BRITISH FASCISM

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 25, 29 December 1925, Page 8

BRITISH FASCISM

BAND OF EARNEST PEOPLE. OPPOSED TO DISRUPTIVE FORCES. Two years ago almost to the day, 20 earnest Englishmen formed the British Fascisti (wrote a London correspondent on November 5. To-day there are 350,000 earnest English men and women associated with the movement, with 700 branches. Every day the number is swelling, and people are beginning to wonder where it will end. For jlou cannot create a vast organisation such as that is and not feel the influence of it sooner or later. At the moment this mushroom-like growth is rather loosely knit together. It is questionable whether even the higher officials could tell you definitely and with any particularity what they are aiming at._ They have noble ideals, but everything is along broad lines.

They have several important aims, such as: (1) To awaken the British public in every part of the world to the great danger in which the Empire stands, and to insist that the Government take a strong line against the Reds; (2) to disperse the fumes of class hatred upon which the Communists base thoir campaigns all over civilisation and to strike at the roots of the forces which foster Communism ; (3) to stand four-square on the Christian ideals of unselfish brotherhood and individual discipline; (4) to provide each area with a live organisation which will oppose tho Communist efforts to reduce us to a state of civil war; and (5) to prevent any section of the press off, any political party from assuming possession of the movement.

From this platform you suspect, and very rightly, too, that the Fascists have no great love for the apostles of Bolshevism, but it would be a great mistake to suppose that the organisation exists solely to fight the Red peril. The Reds, in the opinion of the leaders of the movemeet, happen to be the dominating forcotj of evil at present facing the Empire, but the Reds are merely one obstacle in the path of Fascist progress. Their objective is a long way beyond the overthrow of the Cooks and. the AValshes and the Johnsons and the Pollitts. They aim at placing tho Empiro on a footing very much sounder than, at E resent, and they propose to do it—ow, it would seem, has not yet been worked out in chronological order —by gingering up tho Government, destroying the forces of disorder, disruption, disaffection and dissension, righting wrongs, safeguarding the principles of free speech, sweeping away plague spots, and so on. . It is all very general, and it is obvious that unless tho organisation dies through its own unwieldiness or ineptitude—an exceedingly unlikely fate, in view of tli© enthusiasm of its members —it will in tho end settle down into a political party with wider aspirations and more defined objectives.

BREAKING A GAS STRIKE. I have spoken to some of the staff on this subject, and there are evidences that their ideas are shaping that way. For instance, you are told that the country is drifting; that the public must be awakened to the danger; that some sort of organisation must be provided which will enable the country to look after itself in the event of a general strike or civil war; that tho movement is non-political in the sense that it will support any constitutional Government, not excepting a Labour Government; that it is national in its outlook; that it has no association with bosses either of capital or labour, but that it intends to ennoble and enrich the Empire and its people. How, you ask, can you do that if the Government is supine ? By overthrowing the Government, you are told. . . This means, you reply, Fascisti candidates at elections. Your informant agrees that that is an obvious method. How long it will be before the political influence of the Fascisti is felt, I do not intend to prophesy. It seems inevitable that it must use its weight sooner or later.

So far, it has don© little, if anything, of a concerted nature, though it has) everything ready for emergencies. 'When a member joins he states his occupation ; age, branch of war service, rank, period, and decorations, and whether he drives or owps a car. This information would be very useful if, say, action was decided on in the event of a general strike. Meanwhile, however, the activities of the organisation have been individual rather than collective. Each centre acts as it thinks fit in interpreting the ideals of the order. At Cambridge, for instance ; the commander, an undergraduate of 20, learned that a strike was projected at the gasworks as a protest against the employment of some non-unionists—old servants who would not join the union because they objected to the use of the funds for political purposes. The County of Cambridge, including the hospitals, depends on the gasworks for its lighting and its cooking. Believing that the public services must be maintained at all costs, the commander informed the manager of the gasworks that if he needed men to make gas or protect workers he only needed to say the word. The strike duly occurred, men were asked for, shifts were supplied, including many young men from the university, and after 16 hours the strikers yielded unconditionally. Bed activities at political meetings have been checked, not by the use of foroe, so much as by the moral effect produced by the presence of a stout body of hardy young fellows, massed ina conspicuous part of the hall. In one case the commander sat close to the platform, and when the Red element became rather too noisy, he blew his whistle. His company rose en masse, and the Reds precipitately fled. Only two days ago it was reported that municipal electors were being intimidated at Islington, a district which, by the way, is represented by Miss Grace Watson, formerly of Australia. Fascist! were despatched to the scene, they took up positions close to the booth, and no further complaints were received of molestation. HOW COOK SUDDENLY FADED AWAY. Mr Cook, the emperor of the coal miners, has already had one encounter with the Fascisti. Ho was speaking at Hitchin, and as his recent utterances had been dangerously inflammatory. the local commander ordered a whip-up of members. Two hundred were rapidly gathered, and they went into the hall in a mass. Mr Cook could not mistake them. The meeting was exceedingly orderly, because, it was explained afterwards, ’ there was nothing in. the emperor’s speech even for the most meticulous to cavil at. He suddenly faded. At the close, one of the party rose to ask ■ a question concerning a previous ut- > terance, and Mr Cook excused himself ron the pl ea that he had a train to catch. So he had. ''But it was not due

to leave for three-quarters of an hour. The organisation is not aggressive. Nor is a peace-at-any price party. The kidnapping of Pollitt, however, is the only instance of violence of which the officials have knowledge. That was a stunt for which the local organisation was entirely responsible. Headquarters do not approve of it, and similar escapades are not encouraged. There have been numerous fights between the Fascists and the Communists, but the Black Shirts were concerned in them. The Black Shirts are a definite and distinct organisation. They are the hot-heads or the direct actionists, who broke away from the main body in the early days. They wanted aggression. When they saw a Red head they wanted to beat it, so_ they formed the National Fascisti and’ proceeded at onoe to wipe the Communists off the map. Their fervour was fine, but their judgment was faulty. Their distinguishing badge is their black shirt. The only way to tell the British Fascisti is by their badge and their tie—a whiteish background with a black stripe. Nor do the British Fasoisti pay homage to or recognise Mussolini. They have nothing against Mussolini, but there is no alliance between the Italian order and the British. The only similarity is in the name. The British Fascisti regard themselves as the exponents of the principles • of Fascism as it affects the British Empire.