Morocco. of the capital. an
much OF the northern area. II I
moreover the starting place 70
the French trans-African railwa,
of the future. Today the Frencl
have transformed Casablanc
which was a wretched Arab vii
lage ten years ago. into a moderl
port with $4,000 European inhabi
tants and railways and docks. bu
to complete their Moroccan estat
they naturally aspire to acQuir
Tangiers.
Such claims not only offend tn
British. but rouse the Spanish, Il
in only an enclave. Yet the Span
ish have been involved for severa
years in a terribly expensive an
unsuccessful war with the native
in their share and can obviousl
do nothing to develop Tangier
even should they acquire II
Franco:Spanish relations have bee,
uncomfortable for several years
however. as a result of this dis
pute. and the French continue 4
press their claim which given thei
submarine stand at Washingto
seems unlikely to enlist Britis
support.
Meantime Tangiers has give
rise to a new Franco-Italian in
cident because when the question
of the settlement Of this disput
between the French. British an
Spanish came up recently the Ital
ians asked to be allowed to sit il
and the French at once vetoe
this proposal. insisting that Ital
had agreed to efface herself Il
Morocco in return for simila
French policy in Tripoli. o
course. IL the Italians did come Il
they would oppose the French an
not impossibly suggest Italian pos
session as a way out of the pres
ent deadlock.
The Mediterranean Question.
In addition to dealing with tn
German problem, then, the Lon
don conference must pass upon al
the various questions which ma.
be summed up perhaps in the tern
Mediterranean question. One o
the strongest reasons for Frencl
opposition to the Washington
treaty lies in the fact that 1
provided for equality between
French and Italian fleets. a situa
tion which did not exist before tn
war and one which the Frencl
will hardly accept now, in view o
Italian hostility to France.
fa
sympathy with the Italian feelins
| remem be ring that there must n,