Trieste Boiling Up
The Boundary Commission which is examining on the spot the question of the frontier between Italy and Yugoslavia continues its work in an atmosphere which is steadily growing more heated. Demonstration is followed by counter-demonstration and an increas- ing element of violence is creeping in. It has repeatedly been made plain that the Commission will not be influenced by such activities and several announcements have been made with the object of reducing them to a minimum. But there is little doubt that the disturbances are a spontaneous expression of the genuine ani- mosity existing between the Italian and Slovene elements in the area. All the more reason why every restraint should be exercised by the higher authorities on both sides. One of these higher authorities is Marshal Tito, and his recent utterances in Prague are scarcely likely to have a pacific effect. He declared his intention to contest at the peace conference any award which he considered " unfavourable" and gave an indication of what he meant by " favourable " by defining in some detail his attitude to Czechoslovak shipping using the port of Trieste, thus anticipating the findings of the Commission. There are of course other implications in Marshal Tito's recent activities, —the strengthening of the ties between Yugoslavia and Czecho- slovakia, the tiresome note of parroted propaganda in the official Yugoslav utterances on Trieste and, most significant of all, their unmistakable anti-British tone. In short, the Russian as well as the Slovene influence is making for trouble at Trieste. On the other side the Italian inhabitants are showing signs of a more combative spirit and have contributed their quota of violence in the recent clashes. On this side the influence for restraint must come from Allied Military Government. It is becoming increasingly clear that if the troops on the spot are to perform their distasteful task effec- tively they may have to be reinforced. This would be a development unwelcome to everybody, but the commission must be allowed to complete its task in peace.
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