THE BRITISH-ITALIAN LEAGUE.
(To TEE EDITOR Or TVS " SPECTATOR."J SIR,—It will perhaps interest your readers, some of whom may have heard disquieting reports of the spread of anti-English propaganda in Italy, to know that an organization was founded last autumn, both in Italy and England, under the name of the British-Italian League, the object of which is to promote a closer understanding between Great Britain and modern Italy. In Italy the enemy to this closer understanding is the insidious German propaganda which fastens on every passing event and turns it to the disadvantage of England. Everything, from the taking of Baghdad to the shortage of coal and the presence of British mine- sweepers in the Adriatic, is put down to the incorrigible avidity of this country, until by dint of repetition these Eflandens begin to make an impression. An underground campaign of this kind is difficult to combat, but the League, and its counterpart in Italy, are at any rate doing what they can in the open by having arranged, in conjunction with the two great Italian societies, the Leonardo da Vinci and the Dante Alighieri, that a series of lectures on England's part in the war, illustrated by official lantern-slides, should be given in all parts of Italy by the dis- tinguished writer, Signor Aldo Sorani. A. similar series on the work of Englishwomen is now being given by an Italian lady, the wife of an artillery officer, in all those parts of Italy which are reputed to be most anti-English.
In this country the enemy is rather our ignorance of and
indifference to the marvellous developments of modern Italy; our ignorance of the language; above all, our business firms' neglect of the Italian market. All these obstacles to our complete friend- ship with Italy are the subject of serious propaganda work on the part of this League; and Mr. Richard Begot, whose intimate acquaintance with modern Italy is well known to your readers, has been carrying out a lecturing tour for the League in the principal towns of England and Scotland, in which he has aroused a keen interest in the problem of our present and future rela- tions with Italy. All this, we submit, is work which is not only legitimate but necessary if we are not to lose the friendship after the war of one of the best beloved of our Allies, and it is in the name of the ideals that have always united the two countries that we appeal to the readers of the Spectator to support the British-Italian League. All inquiries- as to membership, LT., would be answered by the Hon. Secretary, Mrs. G. M. Trevelyan.
Chairman, Political and Literary Branch, British-Italian League. 5 Victoria Street, S.W. 1.
(We are sure there is no indifference here to Italy and her best interests. Italy always has been and remains for all educated Englishmen the land of heart's desire—the land that appeals to heart, eye, and ear.—ED. Spectator.)
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