se inspirer was the taciturn Baron Sonnino. The
Italian press, by insisting on Fiume as a _sine qua non_ of
Italy's approval of the Peace Treaty and by announcing
that it would undoubtedly be accorded, had made it
practically impossible for the delegates to recede. The
circumstance that the press was inspired by the government is immaterial
to the issue. President Wilson, who had been frequently told that a word
from him to the peoples of Europe would fire their enthusiasm and carry
them whithersoever he wished, even against their own governments, now
purposed wielding this unique power against Italy's plenipotentiaries.
As we saw, he would have done this during his sojourn in Rome, but was
dissuaded by Baron Sonnino. His intention now was to compel the
delegates to go home and ascertain whether their inflexible attitude
corresponded with that of their people and to draw the people into the
camp of the "idealists." He virtually admitted this during his
conversation with Signor Orlando. What he seems to have overlooked,
however, is that there are time limits to every policy, and that only
the same causes can be set in motion to produce the same results. In
Italy the President's name had a very different sound in April from the
clarion-like tones it gave forth in January, and the secret of his
popularity even then was the prevalent faith in his firm determination
to bring about a peace of justice, irrespective of all separate
interests, not merely a peace with indulgence for the strong and rigor
for the weak. The time when Mr. Wilson might have summoned the peoples
of Europe to follow him had gone by irrevocably. It is worth noting that
the American statesman's views about certain of Italy's claims, although
originally laid down with the usual emphasis as immutable, underwent
considerable modifications which did not tend to reinforce his
authority. Thus at the outset he had proclaimed the necessity of
dividing Istria between the two claimant nations, but, on further
reflection, he gave way in Italy's favor, thus enabling Signor Orlando
to make the point that even the President's solutions needed
corrections. It is also a fact that when the Italian Premier insisted on
having the Adriatic problems definitely settled before the presentation
of the Treaty to the Germans[213] his colleagues of France and Britain
assured him that this reasonable request would be complied with. The
circumstance that this promise was disregarded d