The herald., 1922-11-23
u =

working classes the first da. was sporadic, dis
organized and lacking in leadership.
Without losing time the Fascist launched al
offensive with three specific detectives. The first
was to keep the railroads and other instruments
or public service in operation, by taking up with
elements of their own the work abandoned by
strikers; the second was to crush the proletariat
press, the socialist municipal administrations
wherever they existed, the cooperative unions
and other working-class organizations from
which the strike might derive moral material
energy; the third to terrify the strikers into
submission by the application Of armed force and
execution of drastic reprisals against any attempt
to revolt
The centers of strike activity were Genoa Mi
Ian, Parma, Livorno, Ancona and Ravenna
Forty-eight hours after the strike was called
Turad realized he was licked. To save as much
as he could from the ruins Turati rushed to
Facta and offered to call the strike off If Facta
would promise that the government would take
the strikers back
Facta gave the socialists the required assur-
ance. On the following day-August 3-the Labor
federation called upon the strikers to return to
their posts, announcing that the proletariat had
achieved its object.
But If the socialists were through the Fascist
were not. They had a definite program to com
plete and they proceeded to complete it. In Mi
Ian they drove the socialist administration out
of power and took possession of the Palazzo Ma.
rino. On the following day they attacked the
Avanti, the leading socialist newspaper in italy,
putithe editors to flight and set fire to the plant
In Genoa they suppressed the publication of the
Lavoro and marched In force upon the Palace of
San Giorgio, where the socialist consortium of
the port was located. The Fascist demanded
the surrender of the consortium and when sur
render was refused they seized it by force
In Ravenna they seized and suppressed the
elaborate cooperative organization which has
served as a model of socialist cooperative deve
opment for students from all parts of the world
In Ancona they destroyed the printing plant of
the socialist organ La Difesa and set fire to the
headquarters of all the principal labor organiza-
lions, including the Federation of Railway Work
ers, the Society of Soviets and the Chamber of
Labor They marched into Parma 5000 strong
and took possession Of the city. They DESTROYED
the printing plant Of the Piccolo and disrupted the
cooperative unions
Considering the violent nature of the renr,sa,s
that occurred against the working classes there
was surprisingly little blood shed during tho
course of the strike
on August 8, when 1t was al. over. the govern.
ment came to life and confided to military contro,
tne cities of Genoa, Milan, Ancona Parma and
Livorno ~ "''u
In the special terms by which the Fascist and
the SOCIALISTS subsequently defined victory the
cIaihs OF poth were justified by the facts.
whether the victory Of either faction meant Vic.
tory Tor the Italian people and for the nation as
a whole was question which seemed TO concarn
neither of the opposing forces Whom ,ndaad
Facta, In his second inaugural, declared tb.t
italy could be ruined by such "victory." Iuni
the Fascist leader in the chamber. responded
win challenge which clearly Indicated TINT -
civil war was not yet an actual fact in Ita,v
1t could any day become one. ''