THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1925. MUSSOLINI AND AFTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19170, 9 November 1925, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1925. MUSSOLINI AND AFTER.

An attempt to murder Signor Mussolini has failed. It was detected in time and made fruitless. Some other time the result may be different. It would not be surprising if there were other attempts, for the methods of fascism invite violence in resistance. The ordinary avenues of protest or opposition have been closed. But whether the end of his personal sway comes by violence or peacefully, Mussolini's day will be over eventually, for he like any other man is mortal. Then there must arise the question, what is to follow? So far as can be realised now, there is no assurance that another similar leader can be found, or that the organisation and discipline of fascism are such that it can maintain its cohesion without him. There seems to bo no stand-by plant if the machine stops. With all the defects and deficiencies of the Fascist regime, which have been proclaimed loudly and often, it has proved a positive force, which has carried Italy along toward material prosperity. The legend of a decadent trifling people, which was common before the war, has been swept away. The wave of bolshevism which threatened to flood the country immediately after peace came has been hurled back. Italy is no negligible factor in international affairs. Under fascism industrial and financial progress has been made. All this has been gained, but the price has had to be paid. It has been in part by the loss of personal liberty, freedom of expression, and sometimes, it would seem, almost of thought, by the restraint placed on representative government, and by the suspicion which has fallen on the administration of justice. What the attack on Mussolini brings out most emphatically is that the greater part of the price may have to be paid in the future. The kindliest judgments passed on the results of the Fascist coup are based on consideration of what preceded it, or of the fate from which it is claimed to have saved Italy. Its fiercest indictments spring from the restraints and restrictions it has placed on the individual. Yet there is room to suspect that the true verdict on the work and effects of fascism cannot be reached for many years to come. It is true that the movement came to the rescue at a time when the country seemed' bent on following in the footsteps of Russia. Apologists have tried to minimise the menace of a Communist revolt which brought the Fascists out in their famous march on Rome. The evidence is against them. It has been suggested that the Go% r ernment which Mussolini cast out of office was standing supine from policy, confident that the movement for the seizure of factories and the overturning of the economic structure of the country would exhaust itself, and all would be well. There is more reason to believe that timidity and lack of energy rather than wise policy aLlowed the disruptive forces to range the country at will. A dispassionate survey of the various statements, pro and con, brings the conclusion that it was a real menace from which Italy was rescued when the Fascists came out at the call of Mussolini. To admit as much does not mean endorsing all that has been done since. Even if circumstances were such that strong measures, on unorthodox lines, were necessary, there is an overwhelming case for a gradual relaxation of the new system imposed on the country in the effort to cure it of the ills from which it was suffering. Having gone from one extreme to the other, the statesmanlike course for Mussolini was surely to seek for the golden mean, to restore discipline, and then to provide for its maintenance by orthodox methods. He has not done this. He seized the reins, and he has refused to let them go. The result is this uncertainty about what will happen when they fall or are snatched from his hands.

The regime of the Fascists has been a despotism, depending for its effectiveness largely on one man. Even a benevolent despotism is an anachronism in these days of modern thought and the cult of representative government Benevolence has not been the ruling characteristic of fascism, at least toward its opponents. While it has given Italy strong government, it has not done much to encourage the Italians as a whole to govern themselves strongly and soundly. To deprive the people of all responsibility is not the way to teach them to maintain responsible government. The system came into being suddenly. It is liable to end suddenly, the more so because to a very great extent Mussolini is fascism .arid fascism is Mussolini. If its structure does crumble in a night, as it was built in a day, has anything been provided to give Italy better or stronger or more ordered government than existed when it came into being! There is nothing visible, so that the prospect is for a return to what preceded it, with the added complication of all the concealed bitterness and suppressed opposition which has been driven underground by the strong hand of fascism. No one can say that there is a probable or possible successor to Mussolini in sight. He is not the kind of man to encourage or even to tolerate one. Neither can it be said that the organisation which he has shaped can continue without his guidance. These are the reasons why, despite the claims made for what fascism has done, the future of Italy is far from clear. Should Mussolini go, no one can say what would follow. This has to be considered when it is realised that, whether at the hand of the assassin, or in the ordinary way of mortal man, Mussolini must go some day.