The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-05-02

| the few noticeable manifestations were of the anarchist thought. The electoral re- form of 1882 and the means thereby open
 ed up of achieving reform by constitutio-
 nal means, did not fail to stop radicalism l and from 1880 to 1890 socialism gradually | gained ground until 1892 when al the con-
 gress at Genoa the final rupture with the
 anarchists took place and Italian social l ism organized itself into a party having | Ia purely MarXist basis. As a Marxist | party, Italian socialism refused coopera-
 tion with popular parties, such as the
 republicans and the radicals. Its leaders | were all for a straight socialist policy
 and their influence was very great. It is noteworthy that while in other countries, socialism arose from the working men in Italy it arose mainly from the propa- ganda of the intellectuals, such as Cesare Lombrose, the criminologist of European fame, Signor Guglelmo Ferrero the great historian so well known in the Unied States, and Signor D'AnnunZio. While the socialist party refused, in this first period, all cooperation on with the
 other popular parties, these alike held
 aloof from the socialists. But after some
 time, events proved the necessity of a
 union between the socialists. the repub-
 licans and the radicals In other words. it became evident to all, that before they
 could achieve economic reforms, there
 were political reforms to be gained, notably, freedom of speech, of press, of meeting and of organization.
 The young socialist party did not enjoy any of these freedoms. Francesca Crispi
 had started reactionary policy, had persecuted, arrested, and imprisoned the socialists first in Sicily then in all other parts of Italy particularly in the north, is in Milan where already the socialists were very strong.
 The effect of Crispi's conservatism
 was that the socialists made a tempo rary alliance with the other popular parties In order to create, first of all, a breathing air in the country. Conse- quently socialism changed its tactics and. about the end of the century, ac- cepted the cooperation of the repub- licans and the radicals. with whom it formed the "Uion of Popular Parties" In 1895 the socialist deputies in par liament were twelve: in 1S97 sixteen. The revolutionary tendency gave way to the more reasonable tendency which counseled compromise and combina- tion.
 From this moment that Is to say from 1900 onward. Italian socialism entered into it's second period. The party promulgated d minimum pro- gramme. which even the famous his- SO''~AiA, iOA. l dSdudlS NllldI, COHSlQ- cred practical and moderate.
 In fact the activity and the func- tion of the party in this second period were almost confined to the demand and actuation of all social reforms which were compatible with the bour- geois regime. Under the government Of Signor Gioletti. who. with few and short Interruptions. has beendn power from the first years of the century almost to the eve of the European war, silent and ordered social revo- lution took place In Italy, which marked a great improvement in the conditions of the workmen and the peasants-increased salaries. universal suffrage. better education. free meals for poor school children. widening of the cooperative movement, freedom of speech. of press, of meeting, neu- trality of the government in the dis putes between capital and labor, pay ment of members of parliament, etc.
 This cooperation with the bourgeois parties ended. however in raising the suspicious of the rank and file that their leaders might become bourgeois themselves. Partly for that and part ly because they had obtained all the most important reforms they wanted. the socialists returned to their isola- ton, refused all cooperation with other parties and proclaimed again a ,urely revolutionary creed. This tend