Evening star., 1934-12-14

! CONFLICT SERIOUS
Boundary Dispute So Far
Has Cost the Lives of
Z 730 Soldiers.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.


The boundary conflict between Italy
and Ethiopia, which has cost so far
the lives of some .130 Italian soldiers
and 600 Ethiopians, is considered seri-
Gus in responsible quarters in Wash
ington. 1t is indicated that Italy Will
not arbitrate.
: The Ethiopian government Is
member of the League of Nations and
has demanded that this frontier dis
pute should be submitted to that or
SANITATION on the basis of the treaty
which had been signed between the
two countries in 1928.
That treaty provides that neither
country should resort to armed forces
until all efforts for arbitration and
cancellation have been exhausted.
Since no such effort has been made
vet, the government of Emperor Halle
Selassie is asking that the provisions
Of the treaty should be enforced.
Calls Ethiopians Aggressors.
The Italian government claims that
the Ethiopians have been the aggres-
sors. and consequently the provisions
of the 1928 treaty are OF no conse-
Quence.
Behind all this, well-informed quar-
ters believe, there is another Ethiopian
intrigue and that the Abyssinians may
have to pay the price for 1talys ac-
ceptance of the settlement OF the
Yugoslav- Hungarian dispute.
Confidential reports from Geneva
indicate that the Italians have been
encouraged to expand their surplus
energy on extending their Somaliland
possession into certain parts OF Abys-
sinia, rather than adopt an intransi-
gent attitude in regard to the Hun
Earian, Yugoslav dispute which could
have had world dwide-reaching conse-
quences.
The Italian-Abyssinian frontier is
Ill defined. 1t follows the movements
of certain nomad tribes which occupy
that border region. But every time
these tribes move, the boundaries
move too.
Recently, the nomads have moved
TO the Wall-Wall Wells and the
Italian Somaliland authorities con-
sidered that their frontier reached
that far into the heart of Ethiopia;
that is to say some 40 miles outside
the old frontier.
A British Ethiopian commission
happened to pass the important wells
and the representatives of Emperor
Selassie finding them occupied by
italian troops communicated with the
capital and force was sent to expel
them. A fight followed in which,
according to official reports, some 900
Ethiopians were killed, while the
- of
Italy amounted to only about 130 men.
Skirmishes Not Infrequent.
Such important frontier skirmiShes
are not infrequent in northern Africa
and as rule are settled without much
trouble. But in the present case the
situation may become more compli-
Gated.
Ethiopia Is country which has
never been conquered by any European
nation. In the late nineties the
Italians attempted to occupy it but
were utterly defeated by the armies of
Emperor Menelik. Nobody has tried
since to encroach on the Abyssinian
territory. The country is well run by
the present Emperor and possesses
EiCoO NCoAVAAb SSPSSAoAJ ANA bVAA
mines.
The Italians have had an eye on
Ethiopia ever since MuSsolini took
over the government of Italy. A con-
f1ict between the two countries led to
the treaty of arbitration and concilia-
ton of 1928.
But, in the negotiations which have
been going on in Europe to bring
about Franco italian rapprochement
Italy is reported to have been given
a free hand to deal with Ethiopia in
any way she liked. by both the French
and the British. To show their sincere
intentions, the British government
forbade the export of military airplanes
to Abyssinia while the French told the
Italians that they would not oppose
any measures, regardles how drastic.
Italy may want to take against
Ethiopia.
The Ethiopians. it was reported to-
day, are determined to fight for their
independence. But they want to fight
legally, that is to say, not before all
the peaceful means for a settlement
with Italy have been exhausted.