When we departed from Hvar the Admiral sent his destroyer to accompany
us on our tour. She had on board a Roman journalist, Signor Roberto
Buonfiglio, who was travelling in Dalmatia and the islands on behalf of
the clerical _Corriere d'Italia_. The situation at Vis, the historic
palm-shaded capital of the island of the same name, has already been
described. The Italian Commandant, Sportiello, was a tactful and popular
person; moreover the Yugoslavs were on the best of terms with Dr. Doimi,
the head of one of the very rare Italian families. At Komi[vz]a, the
other little town on that island, the relations between Yugoslavs and
Italianists were not so cordial. But the deputation which represented
the latter party comprised one man whom the Austrians had put in gaol
for several years for forgery; a father and son, of whom the one had
sold himself for the sake of rice, while the other had also been
imprisoned by the Austrians for uttering false documents; the fourth and
most innocent member--his name happened to be Innocent Buliani--had
nothing to conceal except his fickleness, for in a short period he had
called himself an Austrian, a Yugoslav and an Italian. None of these
four was a native of the place, whereas the Yugoslavs who came to see us
were natives who had risen to be the chief doctor, lawyer, priest and
merchant. One of the Italianists, Antonio Spadoni, told us that the
people were afraid of expressing their real wishes for union with Italy.
This hypothesis might seem to demand some elucidation, but Signor
Spadoni insisted on passing on to the "Workers' Society," which the
young Commandant had founded for the purpose, according to Spadoni, of
helping the people to find work and of looking after their interests. We
were subsequently told by the Yugoslavs that the Commandant himself
called the members his "Rice Italians," for many of them did not speak
the language and did not even sympathize with Italy. But on joining they
had committed themselves to something that was printed at the top of the
paper, which part had been turned over. It really doesn't sound very
worthy of a Great Power. When some of the members, discovering to what
they were committed, sent in their resignation, it was refused. At
Komi[vz]a all the municipal officers had been discharged by the
Italians, the reading-rooms and places of amusement had been closed, and
the Food Administrator at Split was forbidden to send any food, lest he
should interfere with the Italians' object in distributing rice, etc.
Once he was permitted to forward some American flour, and the people had
to pay forty crowns of duty on each hundredweight.