The Connecticut labor news., 1923-12-22


 the peace and safety of the sleepy island. With a salute to the Greek flag, Mussolini's navy steamed out of the harbor, leaving behind only the memory of an occupation that lasted less than four weeks.
 And yet this relatively unimportant episode-this incident that our chill dren will probably never read of in their hIstories-marked grave crisis in the world, crisis which might easily have affected the course of events for years to come. Future generations will recall the ghastly significance of SeraJevo In 1914, not because 1t was important in itself, but
 because out of it grew the greatest tragedy in human history. Corfu brought with it no ugly train of con sequence, but for nearly a month it famed with ominous possibilities. For Mussolini's ultimatum to Greece, both in form and phraseol- |ogy, was startlingly akin to that other
 ed the doom of the existing order in 1914 It made demands which no self-respecting nation could accept; 1 1t spoke in the name of brute force, | 1t was an appeal to the power of iviolence. And Mussolini meant busi ness. His was no empty gesture. When he told the representatives of 1 the press that next week tn price would be higher" he meant precisely what he said.
 Mussolini In Earnest.
 Mussolini meant business He was especially in earnest when he pounded the marble top of his office table in Rome and declared that no affair af- efcting the honor and dignity of Italy was of any concern to the League of Nations. This was matter between Italy and Greece and he resented in |terfeTence. Austria in July, 1914, was no more inexorable than Musso- lini. Greece would obey to the last letter fthe alphabet the seven points of his ultimatum or she would take
 the consequences. There was no mid dle ground, no way of escape, and If the league attempted to inject it.
 self into the situation, Italy would
 withdraw from membership. It was la reincarnated Napoleon who trod the stage in Rome in the early days of September.
 But three weeks later, when the Italian fleet abandoned Corfu, all that remained of Napoleon was the pose. There was scarcely one of the seven points of the ultimatum that had not been materially modified. Instead of Greece presenting official apologies to the Italian government alone, she presented them jointly to Great Brit ain, France and Italy. Instead of a salute to the Italian navy by Greek ships with the Italian colors flying at their mainmasts, 1t was given to the navies of the three Allied Powers, and was promptly returned. Instead of an inquiry as to the authors of the murders conducted by Greece in the presence of an Italian officer, the inquiry was made by joint commis- sion presided over by a Japanese and consisting of an Italian, Frenchman and an Englishman. Instead of a | payment by Greco ewithin five days of an indemnity of o5,ooo, 900 lire, together with the costs of the Corfu occupation, the indemnity was paid four weeks later Jon September 26, the day before the abandonment of Corfu, and Italy's claim for further sum to cover the cost of occupation was dropped. Finally, instead of Greece having to promise in advance the imposition of the death penalty | upon all perpetrators of the crime, the point was waived altogether, and Greece, was allowed to proceed with 1 tn case in accordance with the pro- visions. of her own criminal law.
 Harsh Terms Modified.
 Not only were the terms of Mus | solini's ultimatum set aside, but 1t | was accomplished through the identi- cal method to which Mussolini had | expressed such violent opposition. | This was an affair that concerned | Italy and Greece alone, he had said; 1t was not open to international de- bate. and particularly 1t was not the business of the League of Nations. And yet, day after day, Mussolini's representative in Geneva, Signor Sal-| andra, sat in the meetings of the Counci lof the League, debating, ex- plaining and conceding. At the meet ing on September Ist, he rose merely to state that the matter was not within the competence of the league. On September 4 he was elaborating able. detail On the fifth he was pro- testing that the occupation of Corfu was only temporary and that Italy intended to make provision for the families of the victims of the bonn oardment. On the sixth, with the rolling down his face, he vas indulging in a passionate defense of his own country as 'the center of lrt" and "the home of sunshine and beauty" As late as September 171 le was arguing all sides of the mat CT with M. Politis, the representative ,f Greece ,who sat across the table t the meetings of the council In bite of Mussolini's bel1igerent insis- ence that the affair was not within he competence of the league, his representative sat for nearly three weeks through session after session # the Leagues Council, discussing he situation from every angle. And I n the end Salandra joined with his l