Evening star., 1922-10-30

himself.
| Owing to the severe censorship es-
| tablished in Italy. news from that
| country must be taken with some al
| lowance, but 1t appears that the black
shirt and army helmets Of Musso-
linfs nationalist reactionaries already
! there are said to be 1000, 900, are mo-
| Dillzed. Barracks and armories have
| been occupied and arms seized All
| socialists and communist newspapers,
! even the non-socialist but hostile Cor
! rlere della Sera, have been suspended
! py the insurgents, who control the
\ railways. Already masters of Pied
mont, the Lombardy fascist hold
| Florence, Siena and Pisa. In Rome
they occupied the railway stations
! ana public buildings until they were
taken over by the army, which is
| honeycombed with fascism.
| All Bourses Closed.
| Before disappearing the F'acta gov
ernment made a faint show Of re-
! sistance and ordered up a poster ac-
cusing the fascist of sedition and
promising to preserve order at all
costs. 1t also desired to proclaim
martial law. but the king refused to
sign the decree. 1t is, therefore,
Benito Mussolini who has proclaimed
| and is executing martial law. All the
bourses have been closed and parlia-
| ment, which was to have reconvened
November Z, probably win be dis
solved
Italian Freemasonry has issued
proclamation recognizing the fascist
| movement, and the Pope, through the
bishop. has appealed for peace and
union. The fascist have proclaimed
loyalty to the king. who apparently
is well disposed toward the fascist.
The fascist program frankly is
nationalist and reactionary. The
fascist proclamation announces that
military, political and administra-
tive powers are transferred to a COM
Jnittee of action of four members with
dictatorial positions" The rights Of
workers of all categories will be re-
spected according to the proclamation,
which adds that the new regime will
| be generous toward non-militant ad-
versaries, but inexorable toward 9TH
ers." The aim of the movement is de-
clared to be the safety and grandeur
| of Italy"
| The chief points of the interior
program appear to be the exaltation
of the army and a strong patriotic
north and south. Fascism originally
! Sprang from the disgust Of the mod
crate conservative elements at the
| governments failure to uphold the
| laws when the workmen seized the
! factories two years ago and at the
apparent powerlessness of the gov
eminent to repress the communist
violences which followed.
Communion Cowed.
Groups of fascist were first formed
to combat the reds with their own
weapons-assault and riot They
were SO successful that communism
seems to be effectively cowed in Italy.
The army and navy are sympathetic;
the organizations of war veterans
are on their side, and they also claim
to have enrolled 100000 workmen
from the labor unions. Their pro-
fessed desire is to put an end to the
undignified feebleness and vacillation
which have marked the italian pol
| Icy. not only internally, but especially
external. ever since the armistice.
They promise to insure respect for
Italians and Italian interests all over
! the world. They plan to organize
the interests Of the homeland. They
profess to desire to maintain the en-
tente with France and Great Britain,
but say they will insist on greater
recognition of Italy's claims in the
Mediterranean and especially in the
Adriatic. They demand that Jugo-
slavia shall free Montenegro and they
! talk of annexing Dalmatia.
This program. unless modified, seems
somewhat omin0us for peace with
Italy's neighbors.
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