Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-12-18


Each week has it's crisis in
at present overshadows those {
to assume the proportions of
Last summers peace pact between<
the nationalist facisti and the socialists
has been formally torn up. 1t was
never effective, strong factions of both
red and nationalists refusing to recog-
nize it, but its deliberate destruction
is tantamount to repeating a declara-
ton of war for the sake of emphasis.
The five day general strike id Rome
and the nationwide printers strike
that kept the entire nation without
news for two days are apparently the
first of series of great strikes. Italy
has had unaccountable strikes since
the armistice, but they were generally
regional
New Strike Nationwide.
The new strike is nationwide and is
political as well as economic. Coinci- |
dent with and intimately related to the /
economic and social crisis is the poll
teal crisis suddenly developed after |
the Occupation Of Rome" by the fasci |
sti in November. The left in the
chamber onbined-liberal, democrats
and social democrats-become thus the ]
strongest single group in parliament |
and counting among their leadres three !
ex-premiers, Nitti, Orlando and Giolitti. |
II this group takes over control it will |
be upon the pledge of disciplining the |
fascist. Premier Bonomi is in fact, if i
not avowedly, pro-fascisti..
1t has become apparent that the fas- /
cisti must be disarmed. The other
alternative is the unlikely one of SUBJ
mission to fascist dictatorship by |
Catholics, republicans mad socialists.
All three groups have paid a heavy toll
in dead and wounded to fascist bomb
and pistol. The general strike that
forced an end to fascist occupation
of Rome" the newspaper strike and
the threatened general railroad strike
were and are directed at both the fas-
cisti and the government.
Claim Membership of 100000
Thirty provinces have for year
been overrun by a bloody persistent
civil "Gueriglia" In 1910, the fascist
had but 100 members. Now they
have 1920 local councils {fascios) and
a claimed total membership of 100000.
They organized to fight the revolution
airy socialists and won their first real
strength after the occupation of the
factories last fall.
Their statistics show preponder-
ance of land owning peasants. mer
chants, students, employers and they l.
had at first the undivided support of
middle and upper classes. But as their
ranks grew. new elements entered in
and it became increasingly difficult to
control the various branches which
raided socialist towns without con-
sulting headquarters, killed for other
than political reasons, and even shot
each other.
When their leaders signed the peace
pact with the socialists, the rank and
file disregarded it. Then the Rome
congress was called for the purpose
Of organizing a political party. Twen-
ty thousand armed men went into
Rome. A railroad worker was killed
and the genral strike came as a re-
prisal. In the next three days, five
workmen were killed and ten injured
in street clashes. The fascist lost one
dead and five injured.
Shortly afterwards, Trieste fascist
killed an official of the printers union.
The newspaper strike followed. If the
government persists in its intention of
penalizing those railroad workers who
general railroad strike. Electricians ;
and workers have made similar prom
tses.
1t is a rarity that there is not in
some part of Italy street rioting with
casualties. AS in ireland, before the
truce disorder, killing has become the
usual thing. Life in consequence is
cheap. Young Italians go armed quite
as naturally as did our mining camp
braves and he shoots as quickly. The
peasant, normally peaceful. has become
demoralized and there are ugly stories
of ambushes on lonely roads Mt night !,
and the massacre of occupants. The !
writer declined the gift of neat little
weapon made of a short length of
tough wire and egg-shaped bit of lead .
and braided leather. 1t was offered by !
q most respectable citizen of Tuscan :
town-an official in fact. He said it :
was safer; bis son always carried one, {
besides his pistol.
OF all the nations west Of Europe's
hunger frontier, Italy is probably in Il
the greatest difficulty. She is hand- q
capped by over population (the tight b
ening Of United States immigration il
bars is not the least of her worries) 2
and an almost complete lack of raw
but her greatest danger is r
social revolution. n
This would now seem remote with
the definite cutting away of the So Il
cialist party, the strongest group in d
Italy, from the third (Moscow) inter- d
rationale. Il