Evening star., 1936-02-09
BY LAURENCE STALLINGS.


NEW YORK, February 8.-Ethiopian
forces, having lost the first round Of
the contest to Italy in purely mill
tary sense, may now be expected to
reorganize more sensibly. The King
of Kings, having seen that his tre-
mendous efforts at military organiza-
ton are gone to chaos, cannot but
learn the lesson that his infantry will
never be able to face the combined
arms of Italian power. 1t is certain
that henceforth the Emperor will
buckle down to the guerilla warfare
which alone can bring him to the
battlefront upon anything like equal
terms.
Halle Selassie had set great store by
the army of Ras Desta Demtu, so re-
Gently shattered by Gen. Graziani in
the south. Ras Desta Is SelasSie's SON.
in-law, and a most able prince. That
is to say, he is most able in the Ethi-
opian sense; he understands the art
of extracting the last tithe of duty
from petty chieftains; he Is barbaric
enough to appeal to the hosts OF serfs
in the Gala Provinces of Sidamo and
Balan, where the natural Moslem ad-
herance makes the Christian amharraS
unpopular, and he is fully able to
marshal e savage force, spellbound by
his powers.
These virtues, however, avail little
against the tanks and trucks, air.
planes and machine guns which sup
port an enemy infantry.
Champagne and Caviar.
Desta had rationed and outfitted his
army as well as Ethiopia can effect
such things. His imperial father-in-
law had supplied him with millet flour
exacted with unremitting levies from
the farmers in the south Of the en-
pire; and Desta himself had enter
tanned his subchiefs with flagons Of
French champagne and tins of caviar
in all the regal splendor of medieval
Russian prince. All this strength and
splendor went for naught as the i'm
placable Graziani, permitting Desta to
advance along the Ganale Dorya, bided
his time and struck. The stroke must
have served to convince Halle Selassie,
who had spared nothing in his gamble
that the husband of his favorite
daughter would be the popular hero.
doubt that the King of Kings will
ever again bring anything like such
combined forces upon the field in pure
battle array. His better advisers,
watching the Belgians and the Swiss
give savages the rudiments OF West
ern tactics, feared that these men
would be slaughtered when they at
tempted to rush matters without aux
iliary arms. Henceforth it must be
plain to the Ethiopians that the small
striking force-the little independent
groups bent upon petty killings and
minor looting-will be the surest
method of cutting to the heart Of
Italian morale.
Guerilla Tactics Feared.
Naturally, the Italians know and
fear such tactics. Their main enter
prise will be, throughout the rainy
season ahead, to avoid anything like
sequestered and independent patrols.
For such lonely patrol, in the morass
of the plateau in the rainy season,
might be compared to small group
of men hunting family of tigers,
with the tiger also being given high
power rifles as we'll as natural savage
advantages. Halle Selassie, having
witnessed the destruction of Ras
Desta's army, and having waited pa
tiently for Ras Kassa and Ras Seyoum
in the north to drive back the hosts
under Marshal Badoglio, must now
call of the hope of a gigantic mass
attack to bring about another disaster
such as that of the last century at
Adowa.
The Emperor can understand now
what the Italians have always main