PEOPLE AND THINGS
By HAROLD NICOLSON
HAVE been reading Mr. Christopher Hollis' anthology I on Neutral War Aims, and have been distressed by the essay contributed by Daniele Vare. Signor Vare is a man of experience and sense ; he possesses a quality of gay frankness which I find refreshing ; and he is not really a fanatic about Russia, Mr. Anthony Eden, the Duce or Italian imperialism. I pounced upon his article hoping that here at last I should find a clear and precise exposition of what Italy wants. But not at all. There was the usual liturgy about Italy's betrayal by her former allies ; there was a gay and kindly exposition of British hypocrisy ; there was the statement that "the future will prove whether the universal cry for peace is to remain a parrot-cry, or if reasonable claims and legitimate aspirations have indeed any chance of being satisfied without recourse to arms " ; but when I sought for some exact definition of these claims and aspirations I could find only vague and sentimental utterances about "vital spaces" and the encirclement of poor little Italy.
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