ITALY’S PLACE IN THE SUN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19069, 15 January 1924, Page 4

ITALY’S PLACE IN THE SUN.

THE POBTEXT OF MUSSOLIXX. A sympaMietic *indy of S-ignor : Mussolini and. his policy i& contributed to the London Daily Mail by Mr G Ward Price. Signor Mussolini's announcement that he intends io triple the »ur force of Italy will raise again in th© minds of many people the question : What does he intend to do with his • power? writes Mr Price. The reality Zf that power cannot be doubted. It is the power of nearly behind him as no nation has been united behind one man in fhodern history. The muss enthusiasm of the first anniversary, last week, of the March on Home, showed that Italy lies in Mussolini’s hand. To what ends will he direct her? The actions of all men are influenced by their environment, even when that environment is of their own creation. So, since the strength of Mussolini’s position needs no stressing, it la worth while to consider its weaknesses. The most conspicuous of these is that the sole fundation of the Fascist Government is the bread shoulders of Mussolini himself* -hough patriotic Fascist ideal of Stateservice lives in the heart of most Italians independently of the personality of their leader, _ Mussolini himself is the island-rock on which liae State now elands. In the dictatorship of the Soviets there is a Trotsky as well as a Lenin. In the anti-Soviet dictatorship of Italj 7 Mussolini rules alone* The Directory of the Fascist Party are his nominees; the Quadmmvirate, his Privy Council cf ‘'trusties,” are his chosen functionaries, nothing more. Someone aaked him the other day what would happen if he disappeared. *T am working to' build a machine, he answered. “"When the machine is complete it will be easy to find the mechanicians.” The rejoinder to that is that he himself is the machine, from startinghandi©, to steering wheel; he is even the very tud cn which it runs. STRICT STANDARD OP PROBITY. There is another weak point in Fascism, wlrieb Mussolini is doing ins best to cure. In parts of Italy it has degenerated into ruio by local "bosses.” Through a natural failing of human nature militant political organisations. when they achieve success, are liable to be exploited for personal ends. Petty chieftains are capable of misusing the disciplined strength of the party to push their Inends, extort subscriptions, or grab publio contracts. Mussohni has lately been putting a drastic purification in process. He himself Jays down strict standards of probity. He refused to allow two members of the Quadmmvirate to accept directorships winch were offered them in a big insurance company. And to those of us who last week watched the amazing scenes cf his triumphal progress through -Northern and Central Italv, it seemed as if the very enthusiasm of his followers will be another problem with which Mussolini will have to cope. At Milan 6000 Fascist paraded before him in arms. In that tremendous voice of his, which can fill the largest public square, ho asked them: “If I demand of you still greater sacrifices in the future will you make them?” A frantic roar of “Yes! yes!”; a wild brandishing of weapons; a_ wav© of ecstasy that could be almost physically felt was the answer. These are potent forces to conjure. It is related of old-time magicians that they raised spirits, but that, if they were unable to keen them employed, they ran the risk of being themselves destroyed. .'Vbat will Mussolini do with those hundreds of thousands of ardent young supporters, most of them grown to manhood since the war? In weaker hands the emergency might be dangerous. •• They would attack tha moon to-morrow if Mussolini ordered it, said one of th© best-known Frenchmen in Italy, as we watched one of those gatherings of fiery Fascist!, But Mussolini will order nothing rash. What has impressed me in conversations X have lately had with hi r. during which ha spoke freely of Italy's relaUas with other countries, is his attitude of caution, H© is feeling his way, watching foreign affairs very closely, and building up his policy not from inherited traditions but from presentday facts. That is what makes him tha most momentous unknown quantity ia Europe at this moment. There is small risk of his being stampeded into rash courses by tha impetuosity of hia followers. Willpower is Mussolini’s strongest asset. Ho will hold down his task with the same iroa resolution that raised him to it. NO DESIGNS ON MALTA. What he wants for Italy is a place in tha front row. Theoretically she has it already. Actually it cannot be denied that Great Britain, France, and the United States ara inclined sometimes to talk, at any rate, a# if the executive power of the world wera specially vested in them. But I do not believe that . _ Mussolini thinks of asserting Italian prestige by any but perfectly regular means. He intends to use the energy of his Fascisti as he is using th© power of Italian waterfalls, for the economic improvement of the country. ~ • Frame..' is certainly StiS- a possible sourca of trouble, but the Jugo-Slavs are as disposed as Mussolini to avoid a clash there. His protest at Italy’s exclusion from the Tangier negotiations was only the affirmation of a natural -feeling that as a Mediterranean Power she ought to have a direct voice in such discussions. When I spoke to him of designs on Malta that some scaremongers attribute to the Italian Government, he flung himself about in his chatr, with impatience, exclaiming; “Nonsensel Utter rubbish!” Colonial expansion . Italy would greatly value, were it possible. She is overcrowded ; th© restrictions on entering tha . United States have half-closed the door to the favourite field of Italian emigration and in any case Italians deplore the fact that practically all their 8,000,000 fellow-country-men overseas are under foreign flags. They remember, too, the talk at the Peace Conference of Italy being compensated colonieily if Britain and France gained territorial expansion. The people who regard Mussolini as the bogey-man of Europe are wrong. Ha is a sincere, intensely patriotic Italian, with high ideals of civic duty and devotion; ready, certainly, to resist with vigour aggression or affront, but not looking deliberately for trouble.