The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-09-16
PRESS ON ITALIAN ATTITUDE

authority Vo Intervene III IhS CoHCAC- versy arising out of the assassination of the Italian boundary commission on the Greco-Albanian frontier has gradually given way until now there is virtual recognition of the leagues right to compose the difficulty. Italy's demands were arbitrary and evidently compiled without knowledge of the essential facts. Greece imme- diately disclaimed any political motive indorsed by the Greek government for the murder, and expressed desire for full and complete inquiry with the affixing of suitable indemnities to the Italian government. Although the murdeders have not yet been appre- hended, failure to arrest should not be taken as prima facie evidence of Greece's unwillingness to mako the arrests.
 That the terms first urged by Italy were harsh, humiliating and arbitrary is the view of many editors, as, for example, the Nashville Banner: "The Greeks must have been flagrantly guilty of the murders as charged, or else the sense of her own helplessness forced Greece to the acceptance of such terms. They are just about as degrading as could have been devised. In olden days, Roman victors were wont to force victims of their conquest to march sub jugum. The yoke was symbol of acceptance by the con querer of all the subservience possible Tn these modern times there Is no &C., tual yoke under which Greece is to be forced to march, but there Is an implied one, and 1t is written down plainly in the terms of the accepted settlement"
 The question Is subject to the arbi- tration of the league, according to the Memphis Commercial-Appeal: "Under one section of the League of Nations covenant there is provision covering the situation which Mussolini's arbi- trary stand has brought about. Under the covenant if a member of the league refuses to arbitrate matter and insists upon going to war, it Is provided "that the other nations, through the league, can bring eco- homie pressure to bear upon the re- calcitrant member. That pressure is effective. It simply means non-inter- lao fol1 or politically"
 Bandit Statesmanship" Is the char acterization of the Mussolini demands as viewed by the Detroit Free Press, which remarks: "The whole founda- ton of the Mussolini policy is an as- sumption of hopeless weakness in the feeling that the Italian cause is righteous or even morally defendable. Even the Hohenzollerns were never more barefaced in promulgating the doctrine that might makes right. They never really were quite as raw as Mussolini, because they at least at- tempted to camouflage by talking about necessity Mussolini must, however, be given credit for nerve. He is playing bold game, a big game of bluff, stalking everything on the failure of anybody to call his hand. If the league or Great Britain, or the Little Entente should happen to act contrary to his calculations, and should call halt and make him draw in his horns or fight, he might find himself in precarious position both at home and, abroad. The Italians like a war when things go easy and there Is lots of spoil; but they are not particularly fond of reverses, and are apt to take out their chagrin on their leaders,"
 The opinion of the Washington Star is somewhat cynical, as shown in the closing paragraphs of an able editorial: "Of course, 1t is most gratifying that war has been avoided. Everybody Is happy to get out of the affair without further fighting. A few innocent civ ilians in Corfu have been killed, Greece is mulcted of sum of money, the league remains intact, the real power has been shifted from Geneva to Paris, from the league to the council of ambassadors, and Mussolini remains the dictator of Italy and has gained q bit toward his greater ob- jective. But suppose Greece had been stronger powerl Would even as much have been saved in the way of international peace?"
 The manner of the settlement and it's effect upon the League of Nations is thus discussed by the St. Louis Globe-Democrati "But where does this agreement leave the League of Nations? The result is something to it's credit and something to it's dis credit. It has neither suffered as much as was feared nor benefited as much as was hoped. It has had not a little to do with the accomplishment, but in diverting concrete action to another body it has sacrificed most of the honor of attainment. On the whole, it is probable that it has