offer. Leaving the existing frontier near Monte Cevedale it followed the watershed between the Upper Adige and Noce valleys as far as the Flenenspitze and reached the Noce valley by way of the Pescara. From there it followed the boundary of the district of Mezzolombardo to the Adige valley, which it crossed south of Salorno (Salurn). Thence it followed, roughly, the watershed between the Adige and Avisio valleys as far as the Latemar. Descending from the Col Canon it reached the valley of the Avisio between Moena and Forno, and thence followed the ridge between the San Pellegrino and Travignolo valleys to the existing frontier at Cima di Bocche.

Baron Sonnino's reply, sent from Rome on April 21, pointed out that the increased concessions in the Trentino, the only advance on Austria-Hungary's original proposals, did not repair the chief inconveniences of the present situation, either from the linguistic

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PRINCE BÜLOW

(On left) Acting German Ambassador in Rome.

6:

BARON BURIAN

(On left) Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs. and ethnological or the military point of view." As Signor Salandra was to point out later, the doors of the house remained open." Austria-Hungary was determined to keep the positions that were a perpetual threat to Italy. But the main stumbling-block lay in Baron Burian's refusal to admit the principle of immediate cession.

There were three more conversations between Baron Burian and the Duke d'Avarna before negotiations were broken off. The Duke d'Avarna told his Government that he saw no prospect of an accord. Baron Burian's sole concession in regard to Article V. was the suggestion that the immediate appointment of a mixed Boundary Commission would be sufficient guarantee that the territorial transfer would eventually be carried out. On April 29 the Duke d'Avarna telegraphed that Baron Burian practically opposed a negative to all the Italian demands, especially to those contained in the first five Articles.

On May 3 Baron Sonnino sent to Vienra a formal denunciation of the Italo-Austrian Alliance.

In Italy the disclosures of the Government laid many doubts to rest. The provisions of the Triple Alliance were secret. There was no clear idea of the obligations upon

either side. The declaration of neutrality made it evident that Italy was not required to join her Allies, but between holding aloof and entering the field against them seemed a long step. Public opinion was very uncertain during the early period of the war. A number of Italians had originally been in favour of joining the Central Empires, influenced partly by the feeling that it was only fair to assist the Allies of thirty years' standing, partly by a genuine admiration for Germany which counteracted the old enmity against AustriaHungary, and partly by the conviction that Italian interests could only be secured by intervention. This tendency was not much

ment. It must be remembered that Signor Salandra had not yet proved himself. He had held office and shown himself a capable administrator. He had been in close association with Baron Sonnino for thirty years. He had never taken part in the intrigues which had disfigured Italian politics for so long. There was no question of his ability and dexterity, and his character commanded trust. But he was largely untried and his position was very difficult. He had accepted the task of forming a Government when Signor Giolitti retired, but the followers of Signor Giolitti constituted the majority of the Chamber, and the experience of those who had taken office in similar cir

in evidence after the declaration of neutrality, but a strong pro-German current continued to oppose itself to the rising tide of feeling in favour of intervention on the other side. All through the winter the greatest uncertainty prevailed. At one time, early in the autumn, the popular feeling in favour of intervention on the side of the Entente Powers rose very high, and threatened to embarrass the Government. It is not unjust to the memory of San Giuliano to say that his death, and the arrival of Baron Sonnino at the Consulta, had something to do with stemming this tide. His Austrophil record was known to all; it was not yet known that he had taken up a firm stand on behalf of Italy's full rights. With Baron Sonnino in charge of the Foreign Office the country had fuller confidence in the Govern

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cumstances on other occasions was not encouraging. Part of his Cabinet was Giolittian," and the situation called for unusual skill and strength of purpose. Though the country had confidence in Signor Salandra, there was still the feeling that he was untried, and that the circumstances might conceivably be too much for him. The arrival of Baron Sonnino greatly strengthened Signor Salandra's position. He had now at his right hand the close friend and political ally of thirty years. More than that, he had now as Foreign Secretary the man whom all Italy recognized as an example of unswerving rectitude and commanding ability. Baron Sonnino's intellectual endowments had been fully proved, his character not less so. Bluntly straightforward, uncompromising to a fault, he had

failed as a parliamentarian. But his very failures had shown him to his countrymen, and to all who knew him, as a man to be trusted. Now was no day for mere parliamentarians; the hour for statesmen had struck. At last Baron Sonnino was to come to his own, and Signor Salandra was to show that all the hopes which had been formed of him were less than the reality.

Before Parliament rose in December, 1914, Signor Salandra pronounced a phrase that deserves to be remembered. There was а certain uneasiness in the country at the prospect of great issues being decided and great changes effected without any profit to Italy, and a senator made the suggestion that Italy should have asked a price for her neutrality. Signor Salandra's reply was striking: "If we had bartered our neutrality, we should also have dishonoured it " (Se la neutralità noi l'avessimo negoziata, l'avremmo anche disonorata).

But for many months the position of Italy was liable to misinterpretation. The necessity of preserving secrecy regarding the line of action taken by the Government made this inevitable. The necessity of secrecy bore hard upon the people, and it is a tribute both to Government and governed that the long months of anxiety passed in such relative quiet. Two strong currents of opinion were noticeable. There were those who maintained that the interests of Italy and of civilization alike demanded intervention against Austria and Germany. These grew steadily in number. There were others, a numerous and powerful body, who were very strongly against war. There were many who were oppressed by the thought of Germany's immense military strength,

and held that Italy ought at all costs to refrain from opposing the Colossus. There were others who argued that Italy was unable to stand the strain of modern war "on the grand scale," that even victory would be too dearly bought. They spoke of the cost at which Italy had maintained her hard-won place among the Great Powers. They said that for more than forty years she had been attempting a stride that was almost beyond her compass, and that the vast efforts intervention demanded would break her down. Some of them went so far as to contend that it was better for Italy to content herself with first position among the lesser nations than to struggle to preserve her place as a Great Power. They talked of revolution and ruin. They feared the temper of the people and did not guess its greatness.

SIGNOR MARCONI, The inventor of wireless telegraphy, serving as Lieutenant in the Italian Army. Between the interventionists and the neutralists there stood the great mass of Italian opinion, which had not been able to make up its mind on the question of peace or war, and was content to leave the matter in the hands of the men whom it trusted. It was widely felt that public opinion did not possess the material to form a reasoned judgment on the very difficult problem with which Italy was faced. There was much discussion in the Press, and the argument of the interventionists that Italy's place in Europe depended upon her taking sides with the Entente Powers, that neutrality meant isolation, slowly gained ground. The neutralists were encouraged in their efforts by a letter from Signor Giolitti to one of his chief henchmen, Signor Peano, a letter which was to become historic. In this letter, which was written on February 2, Signor Giolitti expressed himself as being unfavourable to intervention, and declared his belief that Italy might secure a good deal" (parecchio) by diplomatic means.

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As the spring wore on opinion hardened, and a new feeling arose a feeling against Germany. The terrible story of Belgium came slowly home to Italians; very slowly, for Italians had good reason to be sceptical

regarding atrocity stories. For long the reports of German "frightfulness," in so far as they applied to savagery, and not merely to destructiveness, were simply disbelieved. But in the end the evidence proved too strong for most Italians. The eloquent words of the Belgian Socialist Deputy, M. Jules Destrée, who told the story of his country's martyrdom in all the chief towns of Italy from Piedmont to Sicily, did much to make the truth sink into the minds of the people. And German propaganda helped to blacken the German name. For, as the prospect of war seemed to increase, German agents went about threatening that German soldiers would work a greater horror upon Italy than Belgium ever saw. They gave the items of their programme: destruction, murder, rape. They thought to terrorize Italians; they only made them set their teeth.

All through April the tension was great. Parliament had risen on March 22, and a vote of confidence in the Government had twice been recorded, only the Official Socialists recording their dissent from the motions which carried with them the request for the vote. On March 28 the rumour ran through Rome that an agreement between Italy and Austria-Hungary was practically concluded, and that only a few finishing touches were required before agreement would be complete. This rumour was circulated from the Embassies of Austria and Germany, and it is interesting to note that it was put about just at the moment when Baron Burian made his first offer of concessions in the Trentino. The incident shows how much the Austrian pledge of secrecy was worth. The rumour fell flat, and within a fortnight the expressions of confident hope were replaced by ill-concealed uneasiness. Once again the leak was from the Austrian side. Baron Sonnino telegraphed his counter-proposals on April 8. They were presented to Baron Burian on April 10, and two days later they were the subject of comment in Rome, in certain circles at least. Austrians and Germans expressed resentment at what they considered the excessive nature of the demands and showed the greatest anxiety. The neutralists fought hard, though there were some signs of weakening. An attempt was made to emphasize the existence of a Slav Peril," an attempt which was greatly aided by some articles in the Russian Press which pushed Slav claims in the Adriatic very far north. The Novoe Vremya went so far as to

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say that "if Russia permitted Italy to have Trieste it would be a scandal. Trieste is absolutely Slav." But it was too late to talk of a Slav peril. Italy was waking to a knowledge of the German peril, a knowledge which her wisest statesmen already possessed.

By the end of April the Italian people was braced for war. During the first days of May hearts were stirred by the preparations for the unveiling of a monument to Garibaldi and The Thousand, on the rock of Quarto, whence the expedition had started. The King and the Premier were to be present, and Signor Gabriele D'Annunzio was to deliver an oration. Moreover, there was a general feeling that before May 5, the date of the ceremony, the fate of the negotiations with Austria-Hungary would be decided. So it turned out, though at the time it was not known that negotiations had been broken off. On May 3, the day that Baron Sonnino instructed the Duke d'Avarna to denounce the alliance with Austria-Hungary, the news was published that the King and his Ministers would not leave Rome "in view of the political situation." It is a matter of history now that the Alliance had ceased to exist, and that Italy had already, to all intent, thrown in her lot with Great Britain, France, and Russia; but at the time no explanation was given of the sudden crisis that kept the King from going to Quarto.

On May 8 the news came that the Lusitania had been sunk. The effect upon the populace was quite extraordinary. For the first time a note of real anger was heard in the streets and the shops, along the by-ways and in little taverns. The tragedy of Belgium had been told to the people, and its horror had begun to sink in. But all Belgium was enveloped in the fog of war, and there was still a feeling that the worst stories might be exaggerations, that German ruthlessness might have had some provocation, and that in many cases there was the excuse of the anger born of battle and danger. Here was a crime committed in the sight of all the world, upon the peaceful seas, against a helpless multitude in which were included many women and children. The feeling against Germany, which had been slowly growing, came out in a blaze.

GARIBALDI THE LIBERATOR.

the Austrian Red Book. He telegraphed to Vienna on May 10, accusing Baron Sonnino of having kept back information regarding the Austrian concessions, both from the King and the majority of the Cabinet. He explained that on these grounds "it seemed opportune to make known a list of the Austro-Hungarian concessions, authenticated by Prince Bülow and myself. By this means there was a chance of countermining the game of Salandra, Sonnino and Martini."

A list of the Austrian concessions was printed and circulated among people who were thought likely to be influenced against