Signor Mussolini in a curt and uncompromising state- ment has
announced that, after all, he will not enter into direct negotiations with Yugoslavia about the Italian Treaty with Albania. This is a great disappointment. There is no need to regret the collapse of the earlier proposal that there should be an inquiry on the spot by the military attaches into the Italian accusation that Yugoslavia had been preparing a revolution in Albania directed against Italian influence, for no such inquiry would have been of any value. The komitajis dress like peasants and keep their arms hidden ; nowhere in the Balkans can a revolution be seen till preparation has passed into operation. But the collapse of the much More promising scheme of direct negotiations between Italy and Yugoslavia upsets all the hopes of Sir Austen -Chamberlain, stultifies all the work that he had done for a peaceful settlement in collabora t Ns- i t h Fra r• Germany. * *
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