NEWS OF THE WEEK
THERE is a good deal of obscurity about the conditions prevailing in those parts of Abyssinia which are not as yet under Italian occupation. Actually they amount, as Mr. Eden said in the House of Commons on Monday, to more than half the country, but the material fact is that the occupied area includes the two towns of Addis Ababa and Harrar and the Addis-Djibouti railway. Reuter's and other telegrams tell of Abyssinian forces still under arms in the west and north, and a government appears to be in existence at Gore, to the west of Addis Ababa, though whether it recognises Haile Selassie is uncertain. Mr. Baldwin on Tuesday spoke of it as being supported by non-Amharic elements. The Italians have no prospect of being able to extend their area of occupation till after the great rains, Which have now begun, and guerrilla bands are playing havoc with their lorry service between Addis Ababa and Dessie, a fact which has impelled Marshal Graziani to announce to the local clergy that (in pursuance with the Italian mission of civilisation) he will be con- strained to " annihilate you all " if the interference continues. There is no reason to anticipate any effective. resistance to the occupation, but there is evidence that in many fields the difficulties of the Italians are only just beginning.
