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DICTATED

7, AUDLEY SQUARE , W.1.

which these people excel , was no longer available as the constructional
basis of an article.

At the very end of December, Drummond left Italy for a holiday,
which we looked upon as a sign of a detente, but Mussolini cann ot
be left alone very long. There have been many stories about,- one that
he appeared at a Reception of Ambassadors dressed up in an Augustan
toga. Alas , this cannot be true. Anyhow, his speeches , though full of
high-falutin rhetoric and fury, have at least been delivered with coolness,
and without any signs of personal excitement. He remains the most
dangerous man in the world, and if things go badly in Abyssinia, he may
well grow desperate. Events of the las tfortnight have been far from
favourable at the front. The so-called "little rains" of February seem
to have begun early in January. Johnny Baird, who knows Abyssinia well,
says we should not bother about oil - no embargoes or prohibitions - it
will suffice if we trust to the other liquid called rain-water, which he
says is incredible in density - torrents of it for 16 weeks in succession,
and more than enough to damp the ardours of the pluckiest Fascist.
What will the Italians do during the rainy season?- withdraw behind the
rivers, or else set the troops into tents for four months, with the
Africans sniping at night and the roads being washed away by the floods?
It is a vile, horrible situation, for which Italy to a man holds us responsible.
Some day there will be a reaction in our favour, but it is
g oing to be slow in maturing, since Italy is far more ignorant today
of world opinion & world action than was Germany during the height of