GREAT BRITAIN, ITALY, AND THE WAR.
WE gather from the comments of some of the Italian newspapers that British public opinion is supposed to have thrown over Italy and to have decided that the Italian people are utterly undeserving of sympathy in their war against Turkey. Great Britain is supposed to have put quite out of memory her ancient affection for Italy and her passionate admiration of the Italian struggle for liberty in the 'sixties. There is only one thing to say about such a reading of British feeling, and that is that it is mistaken from beginning to end. That the war with Turkey has excited mingled sensations hero and a great deal of doubt and misgiving is perfectly true, but this does not affect—it does not even touch—the general liking for Italy. It is very unfortunate that hitherto the Turkish case in connexion with the war has been better stated in Great Britain than the Italian case. There is no doubt that if the Italian ease were presented to English readers, not with the rather too palpable traces of partisan and official utterance which disfigure some messages from Rome, but with the judicial treatment of which, say, a learned historian is capable, there would be an appreciable change of opinion here. We ourselves have suggested several j times that Italian justification of the war is much stronger than it appears, and that the Turkish officials in Tripoli (confident in their conviction that Germany would not allow Italy to invade a Turkish possession) met Italian commerce in Tripoli with much discourtesy and a singularly— provocative policy of obstruction. If any English newspapers have written as though Italian action in Tripoli were a bombshell, the explosion of which could not possibly have been foreseen, they must have written in. deep ignorance of what had happened in the past. When- ever there was a discussion in the old days as to the disposal of the goods of the " Sick Man " at Constantinople it was invariably assumed that Italy must go to Tripoli. By geographical position and commercial interest, potential if not actual, Italy was by common consent the Power to take Tripoli if the Turkish Empire should break up. Objec- tions to Italian ambition were confined to impressing on. Italy the propriety of delay. The Sick Man, after all, was not yet dead. We admit that when the Sick Man had rallied, and the Young Turks were on their trial, we hoped that Italy would try to exact her rights in Tripoli without abruptly launching an ultimatum that the Turks could not accept. But, as we said at the time, the violent examples of recent diplomacy wore largely to blame for that. The tearing up of the treaty of Berlin, the sudden annexa- tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria, the sending of the German man-of-war to Agadir—all these things made it inevitable that the next important act in diplomacy should be to match. When men are all shout- ing at the tops of their voices the man who does not raise his at all will not be heard.
We regretted, however, that Italy entered on the war as much as for any other reason because we could not convince ourselves—and still cannot do so—that there was any reasonable chance of her deriving any advantage from it. There is a prospect of a very prolonged war, and the end of it, so far as we can see, will not bring any financial or commercial compensation. Rather for years the expense of maintaining an occupying force in the Tripolitaine will be enormous. But those regrets have, let us say again, nothing whatever to do with our friendship towards Italy. When we were informed recently that the Spectator was supposed by some Italians to have adopted. an anti-Italian tone, we could only regard. this misunderstanding as a very curious example of the habit careless readers have—how well we know it of attributing to a newspaper opinions which it has never expressed, or opinions which aro oven the exact reverse of its own. Englishmen of sense do not venture to throw stones at the statesmen of other countries because there is a charge against them of aggression. We live in a glass house. The Spectator has printed. letters defending Italian policy and denying the allegations of Italian barbarity. If we have printed. letters on the other side it was because we could not make an exception to the rule to give both sides a hearing. But we are sure that no intel- ligent Italians would have expected us to do otherwise. We most carefully warned our readers against accepting the stories of alleged. Italian atrocities. It may happen to any nation that troops get beyond control when cruelly provoked, or exceed the authority to punish which has sometimes to be placed in their hands ; but that Italian officers and gentlemen would deliberately plan massacre we knew to be utterly incredible, and we said so. We fear that a good many Italians are showing too much sensitiveness just now. It is unworthy of them. Certainly in Great Britain criticism sincerely offered to a friendly country is a mark of esteem. Englishmen do not take to heart the perils and errors of a nation to which they are indifferent. We can never be indifferent to Italy. Whatever feeling against the war there is in Britain has not gone deep enough to impair the ardent wish that Italy may always keep her great place in the world. If we wore careless about the loss of Italian friendship we might urge on the Italians to commit themselves as deeply as possible in Tripoli, for it is certain that the more they are bound to keep open communi- cations with Tripoli the less value will they be to their colleagues in the Triple Alliance. Italy could not possibly come to the aid of her German and Austrian allies with so large a part of her army locked up in Tripoli.
The policy of the British Government is necessarily neutral ; the sentiments of the British people, though we admit reservations, represent something better than neutrality. When it was pointed. out that the occupa- tion of Sollum by Anglo-Egyptian troops would help the Italians by preventing the contraband trade in arms across the Egyptian frontier, Britishpopular opinion instantly approved of the move. When Lord. Kitchener in Egypt damped down too active Nationalist sympathy with the Turks popular opinion approved. again. When British ships were seized by Italian cruisers the tendency was to trust the Italian Navy and not to ask angry questions. If evidence is wanted that British feeling has not been con- strued by the friends of Turkey as being on the Turkish side, we would ask our readers to look at the review of a book on the campaign in Tripoli which we print elsewhere. No, there has unquestionably been criticism of Italy's action, and there is still more misgiving as to the effect of the war on Italian finances, but British regard for Italy stands just where it did. Englishmen are still " Italianate." We still cannot resist Italy's " fatal gift of beauty." The very name of Italian cities stirs within us great memories, ideals, regrets, desires. Dr. Johnson said that a man who had never been in Italy was conscious of an inferiority ; and to-day an Englishman who does not like Italy is conscious of having fallen out with history, for he rejects one of the most precious examples of British sympathy with a people struggling to be free, If Garibaldism was a religion in Italy, as it is sometimes said to have been, it was scarcely less here. Mon felt against the Bourbon tyranny with a vehemence which surprised the world, and swept away all the cautionary protests of " haggard diplomacy." So far as we have the ear of Italians now, we beg them not to fall into the extraordinary mistake of thinking that the British people have suddenly become anti. Italian.
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