ITALY AND THE FASCISTI

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 91, 14 October 1922, Page 6

ITALY AND THE FASCISTI

Signor Mussolini, leader of the Italian Fascisti, has declared that there are two sets of authorities in jfcfcaly, namely, the Government and the Fascisti, and if the Government will not dissolve Parliament in. November the Fascisti will dissolve it. Th© muster of 35,000 Fascisti at Naples to march on Rome makes the threat a*very definite one. This may be regarded as the outcome of the sensational rise of the Fascisti to power in the country, and the. fact that such ascendency is not reflected in the Chamber pf Deputies. Of 535 deputies orJy 35 are Fascisti. Yet the Fascist rule is the main issue in the popular Chamber, and Fascist .threats have changed Governments. The Fascisti hold such power in the country that they are able to defy the Government and the people's representatives. It was their threat to take control of the country that forced the Government into action when a political general strike was attempted some months ago. The Government did act, but in a manner which showed itts weakness. It arrested Communists and Socialists, but failed to interfere with Fascisti, who were also defying the appointed authority by taking the law into their own hands.

The danger of the position lies in the discredit which is thus cast upon the lawfully-constituted authority and upon the system of ■ representative government. A Government which helped to create unlawful authority by accepting its assistance and overlooking its misdemeanours cannot escape blame when it in turn is menaced by that unlawful authority. The Fascist movement has attained its strength since the Chamber of Deputies was elected in May, 1921. The national temperament which made so rapid a- rise possible may itself provide the check which will stay the movement before it pursues its forceful defiance of authority to the ; logical conclusion of revolution... Writing in the mid-

die of August, the Rome correspondent of "The Times" stated:

Should Signor Mussolini call on his followers to capture Rome, they would do it; and shrewd observers insist that they would meet with very little opposition. The situation, then, would appear very alarming. . But the fact that movements do not develop to their logical con.clusio.ns will save Italy. The Fascisti hare even more power in the country now than the Communis,ts had two years ago, but they will not^usc it. Instead, satisfied for the moment with their victory, they are more likely to leave the country in relative peace until November, when they will insist on General Elections. Only if the Government should try to postpone elections would the Fascisti, exasperated at being under-represented in the Chamber, again threaten to take control of the country themselves. • The greatest cause for wonder to the British observer is that any Government should continue to hold office when its authority, based upon the popular will, has been undermined. The Fascist movement owes its rise to reaction following Communist attempts at social revolution. It may bring about its downfall by attempting to use power as the Communists used it. •