ETHIOPIA AND THE ITALIAN COLONIES
SIR,—As Brigadier Longrigg's predecessor, I cannot claim to possess such up-to-date knowledge of Eritrea as his or Major Mumford's, but the problem of the Colony's future was much in our minds from the time of its conquest, and even before, and the data we collectd in those early days may be of some interest. First there was little real anti-Italian feeling, except in the first flush of the Italian defeat. Although native education had lagged far behind the standards reached in the neighbour- ing Sudan, the Italian administration had, on the whole, been beneficent and the evils of Fascism had affected the lives of the people very little.
Secondly, apart from a few elements in Asmara, whose nature and value are accurately assessed in Major Mumford's letter, there was no Ethiopian irredentism, in spite of the fact that much of our propaganda might have been understood as encouraging it. Th^ only irredentism of any kind arose from when the accident of the Duca d'Aosta's last stand caused the Tigre area of Ethiopia to come temporarily under the Eritrean administration, and gave rise to the erroneous belief that a separate Tigre " kingdom " on those lines was to be permanently established. That such an arrangement would have been popular, there is no doubt whatever; but when this rumour was dispelled, feeling against joining Greater Eritrea remained as powerful as ever.
Thirdly, I can find no arguments, historical, racial, or economic, for handing over Massawa to the Emperor. The natural port of Ethiopa proper is not Massawa but Djibouti, as the Italians found to their cost. Massawa naturally serves the hinterland of Eritrea and the lowlands be- yond it. Moeover, there are Italian private interests in Eritrea, similar to those of the British in Kenya, and there are economic ties between the highlands round Asmara and the lowlands beyond on the borders of the Sudan.
The Italians are now busily engaged in eliminating Fascism in their own country, and Great Britain appears likely to recognise this fact shortly by a treaty. Since Eritrea is not in itself a suitable economic entity, there is always the danger of its use as a stepping-stone for the conquest of Ethiopia, but with the restoration of good relations between Italy and our- selves, there would seem to be no strong reason against the establishment of some sort of Anglo-Italian condominium to run the remains of Eritrea, after the necessary territorial adjustments have been made in the lowlands with the Sudan. If such a solution is impossible, and on the assumption that the Tigre province of Ethiopia is to remain permanently part of the Emperor's dominions, the next best solution would appear to be the attach- ment of the entire Colony of Eritrea to the Sudan, in some kind of man-
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