It was ironical that a young State, struggling into life, should be
hindered, not by former enemies but by friends of its friends. The
Italians complained that the French, British and Americans were not
fraternizing with them. In the first place, it was repugnant to the
sense of justice of these nations when they saw that General di San
Marzano, after having fraudulently seized the town of Rieka and turning
its absolutely legal Governor into the street, did not ask the citizens
to organize a temporary local government, in which all parties would be
represented, but delivered, if you please, the town to fifteen
gentlemen, the I.N.C., who--at the very utmost--represented half the
population. On November 24, the local newspaper _Il Popolo_ announced in
a non-official manner that the I.N.C., in full accord with the military
command, had taken over the administration--_i poteri pubblici_. This,
by the way, was never confirmed by the representatives of the other
Allies. The I.N.C. furthermore declared null and of no effect any
intervention of the Yugoslav National Council in the affairs of the
authorities of the State of Rieka. When the Yugoslavs appealed to the
French, British or Americans they were naturally met with sympathy and
urged to have patience. Case after case of high-handed dealing was
reported to these officers. They sometimes intervened with good effect;
far more injustice would have happened; far more Croats and Autonomists,
for instance, would have been deported if the Allies had not interceded.
It was now, of course, impossible for Yugoslavs to wear their colours;
nor could they prevent the C.N.I. from hanging vast Italian flags on
Croat houses. One of the largest flags, I should imagine, in the world
swayed to and fro between Rieka's chief hotel and the tall building on
the opposite side of the square--and both these houses, mark you, were
Croat property. But the Allied officers knew very well (and the C.N.I.
knew that they knew) that more than thirty of the large buildings on the
front belonged to Croats, whereas under half a dozen were the property
of Italians or Italianists. The ineffable Mr. Edoardo Susmel, in one of
his pro-Italian books, entreats certain French and British friends of
the Yugoslavs to come for one hour to Rieka and judge for themselves.
But twenty minutes would be ample for a man of average intelligence. In
many ways the presence of the Allies grieved the C.N.I. The Allies
looked without approval at the "Giovani Fiumani," an association of
young rowdies of whose valuable services the C.N.I. availed itself. But
if these hired bands could not be dispersed they could have limits
placed upon their zeal. One of their ordinary methods was to sit in
groups in cafes or in restaurants or other places where an orchestra was
playing, then to shout for the Italian National Anthem and to make
themselves as nasty as they dared to anyone who did not rise. If
everybody rose, then they would wait a quarter of an hour and have the
music played again. The Allied officers persuaded General Grazioli to
prohibit any National Anthem in a public place. It was distasteful to
the Allied officers when a local newspaper in French--_l'Echo de
l'Adriatique_--which had been established to present the Yugoslav point
of view, was continually being suppressed. For example, on December 14,
it printed a short greeting from the Croat National Council to President
Wilson. The most anti-Italian phrase in this that I could find was:
"Their fondest hope is to justify to the world, to history and to you
the great trust you have placed in them." This was refused publication.
It is unnecessary to say that Yugoslav newspapers were confiscated and
their sale forbidden--after all, one didn't buy German or Austrian
newspapers in England during the War, and the Italians now regarded the
Croats as very pernicious enemies. _La Rassegna Italiana_ of December 15
called its first article--printed throughout in italics--"I Prussiani
dell' Adriatico," and took to its bosom an "upright American citizen"
returning from a visit to "Fiume nostra," who defined the Yugoslavs "on
account of their greed and their brutality and their spirit of intrigue
and their lack of candour as the Prussians of the Adriatic." Personally
I should submit that the Prussian spirit was not wholly lacking in those
two Italian officers who penetrated on November 25 into the dining-room
at the quarters of the Custom-house officials and informed them that
they wanted their piano. No discussion was permitted; the piano
"transferred itself," as they say in some languages, to the Italian
officers' mess. The Prussian spirit was not undeveloped in a certain Mr.
[vS]tigli['c]--his name might cause his enemies to say he is a renegade,
but as my knowledge of him is confined to other matters, we will say he
is the noblest Roman of them all. He likewise had a dig at the
Custom-house officials; I know not whether he was wiping off old scores.
Appointed by the I.N.C. as director of the Excise office, he
communicated with the resident officials--Franjo Jakov[vc]i['c], Ivan
Mikuli[vc]i['c] and Grga Ma[vz]uran--on December 5, and told them to
clear out by the following Saturday, they and their families, so that in
the heart of winter forty-one persons were suddenly left homeless.