DICTATOR'S ART

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 14, 16 July 1937, Page 8

DICTATOR'S ART

HOW MUSSOLINI RULES

WORK OF DEPARTMENTS

RELATIVELY SIMPLE

Part of the art of dictatorship consists of creating the impression that, the dictator, and the dictator alone, governs the country, writes Ivor Jennings in the "Manchester Guardian." In Italy every creditable act of government is ascribed to Mussolini himself. Indeed, nobody except the Duce, Count Ciano, and Starace, the Secretary of the Fascist Party, receives much publicity. Starace is careful to describe most of his action as "by order of. the Duce," and even so his position is regarded as so precarious that he is thought to be the next person to be ''promoted" to Libya or elsewhere in the "Empire." This is, indeed, part of Mussolini's technique. He has not to play off one lieutenant against another, as Hitler has. He will bear no Goermg or Goebbels near the Palazzo Venezia. By taking the credit for everything himself the Duce is able to maintain his unique position, and because he has that unique position he can "promote" anybody who threatens to usurp part of the limelight.

In consequence, it is by no means | easy to determine how much of the process of government is carried out by Mussolini himself. It is not even easy to say how much work is done by a British Prime Minister, and Prime Ministers do not make it their business to take credit for everything. That Mussolini works hard —far harder than Hitler—cannot be doubted. He himself has said that he works twelve or fourteen hours a day; and probably he did not exaggerate. The government oi Italy and the "Empire" is not so complicated as the government of the British Empire. Moreover, a dictator has advantages that a British Prime Minister does not possess. Mussolini has no House of Commons to manage. For at least eight hours ,a day on at least half the days of the year a British Prime Minister has to be in or near the Palace of Westminster, leading the House, listening to speeches, answering questions and criticisms. The Fascist Chamber of Deputies is a place for complimentary speeches. It is in session for short periods only; and, in any case, once he has received its homage Mussolini can leave it in charge of a Minister and a couple of Under Secretaries. While the Chamber was sitting last time, for instance, the Duce was receiving the Sword of Islam | in the "Empire." NO ELECTIONS NOW. Also, because there are no elections and no Opposition, Mussolini has riot to persuade by public speeches. He does not defend himself because he is above criticism. He needs only to string together a few exhortations to heroism, a few words of praise to Fascist warriors, and a few slights to effete democracies which know no discipline. At the same time, while he has not to perform some of the most difficult and fatiguing functions of a British Prime Minister, he has others to fulfil. He is both Prime Minister and King of Italy. There is, of course, another King. Occasionally that other' is permitted to put on a uniform and share the light that shines on his principal "subject," but for the most part he lives his life in the bosom of his family. What Bagehot called the "dignified functions of monarchy are performed by Mussolini. Once or twice a week he cuts a first sod, or lays a foundation-stone, or opens an exhibition, or reviews troops, or visits public works. These are essential functions; for, their being no "politics" in the democratic sense, the Italian Press can publish very little internal political news. Occasionally the Ministry of Propaganda produces a semi-technical article; but /for the most part the Press must rely on the circuses provided by the armed forces and the party. These circuses have the additional advantage of permitting the ardent members of the party to show themselves in their uniforms. But apart from circuses the Duce has other functions of royalty. Every day he receives victorious generals, or heads of autonomous public authorities, or leading lights of provincial towns, or widows of deceased heroes, or professors anxious to do homage (with an eye on the market) with their works of learning. So Mussolini maintains contact with every shade of public life and indicates that he, and not his Ministers, governs Italy. DECIDING POLICY. . All this is apart from the real work of government. Mussolini was at one time Minister for nearly everything. Some of his Ministries he has relinquished, but he intends to keep the armed forces and the police under his control, and he therefore retains the three Defence' Ministries and the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, he may be described as the Cabinet. No important decision is taken and.no important appointment is made without his sanction. This does not mean, as the reader of the Italian Press is left to infer, that policy js formulated by the Duce. Most questions of government in all countries come up from below. The permanent officials of the departments and of autonomous public authorities make . suggestions for extending their sphere of action or modifying their system of administration. As far as can be judged, these come up to Mussolini in much,the same way as they come up to the. British Cabinet. The Cabinet has precise rules for securing that all proposals shall be submitted in memoranda, that they shall be precisely formulated, and that as far as possible they shall be agreed by all departments concerned before they are submitted. Whether such rules exist in Italy I do not know. It seems, however, that questions are normally brought up in this way. If a department or an autonomous j authority, such as the Central Statistical Institution, desires to extend its authority it will set out numerically in a memorandum the exact powers that it desires. Mussolini can then write over each proposal "Si" or "No," as he thinks fit. This does not tell us how he decides "Si" or "No." Here we go farther into the realm of conjecture. For the official version is, more or less, that the Duce is divinely inspired. As in all governmental systems, there are certain general principles, often not expressed, .y which any proposal can be judged. In Ttaly the most important of these is that Mussolini and all the Fascist hierarchy shall remain predominant and their authority be unchallenged. This is, indeed, the only permanent principle. NO DEEP PRINCIPLES. Fascist propagandists, and even many others, assert that totalitarian States can formulate general policies, and, unlike democratic Governments, see that they are carried out. There are no such deep principles in Italy: policies are determined from time to time according to the needs of the moment. Usually, like the principle of autarchy formulated at the last meeting of the Fascist Grand Council, they are fairly obvious, and the formality of a meeting of the Council is required only for propaganda purposes. Within the framework of these temporary principles the departments submit proposals much asHhc British