568 



The Review of Reviews. 



voice : ' Where do you get your figures ? ') I have 

 my figures from various sources, including French and 

 German sources. (Sarcastic cries of 'Ah! Ah!') 

 It was a sudden transition from criminal negligence 

 to criminal severity. I shall tell you what I saw. 

 When the village was surrounded and burned down 

 the soldiers were allowed to wander about without 

 supervision and shoot anybody they saw. I saw 

 them do it myself. In the village I found two old, 

 bed-ridden women. They had never in all prob- 

 ability seen a rifle in their lives. It was murder to 

 kill them. I saw a little boy lying on the ground, ill. 

 He had evidently been taken from the house in which 

 he lay. I also saw three other women. Assistance 

 had been refused to them. They were left to die 

 on the bare ground like dogs. And they did die. 

 Gentlemen, I do not call that war. (Loud cheers.) 



" For three days the butchery went on. The Italians 

 made a rule of sending messages to the relatives of 

 those who were killed. I was seated one day in the 

 Hotel Minerva. In front of that hotel is a shipping 

 office. A policeman came and called the Arab clerk 

 of that shipping office. He told him his brother had 

 been shot. The grief of that man was terrible to 

 witness. He disappeared next day. Where is he 

 now? He is where every Arab should be, where 

 every man and boy in this audience would be if they 

 were Arabs — he is in the desert with a rifle in his 

 hands. (Loud cheers.) 



" Tlie Arabs were declared to be guilty on the 

 flimsiest prete.vts. For instance, if a house were 

 searched and a knife found there the owner was put 

 to death. All over North Africa the men w^ar 

 knives as commonly as men in this country wear 

 socks. Men were put to death because razors and 

 empty cartridges w^ere found in their houses. The 

 proclamation of the admiral calling upon them to 

 give up their arms was ineffective. It was ineffective 

 because no Arab knew of it.' I employed an Arab 

 to get information for me, and he knew nothing of 

 this proclamation ; and yet for disobedience to it 

 Arabs were shot, 'lliat I call most unjust. 



" General C!aneva speaks of the Arabs mutilating the 

 Italian soldiers. Well, every second officer in the 

 Italian army has a camera, and generally spends most 

 of his time in photographing the murder of little boys. 

 I have seen one refuse to help a boy who was dying 

 at my feet. I have seen one photograph a boy of 

 fourteen placed against a wall to be shot." (" Shame ! " 

 Interruption from Italians present. An Italian 

 officer, standing on a chair, asks his compatriots to 

 give order, as lie will speak later.) 



The Chairman, addressing Italians present : " If 

 'you are so indignant at what is said, you cannot be 

 'surprised that 7L'e are indignant at what was done ! " 

 (Loud cheers.) 



Mr. McCullagh : "General Caneva says the Arabs 

 mutilated the bodies of Italian soldiers. I could 

 never find any photogra|)hs of such mutilation. I 

 think the Italians would have been very glad to 



have shown them to me. I have been in Tripoli and 

 outside the Italian linSs, but have never seen any- 

 thing of the kind. Even if it were true that the 

 Arabs violated the rules of war, must General Caneva 

 do the same ? General Caneva does not understand 

 the dignity of that mighty name, — Rome. If the 

 Bedouin of the desert does wrong, must Rome follow 

 suit?" (Loud and enthusiastic cheers.) 



Mr. Ashmead Bartlett, representing Renter's, said 

 that he had come only out of friendship for Mr. Mc- 

 Cullagh, a gentleman for whom he had the greatest 

 admiration and esteem. " I am glad to sujiport him 

 on this occasion. I have no hostility towards Italy. 

 I am in favour of forgiving and forgetting where it is 

 possible to forgive and forget. The foreign war 

 correspondents in Tri|)oli would have been glad to 

 forgive and forget all that has been done. If General 

 Caneva and the Italian Government had come forward 

 and said : ' We have erred and regret it, and it shall 

 not occur again,' we would have accepted it and 

 would have done out best to quiet it down. But 

 they would not do so. They called us liars. They 

 say we are animated by hostility, which is utterly 

 ridiculous and absurd. Every war correspondent 

 always does his very best to be on good terms 

 with the army he accompanies. It makes his stay 

 very pleasant. He has means of obtaining informa- 

 tion and has a good time. 1 am glad to support Mr. 

 McCullagh. The wisest course under the circum- 

 stances and for the sake of international friendship is 

 that these things should be forgiven and forgotten. 

 And I will tell you why. I found a more general 

 feeling among the Italian officers that they had erred. 

 They admitted that they had done wrong and re- 

 gretted the occurrences. Pass a vote of censure on 

 the Italian Government and on General Caneva, but 

 in fairness spare the rank and file of the army, who are 

 sorry for what has occurred." (Loud cheers.) 



The Chairman said : — " No one can listen un- 

 moved to an appeal for forgiveness and forgetful- 

 ness. ^Ve will respond. We will forgive and we 

 will forget when the crime has been repented of and 

 security taken against its rejietition." (Loud cheers.) 



SLIDES SHOWN BY MR. McCULLAGH. 



1. General map of affected area. 



2. Tripoli and district. 



3. Comparative maj) showing relative si/e of 

 Tripoli, Turkey and Italy. 



4. One of the forts. 



5. .Another view, showing effects of artillery fire. 



6. Same fort, with view of one large Krupp gun 

 which was left behind by the Turks. "The Italians 

 have been capturing this gun for the last month." 



7. The English officer, Lieutenant Montagu. (Loud 

 and prolonged cheers.) 



8. Part of the oasis. 



9. Shows task in which Italians are engaged. 

 'I'hey are bombarding the desert. It is expensive 

 work. ICvery ten-inch shell costs ^100. Could 



