Mussolini

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 33, 23 August 1923, Page 13

Mussolini

(By Monsignor Canon Barry, D.D., in the London Catholic Times.)

Italy has always been fertile in great men of the type which is rightly termed classic, with its ideal presentation in Caesar, the foremost man of all this world. To our delight, and probably to the astonishment of a public singularly unacquainted with modern' Italian events or heroes, two striking' figures have claimed attention, both representing Milan on the Roman stage, since a delusive Peace led up to widespread anarchy all over the Peninsula one being the Holy Father, Pius XL, and the other Benito Mussolini, Dictator and Prime Minister by virtue of a strange new movement, whose members glory in the lictor's axe and rods or fasces, and hence bear the name of "Fascisti." There is no need just now to dwell upon the lines of greatness that marked out Achille Ratti, the Milanese Alpine climber, for election to the Papal Chair. But who is Mussolini? At his appearance in the political sky, suddenly blazing out like a comet in violent splendor of strength and decision—proved by combats with Socialism where he conquered—we scarcely knew his name, while his character was said to be doubtful and his past denied by the attitude he took up as self-chosen master of nation, Parliament, and King. Blood had been shed by his orders or connivance; the Socialist-Communist attempt to set up a Soviet over Italy had collapsed in craven fear when these young Fascists turned upon it; and Mussolini with his Black Shirts marched in triumph through Rome, myriads applauding him as the saviour of Italy. This extraordinary revolution follows upon a period when Government had capitulated to Soviet demands, .when not a single Prime Minister had any policy of his own, while Italy lost in no small measure, as she deemed, the fruits of Vittorio Veneto, that unexampled annihiliation of a whole army and the Austrian Empire at one stroke. Mussolini comes forward, then, as the Regenerator, a man certified to his people by the genius that sees, acts, and succeeds. He knows what Italy wants in economics at home, in prestige and power abroad. The comparison with Julius Caesar is not, in my opinion, unwarranted; for the classic resemblance will come out strong when viewed by anyone well read in old Roman history. His Saving Victory. Mussolini saved Italy when it was on the edge of ruin. How he did so, and what manner of man he is,. we can collect much to our profit from Miss Maude Petre's very successful no less than timely version of a fine piece of journalism, done by Dr. P. Gorgolini, The Fascist Movement in Italian Life (English translation, T. Fished TJnwin). Miss Petre admires the Fascist programme, but detects in it the absence of certain principles or ideals which would make it Christian, whereas it goes upon a separate curve. The criticism appears to me sound, entirely to the purpose, and necessary. We may feel, as I for one certainly do, grateful beyond words to Mussolini for having rescued his arid our Italy from the imbecile politicians who were betraying it to destructive plagiarists of the anarchy which is now laying Russia waste while treating- Religion as the enemy of man. Such a tragedy, coming after the heroio sacrifices by which the Italian people braved every vicissitude and won victory at last, would have been irreparable. It was averted by one man; and he was a convert from Karl Marx to the doctrine he is defending at this day with all the national resources at command. Benito Mussolini saw the light at Fredappio, an insignificant village near Forli, in the year 1883. He had no advantages of birth or bringing up save' a fine constitution, a genuine old Roman, cast of features, and a piercing intellect which saw into things without regard to convention. He became a schoolmaster and, like so

many of his class everywhere, a revolutionary. Emigrating to Switzerland, he there taught the Marxian creed with such fierce energy that he was expelled by the Swiss authorities; and he went back home soon enough to advocate the dissolution of the Triple Alliance, and the entry of Italy into the war. He fought at the Front, was wounded, and returned to Milan, where he found the world upset, strikes universal, factories socialised; but the new masters were incapable of managing what they had seized. I A Convert from Karl Marx. Mussolini, so far as I can judge, never was a fanatic, by which I mean that he cross-examined ideas instead of .being carried away by them. And the vast experiment practised on. the Russian Empire, with such results as we all know,, convinced him that Marxian theories interpreted on the lines of Communism would surely destroy any nation to which they were applied. Moreover, a "proletarian" reign of terror was exhibiting its true qualities from one. end to the other of the Peninsula by robbery, disorder, and assassination. The Government did nothing; the dynasty of Savoy, though respected and even loved, could do as little as King George V. did while our general strikes defied the nation. Then this bold leader called up the youth of Italy to meet violence with violence; and a vast army • of Black Shirts arose, determined on effecting the Counter- ■ Revolution, which has now had such a triumph. Mussolini became general-in-chief, Dictator, and Mayor of the Palace. He showed deference to the King, contempt for Parliament, reverence towards Religion and the Holy See. His Regard for Facts. This last attitude, so profoundly unmodern, struck the world with amazement. Of what was Mussolini thinking? His own answer would be that he recognised all facts, and, just as the Belsheviks robbed and persecuted the Russian Church because it was the one vital institution left when the Tsardom fell, so for his part, knowing Italy to be Catholic and the Papacy its age-long inheritance, he refused to engage in or to continue hostilities with Church or Pope. He wanted an economic transformation of society, more or less upon the leading terms of Sorel's idea, which was a revolt from brutal bureaucratic tyranny (shall we dare to mutter the names of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb?) in favor of industrial groups. On the whole, Mussolini dreams of restoring to the social system forces and elements which the pure Marxian would have swept out with his iron mudrake. He believes in the rights of the individual, and in property as among those rights. He is an "aristocrat" by conviction, hating class-warfare, scorning the fictitious majorities, sham parties, and interminable wranglings of Parliaments as they now have become. He is the nation's true representative; what are they except a. noisy section of the Stock Market, clamoring for funds from a deluded people? Of his foreign policy I have no room to speak; but I sketched it in outline without so much as knowingMussolini's name, years ago, in a "Dublin" article entitled "The Dalmatian Question." I see no reason to alter my view. This, the latest of Dictators, would uphold Italy's claims in and across the Adriatic; but, unlike my brilliant friend Signor Corradini, of "L'ldea Nazionale," he is not ambitious of an Italian Empire to be carved out of the East, neither does he favor any scheme of protective duties. Mussolini has said hard things about the British Government and its conduct towards Italy, especially since the Peace of Versailles. He fails to interpret the situation, thanks to his ignorance of our ways and customs in this Island, where geography is not studied and only a feucorrespondents of the Times know anything whatever about Italian troubles. The nation is not to blame. And so I break off at the middle chapter of Mussolini's life and adventures. What will be the end? He came in like Julius Caesar; he rules like Rienzi. These are great names and tragic memories. May the good prevail. «>❖❖ r It's often much easier to prove yourself right when V you're wrong, than to prove your righteousness when you , H are obviously right.