THE IRON HAND IN SOUTH• TYROL .
FROM A CORRESPONDENT.] THE policy of - Italianizing the Austro-Germans iri South Tyrol- is being carried out with an iron hand.
There is nothing to prevent SignorMussolini froth eirecut ing with the utmost rigour the threats which he made recently against the TyroleseL---except the most Solenin pledges made and -obligations ' entered into by his decessors in authority in Italy,- and 'also by King Victor Emmanuel in the-name of the Italian people. "
Unlike other minorities, the Tyrolese have no legal protection under 'the:Peace Treaty; On the other 'hand; there are undertakings given by General Picori-biraliii; who annexed the Upper Adige, by Senater Tittoni, the Italian delegate at the Peade Conference, by successive Italian Ministers and by the King in hit. speech from` the Throne, on Deceniber ist, 1919,-promiSing the inhabitants of Sinith Tyrol that their local autonomy and cuStbins- would be 'preserved, 'and that no trouble' Or sacrifice would be spared to-reeOncile-thein-to`the new condition's. There were no illusions on the part of the peace-makers 'when, after liberating 400,000 Italians from the tyranny I of Austrian domination, they handed over 250,000 Aus- trians to the liberal and humanitarian rule of Italy. The South Tyrol was a pawn, as were other territories, in the intricate problem of treaty making. Its destiny was finally left to the decision of President Wilson, who hap- pened to be more concerned with the Adriatic and lie fate of Fiume, and gave way to the Italian claim. The sagacious Colonel House realized the risk of this momen- tous decision, and, writing in What Really Happened 'at Paris, he said that the Tyrolese " would not be reconciled to the change except through centuries of kindly treat- ( ment and good government." Instead of which they are treated with harshness amounting to brutality, their local councils and institutions are suppressed, they are gradually being deprived of their civil rights, and Fascist patriotism is forced upon them almost at the point of the bayonet.
For geographical and strategic reasons Italy wanted the Brenner to be the frontier on the North. A claim on historical or ethnological grounds was never seriously pressed. It was recognized that the annexation meant trouble. The Tyrolese are the most intensely patriotic people of the German race. They hold tenaciously to their picturesque customs, their music, literature and their institutions and never forget that their country was the home of Andreas Hofer. Under Signor Mussolini a general broadside attack has been made against these patriotic people.
One line of attack is directed against institutions, which are either suppressed or forced to change their character. Local chambers of commerce, trades councils, agricultural societies and other institutions will be replaced by a single trades council in the provincial capital under the direction of the Prefet, a Government official. Under the _ proposals nearly all the municipalities lose their eleotive mayors, including the towns of Bozen, Meran, Neumarkt, and Kurtstsch, and will be placed Under the administration of Government commissioners, Former German-speaking officials who also knew Italian have been displaced by Italians who do not know Gerinan. 'The Tyrolese will not be able to make things easier, by adopting Italian nationality. According to a Roy-al Declaration, issued on January 10th of this year, applications for Italian nationality are subject to -the test of the applicant being " worthy." His worthiness depends on the view of the Fascist officials. A general onslaught is made on the German language. All place names are Italianized and the words " South Tyrol " and " Tyrolese " are no longer permissible in the official local vocabulary. Goods, letters and telegrams can only with certainty be despatched or delivered if the Italian language is 'ied. Since October, 1925, only Italian is permitted in civil and criminal cases. Barristers must plead in that language, and judges have declined to hear witnesses in any other language or to have evidence interpreted. Italian cannot be made universal in the schools as yet. Children cannot be taught in a language of which they-are ignorant, but by prohibiting the use of German and making Italian compulsory in German schools, German in schools will be squeezed out in about eight years' :time. In the matter of political liberty and freedom of the Press the Tyrolese are not much worse off than are the people of Italy under Fascist rule. The Church is the most conservative and firmly en- trenched of all institutions in Roman Catholic countries, but the Church is not escaping the attention of Signor Mussolini; the demand is made for services to be held ... • and religious instruction given in Italian as well as in German. The numerous German monasteries and con- vents in the province have been attacked for being " hot- beds of irredentism." In the parish church of Bozen, a purely German town, a sermon in Italian must be de- livered every Sunday morning at ten o'clock, and a short address in Italian before Mass at 11.30. and religious in- struction must be given in that language in the afternoon. Early service is still permitted in German. Signor Mussolini makes no concealment of his purpose. On the contrary, he glories in it. He means to impose the Italian language, education, customs, and institutions on an alien people in order to absorb them. He aims at de- priving them of all freedom and of destroying every vestige of German culture and German sentiment. Irre- dentism was a patriotic virtue in the Trentino ; it is high treason in the Tyrol. Precedents from all ages and from all countries prove that the Mussolini policy will fail in the end. It is im- possible to kill a language simply by prohibiting its use, or to destroy racial patriotism by persecution. The policy adopted will perpetuate the very things which it is meant to get rid of ; it will embitter racial hostilities and foster closer affinities with the German race beyond the Brenner. Moreover, it is creating a festering sore in one of the danger spots in Europe. Assimilation is out of the question, and there is no scope for Italian nationali- zation. There are only two ways in which the Mussolini policy can be effective : one is by the expulsion of the people ; the other is by their extermination. The one is inexpedient, if not impracticable ; the other is impossible:
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