Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-05

The recent somewhat vague an
nouncement by the premier Of Italy
that an Italian empire Is to be devel
oped which will be worthy of the old
Roman imperial tradition is pretty
generally regarded in America as the
dream of an egotist, drunk with his
temporary power over a naturally lib
erty-loving race. or as merely a piece
| Of modern advertising.
Empire, remarks the Los An
geles Times, SIS word of varied
| meaning, though one naturally thinks
of it as referring to a broad territory
governed by an emperor. MuSsolini
applies it to Italy as being the express
! sion of an attitude of mind If he
confines his imperialistic activities to
u mere attitude of mind, all will be
we'll for the peace of the world" List
| ing the monarchS that have fallen be-
, fore the march of democracy in the
[ asst few years. the st. Joseph News
| Press infers that 1.-The emperor bust
ness was rather put ON the bum by
| the late war" and adds, Maybe Mus
solini figures that it will profit Italy
to put on a lot of dog. and If the ltal-
ians are agreeable there isn't any
! thing for the rest of the world to do
| but watch the show"
4 x X x
| The whole idea is simply TO better
advertise Italy, in the opinion of the
Hartford Daily Times, which declares:
| Nobody in this part of the world is
very much worried about Mussolini's
grandiose plans for a risorgimento.
! They are recognized for what they
| are by a people which appreciates
good craftsmanship as fully as any
| n inc 10
Italian dictator with "other megalo.
maniacs suffering from delusions OF
grandeur" the Springfield Republican
derides him for his "halfcrazed vision
| of a revival of the ancient Roman su-
premacy, which is really as dead as
| julius Caesar aand has as little
! chance Of resurrection"
| The Kalamazoo Gazette in its study
of the man who would be Caesar"
says of him: HE hopefully emissions
himself as the great Caesar who once
held undisputed sway over all of the
known world. Never once does his
minds eye conjure up the other pic
ture of that same Caesar, with his
| mantle muffling his face falling at
the base Of Pompey's statue" The
st. Louis Post-Dispatch calls the die
tator IAN anachronism," and consid-
ers his political philosophy medieval
if not ancient" He talks, says the
Post Dispatch, ''in the shining ar
NOR accents and saber-rattling pc
RODS of that pinchbeck Napoleon who
brought Germany to ruin" says this
paper.
! X X
"Mussolini may be wronged by the
notion that he is in more belligerent
mood than any other influential states
man of Europe, but it is notion that
is widely held" observes the Manches-
ter Union. LAS a matter Of cold fact,
the Columbus Dispatch points out,
1.-The industrial development of recent
times has made Italy just about the
last country in the world which could
safely assume an air Of military ag-
gressiveness against her neighbors
and attempt to enlarge her boundaries
at their expense" The reason for this
is, according to the Dispatch, the fact
| that 1.-The iron ore, the coal and the
oil which are such absolute necessities
to modern war are not to be found
beneath Italian SOIL"
| Observation of the acts of Italy's die.
tator to date causes the Norfolk Daily
News to remark: "One cannot help
wondering what part in the black.
] Shfrted premfer'S scheme of things the