FASCIST ITALY

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 55, 2 September 1927, Page 4

FASCIST ITALY

PRESENT POSITION:

It was stated in a cablegram, publish: ed in "The Post" on Wednesday: that :the London "Daily Chronicle" had published an article from ....'. giving what was represented to ibe•" an extraordinary interview between the King of Italy and the former Premier." The message stated: "It is learned from ■ most reliable sources that Signor-Gib-' ;litti and four other ex-Premiers, Signor Salandra, Signor Solen, Signor Orlando, and Signor Bonomi agreed that thepresent situatipn^pplitically and economically, w&s^most serious, and charged Signor Giolitti to communicate with the Kingi" who received him in the preeenceof the famous General Badoglio." I The; King is reported to have llstenf ed attentively and replied: 'What, you say is:-very interesting. 'However, I ; warn ybn.-I^am a constitutional King, :therefore 'will do nothing to alter the -present situation as long as even a formaFParliament exists." In addition, 'I must say^that if the .party in power wishes to drive me from the Throne, ■I shall do nothing to prevent this.' " The cablegram has elicited the following comment from Comm. M. Blunno, Royal Consul for Italy in New Zealand:— .

"On the face of it, tho mysterious /meeting between His Majesty King '"Victor Emanuel and the ex-Premier, rSignor Giolitti, which-.- it was alleged :took .place in: the'^presence of General Badoglio, Chief of. the Staff, is a badly Itbrjr'aii'd 'obviously tho.Kan- ; diwork ■ of;.,the. anti-Fascisti Italians, who have made Paris the principal cen;tre for their plotting against Fascismo. ;; "To begin with, His Majesty, wh» is a perfect constitutional King, would not have granted an audience to anybody .who would speak to him about politics, even if tne 'interviewer were an ex.Pfemier who wished to approach His .^Majesty as spokesman for other past 'Goyefnmentfleaders. It is still less boilievable that'the General Chief of the Staff of alli-the' armed .forces would be summoned to:. the • interview. General Badoglio is too much of a soldier to -ignore loyalty to his immediate chief, who is the Minister of War, and the 'Minister of War is Signor Mussolini. ; "In.the Italian Army and Navy there ;has always/been"the strictest, discipline, and..even. officers occupying the : highest -position look- upon the -responsible: Minister as. their head. In a Italy is not the country'of pro•nunciamentoii The-annual sum of 158 million/lire, roughly speaking, £1,750,POO, spent, to keep 200,000 militia, is a ! : very small premium to pay to ensure law- and- order.: Not all the Fascist, x militia is under arms; but a few thousand are employed in turn as occasions arise. 'Theid daily pay is 10 lire, that is les sthan 3s, besides their rations. They .help,.the ordinary police, viz., the Royal Carabineers, in the execution of various police duties. With the intter they do patrol work, aSord assistance ■wherever needed, and they run down evil doers, as, for instance, the sweeping raids, on. the Mafia in Sicily, and in the Mazzoni country, in the district of Caserta, where outlawry has been rampant from time immemorial.- Fascismo does not nurse 'festering sores, and Sighor Mussolini is a clever surgeon. "As -to Italy's economic position, there is_ no doubt that tho cost of living is.; high, but it is so the world over. The/wonderful recovery of. the Italian liraiwhich from 150 to the pound sterling, as it was a few months ago, and now; stands at 90y is causing some uneasihess, which is mostly f oit by the Housewife, because, while gross prices Save, decreased, retail prices are only rtowly going down. When dealing-with £. depreciated currency it would be rash policy to resort to-drastic and general price-fixing. The adequacy of retail prices, to the increased purchasing power of the lira can only.be reached gradually, and this is what. Fascisnio is doing. ' . ■".■.'!

MThe--statement that; tho. Pascista. Government is resorting to economic Bolshevism in order to propitiate'the working-classes is sheer nonsense. Signor Mussolini's government is no class government; vand the. Corporation Law, ■which is .being enacted throughout the kingdom and covers, all forms of na-: tional activity, and applies equally to masters and men, is the best refutation of the lie. Men such as those who i=*ry :to the Government of their native country, by endeavouring to do harm to the country itself, are not playing; the game.".' '. ■" -■■;■•.;