Mr. Gandhi's Interview The alleged interview at Rome in which
Mr. Gandhi was said to have virtually declared war—war, of course, in the figurative sense of non-co-operation—on Great Britain has developed into a mystery. In response to a wireless inquiry from an unspecified but presumably semi-official source Mr. Gandhi, then at sea in the Medi- terranean, repudiated the interview completely, declaring he had given no interview at all while in Italy. In reply to that the author of the interview, Signor Virginio Gayda, editor of the Giornale &Italia, insists on the absolute authenticity of what he printed and is prepared to produce his notes as proof. Such things have happened before, and it is possible (though Signor Gayda's account of the affair does not support the theory) that Mr. Gandhi did in fact say what he was reported to have said, but did not say it to the Press and did not authorize publication. Signor Gayda, it may be observed, speaks and understands English well, but he can hardly be familiar enough with the Indian situation to have invented the statements he ascribed to the Mahatma, even if his own reputation, which is high, permitted such a supposition.
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