BRITAIN’S FASCISTI.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 30 April 1927, Page 12

BRITAIN’S FASCISTI.

NO MUSSOLINI METHODS. CAMPAIGN AGAINST DISORDER. Two and a-lialf years ago 20 earliest Englishmen formed the British Fascisti. 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 you cannot create a vast organisation such as that :s and not feel the influence of it sooner or later.

At the moment this mueh-room-hke growth is rather loosely knit together. Jt is questionable whether even tho higher officials could tell you definitely and with any particularity wlmt they are aiming at. 'J hey claim to 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 tho Empires .stands, and to insist that the Government take a strong line against tho Reds; (2) to disperse tho fumes of class hatred upon which the Communists base their campaigns all over civilisation, and to strike at tho 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 the Communist efforts to reduce us to a. state of civil war; and (5) to prevent any section of the press or 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 organisaI tion exists solely to fight the Red peril. 4’lie Reds in the opinion of tho leaders

of tiie movement Happen to ne me dominating forces of evil at present facing tlie Empire, but the Reds arc merely one obstacle in the pathway of Fascist progress. Their objective is a long way beyond the overthrow of the Cooks aiul the ‘NValshes and the Johansens and the Follitts. They aim at placing the Empire on a tooting very

much sounder than at present, and they propose to do it—how, it would .seem, has not yet been worked out in chronological order —by gingering up ) the Government, destroying iho iorces of disorder, disruption, disaffection and dis.sentinn. riirlitimr wrongs, saieguard-

ng 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 I through its own unwioldinoss or ineptitude —an exceedingly unlikely fate, in view of the enthusiasm of its members —it will in tlie cud settle down into a political party with wider aspirations and more defined objectives. There are evidences that tlie leaders’ ideas arc shaping that way. .For instance, you are told that the country is drifting; that tlie public must be | awakened ot 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 the movement is non-political in the sense that it will support any constitutional Government, not excepting a Labour Government ; that it has no association with bosses either of capital or labour, but that it intends to ennoble and enrich tlie Empire and its people. How, you ask, can you do that if the Government is supine By overthrowing the Government, you, are told. 'Phis means, you reply, Fascisti candidates at elections.

Your informant agrees that that is nil obvious method. How long it will be before the political influence of tho Fascisti is felt. One need not prophesy. It seems inevitable that it must use its weight sooner or later, So- far, it lias done little, if anything, of a concerted nature, though it claims to have everything ready for emergencies. When a member joins ho states his occupation, age, branch of war service, rank, period, and decorations, and whether he drives or owns a oar.

This information would bo 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 interp.'ct-

mg uie ideals or tlie order. At Cambridge, for instance, the commander, an undergraduate, of 20, learned that a strike was projected at tho gasworks as a protest against the employment of some lion-unuonifcts —old servants who would not join the union because they objected to the use of funds for political purposes.. The County of Cambridge, including the hospitals, depends on tiie gasworks for its lighting and its cooking. Believing Unit the public services must be maintained at’all costs, tho commander informed the manager of the gasworks that if he needed men to make gas or protect workers ho only needed to say the word. Tho strike duly occurred, men were asked lor, shirts were supplied, including many young men from tlie University, and after 16 hours the strikers yielded unconditionally. Red activities at political meetings have been cheeked, not by the use of lorce, so much as by the moral effect produced by the presence of a stout oody of hardy young fellows, massed m a conspicuous part of the hall. In one case tiie commander sat close to the platform, and when the Red clement became too noisy, lie blew Jiis whistle, tlis company rose on masse,

and tho Reds precipitately fled. Only recently it was reported that municipal electors were being intimidated ax. Islington, a district which, by the way, is represented by Miss Grace Watson, formerly of Australia. Fascisti were despatched to the scene, they took up positions close to. tiie booths, and no further complaints were received oi molestation. Mr Cook, the emperor of the coal miners, has already had one encounter with tiie Faseisti. He was speaking at Hitehin, and as his recent utterances had been dangerously inflammatory, tlio local commander ordered a wirip-up of members. Two hundred were rupiuly gutnered, 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 m the emperor's speech even for the most meticulous to cavil at. Ho suddenly faded. At the close, one of the party rose to ask a question concerning a previous utterance, and Mr Cook excused himself on the plea that he had a train to catch, So he had. Rut it was not due to leave for three-quarters ot an hour. T Tho organisation is not aggressive. Nor is a pieee-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 xho local organisation was entirely responsible. Headquarters do not approve of it, and similar escapades are not encouraged. There have been numerous lights between the and the Communists, hut the Black Shirts were concerned in them. The Black Shirts are a definite and distinct organisation. They are the hot-heads or the direct action ists, who broke away from the main body m tho early days. They warned aggression. When they saw a Red head they wanted to beat it, so, they formed the National Fascisti and proceeded at once to wipe the Communists off the map.

Their fervor was fine, but their judgment was faulty. Their distinguishing badge is their black shirt. The only way to toll tho British Fascisti is by their badge and tlioir tie—a whiteish background with a black stripe. Nor do the British Fascisti pay homage to or recognise Signor Mussolini. They have nothing against him, but tliero is no alliance between the Italian order and tho British. 'Hie only similarity is in tho name. Tho British Fascists regard themselves as the exponents of the principles of Fascism as it effects the British Empire.