The New York herald., 1922-10-05
Socialists Failure in Italy.

The congress of the Italian social
lists at Rome this week shows better
perhaps than anything else can the
| collapse Of this party as power in
Italy. In the early days of the war
and for year after the Italian-Aus
trian armistice the extreme socialist
groups constituted a political factor
with which every Ministry at Rome
had to reckon. The Moscow Soviet
saw in Italy the hope of Bolshevisn
in western Europe and it undertook
an active propaga ganda by means of
emissaries and an expenditure of
large sums of money to win the coun-
try to the Red standard.
The severity of the rule of the So
cialist league is set forth in the re-
ports made by the bishops in north
ern Italy and the agrarian proprie
tary associations. The socialists set
up a dictatorship and sought to en-
force its orders by instituting sys-
tenn of boycott that destroyed all per-
sonal relationship. A boycotted man
could not live in his own country. He
was unable to buy the necessaries OF
life and he could get no service of any
kind. Doctors would not attend him
and undertakers refused to bury him.
The Church was often the special OBJ
ject of socialistic attack. Attendance
at mass was prohibited in one case
cited because the priest employed
boycotted farmer. In several dis
tricts priests were debarred by vio-
lence from the exercise of their duties
and even passage along the roads
was refused them. Y
The public utilities furnishing light
and electric power as well as trolley
! and railway lines, were prevented
from operating by general strikes de-
clared on account OF some trivial
grievance of a member of the league
( Florence became the center of social
istic activities and agents from
/ Moscow directed the Red campaign
against Italian conservatism. In
many of the large towns of northern
/ Italy the Italian tricolor on the public
buildings was replaced by the Red
| flag and the administration Of town
affairs was taken over by communis-
tic committees.
Socialism was thus sweeping over
/ Italy as an apparently irresistible
power when it met an unexpected
opponent in the Fascist movement.
This movement was reaction
against the socialistic regime of vio-
/ lence. Founded upon the ideals OF
/ Italian nationalism 1t grew with sur
prising rapidity. II met socialism
upon its own ground and fought IL
with violence when necessary. The
Fascist won their final triumph early
| this summer when they defeated So
cialism in its strongholds at Milan
and Genoa. They deprived the social
/ list league OF its strongest weapon
against the State when they took
away from il the power to call a
general strike.
At the Rome congress about a
dozen different groups are repre-
sented, from the milder elements un-
der the leadership OF TuRATr to the
extremists who acknowledge an al
| lance with Moscow. The Messdgcro
refers to the present socialist group
as "the mere wreckage Of a once
powerful party" and adds that the
/ fact that this wreckage is still float
ing "is an indication that a ship
wreck has occurred" Apparently the
principal question before the Con-
gress is. Shall the socialist party par
ticipate in the Government II the oc
casion should arise? The almost ir-
reconcilable differences between the
groups make II unlikely that they
will be able to form parliamentary
unit.
The overthrow OF the italian So
cialists was due to their excesses and