There is no dispatch printed in the "White Paper"
containing this information. Possibly it was so entwined with other
instructions, which Sir Edward Grey did not care to have known, that it
could not be published. Was it perhaps sent to the printer first as No.
28, and removed at the last moment when it was too late to change the
subsequent numbers? Or, if this assumption is wrong, what was printed
originally as No. 28? Where is No. 28? There are other omissions, and
one especially noteworthy one between Nos. 80 and 106 which will be
discussed later.
Viewed in this light, the English "White Paper" loses much of the value
of a complete record, which it has had in the eyes of many. There is
absolutely no reason to doubt the accuracy of those dispatches which
have been printed, but it becomes incumbent upon the searcher after the
truth to inquire whether the existence of unprinted (in the case of the
German "White Paper" Mr. Beck uses the term "suppressed") papers may not
at times alter the interpretation which should be given to those that
are printed.
Since we have no published records anywhere concerning the advice given
to Italy by the Allies, and the gradual steps leading up to Italy's
decision to remain neutral; nor any hint as to the day when her decision
was communicated to England and the other powers, it would be futile to
speculate on this subject.
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