The New York herald., 1921-02-27

culture throughout Italy. VIII s. accord
they ask frosn the Fascist. contribute
to the funds of the movement. II a
landed proprietor owns Loo acres of
land he subscribes to the fund OF the
local committee 10 lire per ac4e and in
return he can ask for prot actioa aaG
help If the peasants refuse to do Their
work.
Near Ferrara, for instance, the peas
ants refused TO reap the crops. The
proprietors called on the Fascisti for
help. Two camions laden with members
fully armed were sent to the district and
the crops harvested. When the work
was done the Fascist leaders went into
The village and posted a notice on the
church door stating that the crops had
been gathered BY the Fascist and that
if any reprisals were made on tn land
owners as n result the leaders OF The,
Socialists and Anarchists, toyGrher with
their families, would suffer foe It. The
Fascist then withdrew to their head
quarters. No reprisals were attempted
During the electrical strike in Flor
ence. four Fascist presented themselves
at the electric light works and inter
viewed the leader OF the engineers They
was responsible for the strike, and that
unless the town was fully lit in one hour
he and his family would suffer The
man denied that he was responsible and
pleaded for mercy. He offered to put
the Fascist in touch with the leader
the chief engineer-who in turn was in
terviewed and given the choice of Tight
or death for himself and family" He
was soon frantically telephoning to his
subordinates begging them to get TO work
at the generating station. The Fascist
then sat down in his room and watch ed
the pressure gauges gradually rise until,
like a fairyland. all the lights burst out
along the banks of the Arno and acress
the river at Fissoli. The strike was
thus ended and later a conference be-
tween the municipality and the strikers
ended the DISPUTE in a satisfactory man
ner
In the same manner when the muni-
cipal employees went out OH strike in
Florence, the Fascist organized their
own partisans and kept the streets clean
and attended to the public services The
Fascist leaders patrolled the streets to
keep order, and very soon the strikers
were back at work
The Fascist are enrolled from every
class of the community. but they wear
no Dadge. Their ranks arc continually
increasing as the people get tired of ex-
treme socialism and anarchy such as
that witnessed last fall. As no badges
are worn no one knows exactly who be-
longs to the party. The tactics of the
leaders are based on Surprise" In
consequence the socialists are always
guessing as to where the Fascist will
strike next. The link between the Gov
ernment and the Fascist is the intelli-
gence services, although the Fascist
are not recognized as a social body. If
certain district is particularly bad
the Fascist take over control and break
Up the Socialists and anarchists. Then
the Government steps in and carries on
where the Fascist stops
On some occasions where they think
there is the possibility of trouble COM
ing they step in ahead. At the Socialist
Congress at Leghorn the leaders were
warned by the Fascist that any excess
would not be tolerated and the leaders
themselves. not their followers, would