Mussolini Roman Beggars’ Terror

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17246, 12 January 1924, Page 17

Mussolini Roman Beggars’ Terror

Dictator Orders Clean-up of City. A r o Mercy Shown by Black Shirts.

There was no capital m Europe in which a visitor wa© robbed, cheated and short-changed as brasenly and repeatedly—not to mention the assaults of beggars—as lie Mas 111 the capital of Italy before Premier Benito Musso--1 1 ini and his black-shirted Fascisti ap- { peared upon the scene <writes Karl I\. j Kitchen in the “ Npw York Tribune ”) I I know whereof J speak, because or j a previous visit not only was my i j trunk stolen, but I was cheated, short- ; ( hanged and annoyed by beggars to J such an exasperating extent that I j vowed I would never visit the Eternal I ! City again. And the dirty streets with their choice collection of smells did not make the vow difficult to take. Despite the obvious splendours of its I decay, I was pretty well convinced | that the modern Romans were simply th© unregenerate janitors of the ruins left by their illustrious ancestorsFASCISTI ON JOB ! However, with the Fascisti on the job, I heard such glowing reports ol the neiv Rome Mussolini had reincarnated that I broke m.y vow and revisited the banks of the Tiber. Imagine my surprise when I found that all these gloiving reports Mere true ! It is a new and delightful Rome I that the visitor discovers to-day. Not only are the streets clean and the smells deodorized but—marvel of marvels—there is not a single beggar anywhere in evidence. In a. week’s sojourn in the Italian capital during the month of July I was not importuned or even approached by a beggar 111 any part of the city. Nor Mas 1 robbed, cheated or short-changed except on one occasion. And a report of that one happening to a Fascisti captain not only restored the trivial sum that- a taxi driver had tried to get away with but resulted in a oast-or oil treatment for the offender. IMT'SSOLINI CLEANED UP." Soon after Mussolini became all powerful in Italy he decided to ‘ clean up ” his capital. The first thing he did was to notify every beggar, young, old, crippled or infirm, that unless they were at work or out of the city within forty-eight-hours they Mould be arrested and put to work in penal colonies I for the rest of their lives. Here in 1 America one might argue that a beggar could not be sent to jail for life. But j not in Rome with Mussolini running | the show. With 300,000 Fascisti ready to give their lives to do his bidding j a little assignment like wiping out a i few thousand beggars did not present ; any difficulties. Two days after the i head of the Police Department received 11 is orders there wasn’t a beggar 011 the street? in Rome, i Even the beggars who paid for the j privilege of sitting on th© Tiber j bridges leading to the Vatican— conI cessions hundreds of years old and rej cognised as legitimate sources of in- ! come—were dislodged. For when MusI soiini gives an order there is no tem- ; porising. The Fascisti believe in direct | action and they get results. ! However, a cleaner, beggarless Rome ' is not half of what Mussolini lias done | to make his capital attractive to visij tors from across the rolling wet. Tips I have been abolished in all the hotels I and restaurants. TIPPING BY LAW. { Instead of being obliged to pass out ! a lot of small change to the fleck J of menials Mho swarm around you at 1 your hostclerv, 10 per cent is added j to your bill and this sum is distributj ed pro rata to- the hotel employeesj Signs everywhere call your attention - to this new ararngement—it is less ! than four months old—and similar 110j tices inform employees that they will i be discharged if they accept gratuities. I To say that no hotel employee in 1 Rome will take a tip is, of course, an j exaggeration. But the new plan is j working amazingly M ali, although the I M aiters and porters at the Grand Hotel ! where f lived frankly admitted that I they didn’t like it. Two or three of • them took tips from me. but they begj ged me not to inform the management las it M ould result in their immediate i discharge. j The only hotel employee at the ! Grand who is allowed to take tips is the chauffeur of the motor bus, who ! runs you to and from the railway sta- ! cion. And a huge sign at- the entrance of the hotel proclaims privilege. Whether this innovation will be successful remains to be seen.

HOME GAY CAPITAL. In addition to these innovations and improvements, Mussolini has transiormed Rome into one of the gayest capitals in Europe. Not only are the streets alive with colourful uniforms during the day— the Fascisti regime believes in having lots of soldiers in evidence to overawe the Communists—but the ancient city now has a new “ night life.” To be sure, the night life of Rome is a very tame affair compared with Montmartre or th© after midnight gayety of Madrid. On my previous visits to Rome—both before and after the war—the only excitement I could find after midnight was in ordering a small beer at the Cafe National© in the Carso— Rome's White Way and topping it off with another at the Cafe Faragiia. For it must be remembered that the* capital of Italy, despite its traditional greatness, is a small city. In fact there aro more Italians in New Y'ork than there are in Rome and all its suburbs. And until recently there was no public (dancing in any of the cafes and restaurants in Rome, even cabarets being unknown. Out- ' side of its bi£ hotels, there were less than half a dozen first-class restaurants, and no after-midnight rendezvous except one or two cheap music halls. But to-day Rome not. only boasts of several of the finest restaurants in Europe, but two of the most interesting “ supper clubs ” in the world. While most of the restaurants were in. existence before Mussolini became Premier, the supper clubs were opened only a few months ago. One of them, the Bragaglia, does not open until 2 A few years ago the d*i Castelo ode Cesari, overlooking the Appian Way, was the best restaurant in Rome. To-day. despite the new terrace, it has a formidable rival in the Casino Valedier, also called the Pincio. Mhere one can not ony dine superbly, but dance in the open air to 1 a wonderful jazz band. MARBLE DANCE FLOORS. The open-air dancing space at the l Casino Valadier has a marble floor. It is as fast, as any wicked hardwood floor j in America, and much better venti--1 lated. With a full moon shining through the trees that surround it on all sides it is the last word in tango r sanctuaries. It is at the Bonboniere, a new afterr midnight rendezvous, that you will see [ the new night life of Rome. At this - “candy box.” to translate its name, 1 you will see the “bloods” of the j Eternal City and their light o’ loves. L It is a most attractive room, and a miniature art gallery as a matter ot 5 fact, and if one does not care to purchase its water colours, there are excellent dry champagnes. A jazz band plays as long as anybody wants to dance, and the bar is unhampered bv closing regulations. The most interesting restaurant in ’ Rome, however, is the Ulpia. which is about three years old. It is a real Roman restaurant, built on an old • tomb in the heart of the city The various rooms are decorated in old Roman fashion so except for its ’ electric lights, it is like stepping back 5 2000 years. Even the prions on its menus are set forth in Roman nut merals. Signor Mussolini had nothing to do ; with the establishment of this uritque : restaurant, hut because it is always cool on the hottest days and because l its cellars are al they should be, he dines there frequently. MUSSOLINI RESPONSIBLE. Of course, it is the new spirit of the ’ people that makes Rome so attractive. ' And Mussolini is responsible for this spirit. It would be an exaggeration to say there is no more dishonesty and 1 .short-changing. Neither people nor 1 cities reform over-night. But sharp 5 practices, when exposed. are so se- • verely punished by the Fascisti that ' few tradesmen or taxi-drivers take any - chances. What else Mussolini will do for Rome remains to he seen. Certainly there is • room for other improvements. There ! are still too many fleas, for instance. But if he .never does anything else, he ' will go down in historv as the man > who freed Rome from its worst pest>— > its horde of beggars. Personally. I hope he’ll set the Fascisti after the fleas. For if he is scc- > cessful in exterminating them he will be entitled to be called t!c* “ noblest Roman of them all”—the real “ Klean-Up-Kid.”