2 AUGUST 1930, Page 1

The King, with others of that admirable Royal Family, waited

not an instant to be at the spots where his people were suffering most. The Red Cross Organization seems to have been prompt and efficient in bringing trains, doctors, nurses, and supplies of all kinds utmost needed, and there arc no reports of panic so soon as the shocks were really over. Northern Italy has suffered, too, from a cyclone and violent storms from Milan to the Piave. Often as we have disagreed of late with " Italy," meaning her Government or spokesmen, we have never wavered in affection for the country and its people. We do not like many manifestations of the spirit of Fascism, but we are bound to acknowledge that in a catastrophe Fascist Italy has shown herself more vigorous and efficient than the old Italy. We deprecate her new nationalist spirit when it is manifested abroad, but we earnestly hope that it will prove a great help to her where it will be sadly needed in her reconstruction.

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