Evening star., 1944-05-06
Letters to The Star
Challenges Count Sforza
On His Record.
,ro the Editor Of The Star

cent reshufiiing, included Count Carlo
| Sforza, the leader of the Free Italian
| movement. Badoglio himself will con-
tinue to handle the conduct of the war
| and of foreign affairs. Sforza and
| Benedetto Croce are ministers without
| portfolio.
| There is little doubt however, that
Sforza will have tremendous influence
in cabinet councils, both because he is
the leader of the Free Italians and be-
cause he is the only minister who has
had considerable experience in the con-
duct Of foreign affairs. 1t will be
| remembered that he assisted at the
| Algeciras Conference, and at numerous
| other treaty-making councils, that he
was minister of foreign affairs in the
Giolitti cabinet. and then Ambassador
| to France when Mussolini came to
| power. Previously, he had been on
| many diplomatic missions in the Near
East and in China. No other minister
in the Badoglio cabinet can boast of
such a distinguished career.
There Is absolutely no doubt that
Count Sforza is sincere anti-Fascist
when it comes to Italian internal affairs,
but it is somewhat remarkable that both
our State Department and the British
Foreign ONCE should countenance his
views on foreign affairs. 1t is not nec-
essary for him to make any definite
statements regarding, for instance, Zara
and the Dalmatian Islands, Fiume, the
italian African colonies or the Dodec-
anese. His former actions speak for
themselves. His many writings in
Italian, French and English speak for
themselves. The State Department and
the British Foreign Of1lce may think
that Carlo SforZa is a good man for
the Italiaps. The Italians may feel the
same way, too. But ask the Serbs and
the Greeks? Are they happy about his
new powers? What are some of the
things that make him obnoxious to
them?
1t is the sum total of his international
ideas that makes him obnoxious to the
smaller and weaker countries to the
east of Italy and even to France. He
permitted the shameful farce OF Fiume
He claims that the Yugoslav town OF
Zara is italian and he is receptive to
the idea of an Italian sphere of in
f1uence" over the Dalmatian coast He
never has condemned the conquest OF
Albania. AS a matter of fact he has
Nf %H1@ ESv~i,>
and the Ionian Islands of Greece also
shotld come under the influence OF the
Italian sphere OF influence"
In 1919 Italy and Greece signed the
famous Tittoni-Venizelos agreement to
cede the Dodecanese to Greece. When
Sforza came into power he denounced
the agreement and declared that it was
against "the permanent interests of
Italy" to conform with the pact He
thus led to the friction which finally
brought the two countries to war with
each other.
Mussolini, in q speech before the
council of ministers, In 1923 was praised
by one Of the ministers as "the origina-
tor" of Italy's foreign policy. He quickly
and, for once very modestly, denied that
he was originating anything new in
foreign policies He was merely con-
tinuing what Sforza and others before
him had done.
In view of the aforementioned facts,
is it not logical to think that Carlo
Sforza would be a dangerous man to
have around in Italy after this war is
over or even while it still is going on?
How do the Allies expect to establish
any real basis for peace in the Eastern
Mediterranean so long as they sponsor
man who so thoroughly Is distrusted by
Serbians, Albanians, Greeks and Turks
alike? Or do they hope to re-establish
the pickering and quarreling that has
been going on in the Eastern Mediter-
ranean over the past two centuries?
What do they hope to accomplish by
that?
1t is quite possible that the United
Nations know just what to demand of
Italy at the peace table but with men
like Sforza there 1t will be doubly
difficult to put into practice the lofty
ideals so often proclaimed by the Allies.
Serbians, Albanians, Epirotes, Corfians,
Dodecanesians, Greeks and Turks would
breathe much more easily If the United
Nations demanded Immediately that
Sforza and his partisans make a state
ment clearly establishing what Italy
will do about Fiume, Dalmatia, the
Ionian Islands, the Dodecanese, Tunisia,
Corsica Savov the polaorics and fhn
so-called spheres Of influence" in the
Near East and the Balkans
If Sforza has decided to abandon the
foreign policy he has pursued thus far
with regard to the Balkans, the Near
East and France--both in action and in
writing-all well and good. Then let
us know what it is.
If, on the other hand he is to pursue
his old ideas about the superiority OF
the Italians over the French, and con-
tinue the policy he initiated concerning
the Balkans and the Near East, then
he will be only mere continuation of
the Fascist policy which he also
initiated.
The world-and certainly the people
who have suffered because of Fascism-
is entitled to know exactly where Sforza
stands. j. c. APOLLONY.
Children's Programs Wanted
To the Editor Of The Star
Let's give Dorothy Thompson a hand
for her column of May in which she
helped to analyze Juvenile delinquency.