The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1924. TROUBLES IN ITALY.

Southland Times, Issue 19396, 10 November 1924, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1924. TROUBLES IN ITALY.

Recent events in Italy have diminished the authority of the Facsisti and have given the Parliamentary Parties renewed hope that the Black Shirt domination of the Government is definitely on the move. Signor Mussolini has administered the affairs of the country with firmness and skill,- overcoming some serious difficulties in connection with the economic life of the people, but the forces which put him in power and kept him there by means of an electoral law designed to make his victory at the polls certain, are a danger to him, and will continue to affect his position while they exist for the application of violence against the people they oppose. Signor Mussolini is faced by two dangers: the Fascisti organisation may attempt to dethrone him, and his opponents may secure his dismissal as a result of the Fascist outrages. With the Garibaldi brothers in the field as the leaders of the organisation of ex-soldiers, the chances of violent conflicts have increased, but the battleground has now changed in a marked manner. When Mussolini marched on Rome and seized the Government, his revolutionary action w’as excused on the ground that it was rendered necessary by the Communist menace, but to-day the Liberal ranks are re-uniting and giving organisation to an opposition far more dangerous to the Prime Minister than the Socialist Party in Italy. The Peoples Party, organised by Don Sturzo, was split by the electoral law, a large portion of the organisation with the approval of the Vatican, adhering to the Cabinet against which Don Sturzo is an implacable foe. For a time the priestly political leader, who has a great personal following among the people, was shorn of power by the disruption of his Party, but in the last few months there have been signs that he has improved his position and threatens again to become a factor in Italian politics. His chances and the opportunities of the Liberals are improved by the evidence that the extremist section of Fascism is making strenuous efforts to drive Mussolini to repressive measures, which are intensifying the popular impatience. The violent collisions between the Fascisti and ex-soldiers in Rome and Milan on Armistice Day are a symptom of this changing attitude. The Corriere della Sera of Milan, whose editor and manager were roughly handled by the Fascisti, has always been strongly opposed to Mussolini, and it has been openly charging the Black Shirts with designs on the Constitution. In one article the Corriere della Sera said:— Such is the disposition of the party, even if we overlook its “encouraging” daily deeds. The Government, after assuring itself a Parliamentary majority through an absurd electoral law has gone further with its Press decrees and has approved the design of the National Council to put the hands of Fascism on the Constitution.

This was written in connection with regulations issued by the Government to muzzle the Press and to suppress criticism, and it was supported by resolutions adopted by the Natirmd Congress of Jurists and Lawyers at M.lan, and the National Congress of Journalists at Palermo, who condemned the repressive decrees. The Giornale d’ltalia of Rome, has been milder in tone than the Corriere della Sera, but in an article which stated that Mussolini is “losing ‘-’•nund “.very day in the popular c«n-

sideration because he appears not as the dominator, but as the dominated,” the Rome journal remarked:—

We were convinced after the emphatic promises made by Mussolini before the Chamber, the Senate and the Nation that he would have his Party cleansed and morally restored in the country. But another phase has come to view and though we cannot exactly define it as yet, it consists substantially of new pressure exerted by the Fascist extremists over the outstanding figure of the Government.

In conjunction with these utterances must be taken the fact that while the Fascisti number about 900,000, the Liberals can command greater numerical strength, which only requires to be organised on the same lines as the Fascisti to be extremely dangerous. If the Liberal ranks are drilled and set in motion, Signor Mussolini may realise that a Government not based on the popular vote can never be strong. A Government established and maintained by force begets an opposition by force, and their combats must be productive of violence—that is the danger which Italy faces to-day.