Italian troops and accompanied by several
Italian deputies, eject the legal Government of Rieka. One of these
deputies, Giuratti, is chosen by his friends to be President of the
Free State--Giuratti of the fascisti, Giuratti who most barbarically had
ill-treated the Istrian Slavs, but--for we will be just--this was when
he believed they were barbarians, savages, quite common, brutal men;
well, he had learned, he wrote,[68] that this was not the case, they had
adopted Western culture, they had raised the revolutionary flag against
the dynasty of Karageorgevi['c] and if Yugoslavia's dismemberment should
ever come to pass, "then, as I confidently hope," said he, "the Croats
with their righteous national aspirations will unite with their great
neighbour Italy. We salute the Croat Revolution with sincerest
sympathy..." and so on and so on. That was the kind of calm, impartial
personage to have as Governor of the distracted Free State, where in one
point anyhow most of the population think the same, and that is that
their union with Italy would be an absolute disaster. Behold this
Giuratti posing his candidature, Giuratti whose patriotism and idealism
are, says the Italian Government, fully appreciated by them;
nevertheless it has advised him to refuse the suggested honour. That he
should be punished did not occur to them; but what would they have said
if a Yugoslav--surely with more right than an Italian and certainly with
a larger following of townsfolk--had been selected as President? "The
proceedings of the Italian Government," said Schanzer, "are clear,
speedy and determined." But did anything unpleasant happen to Commandant
Castelli, an officer sent to make order, when he quite openly placed
himself on the side of the fascisti? Would degradation be the lot of any
officer or soldier who "mutinied" and joined the fascisti?... Apparently
it was due to the unhappy political condition of Europe that the whole
civilized world did not launch an indignant protest against the baseness
and cynicism of the Italians. But how utterly they failed to persuade
others that the wishes of Rieka were as they represented them! Rieka
desires to remain independent and this desire the Italians will have to
respect. And the later they make up their mind to keep their promises,
so much the worse for them. The Yugoslavs can wait, for theirs is the
future. A cartoonist in the Belgrade _Vreme_ depicted a rough old
Serbian warrior holding on his open