Signor Virginio Gayda has rather seriously com- promised his journalistic
reputation, which was con- siderable, in the last few weeks. It is a pity, for he is a most able journalist. He was that before the Fascist regime canie into existence, and since then he has had special opportunities as the chosen mouthpiece of the Government, with which he is, of course, in general political sympathy. I once addressed him amicably as Fascistissimo ; he disclaimed the superlative and left it at that. Quiet, fair-haired, self-contained, he is outwardly the antithesis of the swarthy and ebullient Pertinax, who may be regarded as in many ways his French counterpart. But one thing is demanded of any journalist cf repute—that his statements shall stand examination. And the Editor of the Giornale d'Italia has made himself responsible in the last month for so many cock-and-bull stories about British military preparations and designs on the Abyssinian frontier that foreign readers at any rate will place only ve'ry qualified reliance on his statements in the future. It is a pity, for Signor Gayda inspires considerable personal regard.
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