Evening star., 1914-07-19
ITALY. KINGDOM OR REPUBLIC?

Dispatches from Italy indicate condi-
ton OF grave disquiet. There is violence
in the chamber at Rome vfo-
Italian lence and disorder among the
n.. people throughout Italy and
AeS.' especially in the provinces
Of Roma gna, Emilio and the Marche.
| A dispatch from Rome OF the 18th in
! slant announced that certain class Of
soldiers had been called to the colors in
expectation of a new strike by railway
employees who threatened violence be-
cause 1000 OF them were to be dis
charged on account OF their participa-
ton in the recent political troubles.
Manifestly there is something wrong in
Italy. An i'll wind seems to be blowing
upon the whole nation. Why? No one
appears to understand the cause Of the
disturbance. and Italians themselves.
government officials. deputies and jour-
nalists who have been sent upon mis-
sions Of. Investigation are unable to give
any comprehensive reason for these
manifestations of distemper.
Ancona appears to be the center OF the
disturbance-Ancona. which is the home
Of the implacable anarchist Malatesta,
! WIZ hcpl lHlnSS gong IN MS COun-
try for several months. On the 1th in
stant for example. there was an anti
| mfi1tarist meeting organized. and with
other things 1t attacked a band of mill
tary musicians. who very properly de-
| Tended themselves with their arms with
the result that many Of the anarchists
| were killed or wounded. The incident
appears to have served the anti-mili.
| tarists as signal for general uprising
and protestation against what they were
pleased to denounce as an excessive po-
lice demonstration"
Phis incident Of many is taken as a
| signal. for within twenty-four hours aft
| er-as if the occasion had 'been sought
general strike of railway employees
| was proclaimed. and Italy found her
self confronted by modified army
| of syndicalists which has more or less
arrested the economical life of the coun-
| try. This army of ti-militarists which
| denies recourse to force by the soldier.
| has committed all manner Of violence.
| and has burned public buildings and
churches. and among other exploits 1t
| arrested Gen. Agliardi. commanding a
brigade at Forl. who happened to pass
| quietly in a carriage. The revolutionary
| movement has not been confined tn An
| coma. but has extended to Naples. Milan.
Turin and Rome. where there have been
killed and wounded. At Rome during
| three days of Strike there was really
1 u
| 700 manifestants.
| Signor Salandra, president of the coun-
Gil, easily obtained a vote of confidence
| by showing that the sit
Salandra'S uation could not be
! n., charged to his regime,
OiScAalHiel. but was a condition
which had been inherited.
The condition in Italy. it should be said,
is not unlike that in France. 1t is sug-
gestive and also discouraging. The par
tisans Of monarchy and democracy alike
may find in the disorders in Italy and
France ample food for reflection. The
anti-militarist in Italy cannot charge
that the government of the king is other
than benign. nor may the anti-militarist
in France charge that the republic is
harsh or exacting. For a fact these
governments are kind. gentle and pa
| ternA and are entitled each to the love
and devotion of their respective peoples
The government at Rome is just now
confronted by serious financial situa-
ton. The chamber in session is discussing
| the ways and means of creating $4,000, ,O0O
| francs as an annual resource to be OBJ
tafned by the modification of certain
i
| extreme left opposes the government
plans and maintains that the labor class
| will favor only the raising Of revenue by
means Of a progressive tax on revenue.
The question is thus placed in Italy as
| In France. The Salandra cabinet is not
hostile in principle to the progressive tax
on revenue. but as it is a question of i'm
| mediate necessities the minister could not
do else than insist upon other plans al
ready before the chamber. Following this
the socialists had recourse to obstruction
| and even acts of violence in the provinces.
All Italy at this moment is apparently
| amazed and stupef1ed that out of the dis
| cussions in the chamber there should
have sprung what appears to be organ
lied revolution. The press is asking:
| was this situation premeditated and Or
| ganized in advance?" And the press re-
| fers to the fact that Malatesta, the
ardent apostle of anarchy, has been hold
ing secret meetings since a long time in
Romangna and in the Marche, where he
has melted his audience to revolution
against the regime NJ Gino Berri,
quest for the Corriere della Sera. claims
that "the trouble has grown out of the
tendencies and acts of the local poll
ticians." He says:
1.-The order which all obeyed was to
strike Then certain strikers went farther
either by chance or by
The Order impulsion. influence. con-
to Strike. lac'' or oue 10 hceholary
have extended principally because public
force was lacking, and during sew
eral days the authors of the troubles
found themselves free and without re-
straint.'
Government journals are unanimously
demanding energetic action against the
culprits. The Tribuna declares that so
cialists have done nothing to educate the
people, but there is no feature of popu-
lar impulsiveness. but the acts are clearly
criminal
Interrogated by a journalist. Mala-
tesla congratulated himself on the
furore he had created. I'VE Will con-
tinue." he said. Ito preach anarchy.
That which has happened is only an
episode, one of the episodes by which
We will force the development Of our
work and prepare the people"
The government, aroused by this bold
defiance has launched against Mala-
tesla, the confessed malefactor. a war
rant of arrest.
OF course. Malatesta and his ac-
complice Maria Rygier. had absconded.
Also Signor Ambris. deputy, one of the
principal agitators. whose prerogative
as deputy did not appear sufficient to