Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-03-03

more bloodshed in the disputed ter
ritory, and the military preparations
Of Italy suggest, at the worst, the
possibility Of war, or, at the best,
desire on the part Of Mussolini to
overawe the Abyssinian government
during the negotiations, Gin a manner
entirely contrary" as the London
Times observes, Ito the spirit Of the
Italo-E Ethiopian treaty Of friendship
Of 1928"
There Is nothing that the League
desires less than to be involved in q
quarrel between two Of its con-
stituent members, one Of whom Is so
important a factor in its program
for the reconstruction Of Europe. But
Italy's menacing action, If pursued.
will leave the League no alternative
It Is not necessary, however, to as
sumo at this stage that Italy is con-
templating q war Of aggression and
conquest, which would bring her into
collision, not only with the League,
but with the interests Of other powers
whose colonial territories border on
Abyssinia. And there are other con-
siderations no less relevant. Italy's
financial position is far too desperate
to permit her lightly TO indulge in
such a costly luxury as war. It
Is notorious that her new understand
ing with France had financial as
well as q political basis and that fact
should be q powerful deterrent to a
provocation war policy on the part
of Italy. Moreover, Italy remembers
Adowa and understands very well
that Ethiopia Is tough military nut
to crack, altogether apart from the
political complications which the at
tempt to crack 1t would raise.
/ share, therefore. the view that
Mussolini's saber-rattling is not a
preliminary to war but an experiment
in the art Of intimidation. It is a
dangerous experiment and may easily
place the League in a desperate fix
1t will be none the less desperate be-
cause Italy has real grievances. Abys-
sinia is very uncomfortable neigh
Dor. Britain knows this from the
experience Of the Sudan. France
knows it from the experience of
French Somaliland.
This is no reflection upon the EN-
peror Of Abyssinia, "the king Of kings"
and the lion of Judah" In spite
of his high-sounding names, he has
little control over the powerful sub
sidiary kings" who are his feuda-
tories and who are akin to the robber
barons Of the dark ages. They are
ferocious bandits whose slave raids
into the Sudan have only recently
been stopped, and whose massacre Of
natives and French soldiers in French
Somaliland last month is an example
of the provocations to which the
neighboring powers have to submit.
It is not improbable that the re-
ports Of the concentration of levies
on the Italian Somaliland border are
true, and that there Is ground for
the anxieties of Mussolini on the sub
ject. But the remedy Is not independ-
emit warlike action, such as that
which Japan took in Manchuria In
1881. It is to submit the matter to
the League or, II that Is objectionable
to Italian nationalist sentiment, to
bring into action the tripartite treaty
Of 1906, which pledges Britain, France
and Italy to consultation on matters
touching their Abyssinian interests.
No country will object to Italy tax
ing the steps necessary to secure the
peace of her border, but the limits OF
the disputed zone must be the subject
of free negotiation and the idea OF
an independent war on Abyssinia
should be eliminated. That would
raise vast issues to which neither the
League nor the interested European
powers could be Indifferent. The fu-
ture of Abyssinia Is a common con-
cern-it involves among other things
the now Of the Nile, which Is the Life
blood Of Egypt-and 1t cannot be
left to the decision Of any single
power.
tcopyrisht. 1880