Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1926. THE IRON HAND IN ITALY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 110, 9 April 1926, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. FRIDAY, APRIL 9, 1926. THE IRON HAND IN ITALY.

Cablegrams from London indicate tlie arrival of another crisis in Italian affairs arising out of the Mussolini dictatorship. While the message received from Chiasso by the Daily Herald must be' accepted with a certain amount of reserve, owing to the invariable policy of that journal in discrediting, as far as possible, all parties in any way opposed to its Communistic Labour principles, it is fairly evident that there is an increasingly strong feeling against the methods adopted by the Italian Prime Minister and . the Eascists supporting him, which may make Signor Mussolini’s position one of grave difficulty. Dictatorships, under certain conditions, may be both necessary I and desirable, but when the crisis ! which gives rise to the necessity for the strong arm and steel glove being brought into play is over, and a return to normal conditions of government becomes possible, it is a mistake to continue the autocratic rule which has displaced democratic government. Signor Mussolini is w r edded to the idea that differences of opinion must not be tolerated within the Fascist ranks. In an article he contributed to the Italian monthly review, Gerarchia, .entitled “Viaticum for 1926,” portions of which were republished in the London Times on February Bth, the Italian Prime Minister says: “Fascism must not admit heterodoxy. This is its peculiar character, this the fundamental reason of its life, of all ideas newly formed which strive to dominate the world. Fascism has won because it has never tolerated any difference oP opinion; its block is monolithic. Fascism wins and wilL win while it preserves this austere Unitarian spirit, this religious obedience, and this aesthetic discipline. Faith, then, not relative, but absolute faith; faith in Fascism which is at work in strengthening the psj’chic face of Italy, and the moral features of the Italian revolution, which will have in 1926 its Napoleonic year.” The Napoleonic reference, it may be remarked, is rather ambiguous; it may also prove unfortunate, for the great Napoleon had his day of splendid triumph and his days of humiliating and final defeat. Is 1926 to witness Fascism in Italy at the height of its plenitude and power, or do the coming days hold for it the defeat and humiliation which finally end all autocracies ? Fascism saved Italy from Communism and the evils which accompany the substitution of its principles for those of democracy, but there is so much the two autocracies hold in common that the question must and will arise: “Is not the one extreme of government as bad as the other ?” Signor Mus-

solini is a man of high principles and lofty ideals, but both are clouded by his determination to admit of no other opinions or methods of government than his own among his followers, and to ruthlessly suppress all other expressions of opinion among his opponents. Just as Communism in office (as in Eussia) admits of no discussion on its methods of government and uses the iron hand to suppress all anti-revolu-tionary propaganda, so Fascism declares, in the words of its chief exponent, that Fascism cannot and will not tolerate any difference of opinion; its “block” being “monolithic.” Not so long ago Signor Mussolini was reported as being “a very sick man,” the messages received concerning him suggesting that he had but a very few months to live. Where is the “Strong man” to be found who could and would succeed him, and be capable of holding Italy, as he has held it, under a despotic government which demands the suppression of all opinions in any way unfavourable to it, and of all actions that would tend to challenge its authority?. The Fascists are undoubtedly a power in the land; but, apart from Mussolini, they would be lacking in leadership and the cohesive power which has so far held the Fascists together.