[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.]
Sta,—I fail to see why British people should be asked by your correspondent to deal so tenderly with Italian sus- ceptibilities.
Mussolini described the Abyssinian outrage as the greatest colonial war in history. .What are the facts as to its conduct ? Native mercenaries sent into the forefront of the battle to bear the brunt of the fighting, while the Italian captains followed behind with bags of gold to buy over such of the Abyssinian chieftains as would accept bribes. From over- head, at a safe height, the Italian airmen bombed, machine- gunned and poison-gassed the defenceless natives.
Surely there is only one epithet which can rightly be applied, namely, that it was a " cowardly " campaign, redounding for all time to the discredit of the Italian people.—Yours
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