Evening star., 1922-11-26
BY OLIVER OWEN KUHN.
THIS man Mussolini OF Italy in
:rigues the imagination.

TIIS man Mussolini Of Italy in
;risues the imagination.
lie remains Napoleonic In his
gestures. Bismarkian In bull
dog tenacity and determination to
achieve realization of the rights Of
Italy.
He has gone before the italian
chamber and defied It to do its politi-
cal worst. Today it is preparing COM
placently to follow his dictates, for
there is steady rumble Of millions
of people threatening drastic action
if it impedes this new statesman. who
more than any one other individual In
Europe today represents reconstructive
desires of hosts of peoples. He puts
his government to work. something
italian governments have not been
ptore to do for good many decades.
Tie demands civil and economic re-
forms with carte blanche to execute
them for period Of Il year. that the
tires may be separated from govern
mental wheat and Italy placed on a
same. and instead of complacently
bowing to Franco British dictation.
he demands that Poincare and Curzon
see him. They obey. With an ear
nestness belying mere political ges-
ture. he openly declares that 1taly's
rights are hers and he intends to see
that they are not trampled upon oy
any Franco-British agreement. Italy
must be taken into the entente as a
, bosom confidante, and permitted to
share as the allies share in readJuSt-
nientS. European and otherwise, else
Italy will go 1t alone and bend her
foreign policy to suit herself.
an,>. n>nA kv>s.
1t must have been strange for the
disnified Curzon and the naughty
Poincare, who expect obeisance. to
bend their knees to the doughty Ital-
ian, but this they have done. for they
recognize in Mussolini not an italian
dictator, but more than that-a man
who Is the embodiment of a deter
mination on the part of the great
masses of common people of Europe
to have but little more.of such gov-
ernmental regimes as temporize with
their fates to the consequent suffer-
ing of all.
And in many of the disaffected re-
pending fascist revolts. In Prussia.
in Bavaria. in the Austrian Tyrol. in
Hungary and even in France herself
fascist bands have been organized.
Each has a different set of purposes,
but underlying all there is firm in
tention to see realized really strong
and advancing governments.
1t may be called patriotic national
ism run mad. 1t may result in blood
shed in many quarters. But IT never
rheleSS remains fact that after four
years of drifting through uncharted
and arduous seas the ordinarily COM
placent European common peoples
are about to assert themselves In
many quarters How we'll they Will
succeed naturally depends upon the
caliber of their leaders. In Mussolini
Italy apparently has found tower
of strength, who intends to temper
f:rmness with common sense in gov
ernmen1al adjustments. He Is a pa
triot who may be expected to do
nothing that Is not really in Italy
best interests. though he appears mis-
guided at various junctures In future
adjustments But in other countries
leadership may not always be SO for
tunate, and il there is unfortunate
leadership. that kind founded upon
personal desire for power and pomp
background. then disaster Will result.
Pushes Ahead Unafrnid.
Mussolini's position may be likened
unto that of an Italian destroyer a
few weeks after the armistice, and
on which 1 was travelling. We nosed
out of the harbor of Venice and start
ed for Fiume and Pola. through the
mine-ridden fields Of the Adriatic. As
long as the determined little craft
kept going all was well, and IT
scampered through the water as
though there was not a danger in
the world. In it's daring it eptto-
mized security and confidence. Moth
ing could possibly happen, for had 1t
not stood supreme through long war
fare and escaped without mark?
But, on the other hand, II the speed
ing craft should have struck one of
the deadly mines left as the Adriatic's S
heritage Of Austrian naval warfare,
rhe result would have been, as the
commander SO graphically expressed
:Alrs well. But if we do hit mine.
poof."
And so 1t is with Mussolini. the new
leader Of Italy. He represents the de-
,rroyer of the old order. and In
travelling. through the dangerous po-
litical waters. we'll mined by enemies.
ne may reach his port. But. as the
italian commander aboard the, little
Accerbi. he is not countenanc1ng the
worst. but the best. and strives for
he harbor of national safety. which
does not necessarily mean strictly a
governmental one. but a port FOR all
lis millions of people who shall once
more take up the burdens of progress
md sustaining italian influence at
home and abroad.
Indifferent to Enemies.
Indifference to his enemies >ap-
psrently remains a characteristic. He
has committed himself to seeing that
ltaly's obligations, internationally
speaking. are fulfilled. He refuses to
see the other larger powers of Eu-
rope trample Italy's interests in the
inst He intends that there shall be