ITALY SHOULD REBUILD UNDER OWN LEADERS, SAYS SALVEMINI

Charging a British deal with the Badoglio government to dominate Italian-railroads for nine years after the conclusion of peace, Gaetano Salvemini, Lauro de Bosis Lecturer on the History of Italian Civilization, decried "foreign interference in Italy," and urged, "she must be allowed to rebuild herself under her own free government."

Crane Brinton '19, professor of History, and Edmund Stevens, foreign correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, collaborated with Salvemini in a forum held Tuesday evening in Emerson D aimed at clarifying the position of Italy and her colonies.

British Expansion at an End

According to Professor Brinton, who has recently returned from two years of service with the O.S.S. in Great Britain, there are few Englishmen who advocate a British mandate over the Italian colonies: most seem to realize," he continued, "that the Victorian era of colonial annexation is past." Going on to say it was doubtful if the English would accede to a leftist regime in Italy, or on the other hand would support a monarchy, he added that "it is probable that a fairly conservative republic would be acceptable."

Stevens, speaking on the basis of his two year stay in Russia during 1943-44, claimed that "the Russians have little or no feeling of enmity for the Italian people, but regarded them as the dupes of their fascist leaders."

Russians Want Trade Outlet

In fact, declared Stevens, "the Russians became interested in the colonies of Italy only when the United States and England began to intervene with Soviet administration in the Balkans." The chief interest of the Russians in the Italian colonies on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea lies only in providing themselves with an outlet to world trade.

Sifting the evidence in favor of the immediate settlement of the Italian problem, Salvemini pointed out that "the harvest this fall has been the worst in 40 years." "Unemployment is widespread, too," he continued, "and the reviving of industry must be accomplished soon." If the general situation in Italy is not corrected, he argued, then "we can expect trouble from Italy in the future."

As to the disposition of her colonies, he stated that "the Italian people were never in accord with Mussolini's policy of colonial expansion," and added that "whenever the Italian armies did march, they did so at the behest of the French and British foreign offices."