Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1924. WHERE EXTREMES MEET AND CONFLICT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIV, Issue 1053, 27 June 1924, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 1924. WHERE EXTREMES MEET AND CONFLICT.

The murder of the kidnapped Socialist deputy, Matteotti, appears to be placed beyond doubt, although his body has not yet been discovered, and the police are apparently unable to get at the truth concerning the actions of the Fascisti, who arc alleged to have been concerned in the outrage. The Italian Premier, Signor Mussolini, who was the founder of the Fascuno, may, or may not, have been aware of the project for capturing Matteotti which ended in his murder, but, if the word oi one of the principals in the outrage is accepted, the instructions given to the kidnappers were exceeded. Pilipelli Marinelli, the Fascist leader, under examination by a magistrate contended that it had been merely intended to kidnap and hold Matteotti prisoner during the Parliamentary session so as to prevent his making use of documentary evidence of which he was known to be possessed, implicating prominent political personages in financial scandals of a very serious character. The deputy resisted capture and is thus alleged to have brought his death upon himself. The arrests that have been made appeal' to have been confined to those who were the agents of those responsible for the kidnapping, for the Koine correspondent of the London .Morning Post says that "no one believes that the guilt is limited to the persons arrested,"' and the almost feverish anxiety which Signor Mussolini has displayed in connection with the arrest of somo who were his closest friends, whom he has now thrown overboard, ' is suggestive of positive fear that the murder itself may have sounded the death-knell ot the Fnscimo.> There is something very sinister in the methods adopted by Signor Mussolini to confirm the rule oi the Fascists in Italy. Although the party he leads commands more than a twothirds majority of the Parliamentary deputies, he only had 28 followers in the Chamber prior to the recent elections. He captured the government of the country with his "Black Shirts" by force, and ho may be said to have governed by force. \Vhen he first appeared on the scene Italy was in the hands of Socialists and Communists; its constitution was imperilled and, through the weakness of the Government, the workers had been able to take possession of the principal factories, etc., by expropriating their former owners and seizing their property and plant, etc. A Soviet system of government was well on its way towards establishment, and it was to deliver Italy from a tryanny, which was sapping at the lifeblood of the nation, that Mussolini led his forces to the rescue and marched upon .Rome, where he achieved "a bloodless victory." Unfortunately, however he merely supplanted one form of tyranny by another, and many serious crimes" have been committed against the people by the F-asoteao in asserting the .authority -of Mussolini. Liberty, as wo understand it, ceased to exist in Italy. Private houses, clubs, cafes. town halls and other .places were raided and hundreds >of people maltreatod by the Fascists and, in one month iiloiie (Jnnuarv of this year), property of the value of 50,-000 lire was destroyed. Newspaper offices were -wrecked and their plants destroyed; journalists were assaulted .and wounded, unci, when Professor Salvadori, of Florence, wrote to the New Statesman, in London, explaining what happened to journalists who criticised the Government, a band of armed Fascisti waited upon the Professor and beat him about cruelly, and his son also -when the latter came to his rescue, while "policemen looked on without interfering." I

Finally Professor Salvador! was allowed to go with the assurance that he would remain unmolested "so long as, be breathes no word of criticism of the Fascisti's activities." MUSSOLINI'S SUCCESS. In a communication which Signer Mussolini addressed to the people of England through the columns of the London Spectator, early this year, the Italian "Duce" tried to explain the spiritual significance of Fascimo. He characterised it as "a spiritual revolt against the old theories that were tending to corrupt the sacred principles of religion, country ajid family." When the general election took place in Italy on April 6th of this year, Mussolini secured a sweeping victory at the polls, obtaining 64 per cent, of the votes castThe strength of parties in the new Parliament was as follows:—Fascisti, 374 ; Popularise, 39; Socialists, 36; Maximalists, !#; Liberals, 17; Communists, 17 ; Constitutional Oppositionists, 12 ; Social Democrats, 11; Republicans, 7; Peasant Party, 3; Slavs, 2; Germans, 2, and Sardinian Autonomists, 2"Rarely in the history of Parliaments has (says a writer in one of the reviews) a greater change in the composition of a Chamber taken place. A party numbering in the last Parliament only twenty-eight members has now risen to 374. The losses in the other parties have been correspondingly great. The Populaiists, or Catholic Party, and the Socialists, who together have' held about half the seats in the last two Chambers, hay* l>oth been greatly reduced. Except for the Fascisti, these are the only truly national parties, with strength enough to present tickets in all the election districts. The rest of the Opposition was so disunited that only a very small measure oi success could bo hoped for. There was, however, surprise at the failure of the Constitutional Democrats, led by Bonomi and Amendola, who, through 11 Mondo, Nitti's former paper, have carried on an active campaign against Fascimo. Though Amendola, the deputy, flogged by a group of Fascisti in the streets of Rome in December, was elected in Salerno, two leaders of the party, former Premier Bonomi and former Deputy Corradine were defeated in Milan and in the Abruzzi." Mussolini's victory was, therefore, both sweeping and complete, and, with such extensive support as was accorded him, there should have been no need to resort to force and terrorism for the maintenance of the Government. But Mussolini's rule is largely autocratic, and autocracies lend themselves more readily to corrupt practices, and for their 'maintenance depend so largely upon the repression of democratic sentiment that, sooner or later, they must create a revulsion of feeling in the mind of the nation, which tends towards revolution and the overthrow of the autocrats. Mussolini will be fortunate if he escapes the fate of other autocrats, and his attempts to dissociate himself from the conspirators who are responsible for Matteotti's murder, go to show that he is becoming fearful of the policy of force in the government of.the country, which he himself was largely instrumental in introducing.