Licking Valley courier., 1922-11-16

ISS3 tions which had been dragged into
lE TN II the strike against their will, for no
S.s N.s.) other object than to assist po.
litcal maneuver which the social
ist deputies in the chamber endeavored without
success, to effect are now suffering for their In
discretion In the dismissal and suspension from
employment Of thousands of their members.
Dlstrustful of the leadership which prov oked
this calamity they are withdrawing from the Ital-
Ian Labor alliance and are passing into new syn
dcalst combinations which the socialist party for
the purpose Of future proletarlat action, will find
difficult to control The situation points clearly
to dissolution Of the Italian socialist structure
and movement toward new foundations.
Even more important than the actual fact of
the socialist rout Is the manner In which 1t was
brought about. resort to armed force by the
bourgeolsle produced the debacle; not the armed
force Of the government but the force which the
bourgeoisle created of itself and for itself in the
Fascist. In short, "armed bourgeolsie," phe-
nOmenOn novel to modern democracy, Is ltaly's
most recent and special contribution to the SCI
ence Of class war. 1t is a method of action which
cannot fail to stop strikes and crush any move
Of the proetarat toward bolshevism.
An armed bourgeolsle takes MARKHAM socialism
at Its word, accepts class war a. a reality and
at every Opportune moment actually takes the
offensive. 1t rushes In where the hesltant angels
Of democracy fear to tread, and by swift organ
lied strokes drives the enemy to cover-Or into
the hOspitals-and thus restores order, discipline
and industry.
An armed bourgeoisle presupposes Of course
complete neutrality and nOninterference on the
part of the government, that is to say unlimited
freedom Of action during the period Of the crisis
In fact it temporarily supplants government. In
italy the government, conveniently took vaca-
/ untu fha In had
their dispute.
For disinterested observers, the italian expert.
ment Of August to August could not fail to
produce the conviction that, given an army Of Its
own, independent Of government authority, such
as the italian middle and upper classes have de-
veloped In the Fascist, the bourgeOlsfe Of any
country need never fear the success Of general
strikes or Bolshevlst agitatlons. By reason Of
superior intelligence, superior leadership, superior
freedom Of action and resources, an armed bour-
geOsie can always win.
Consider to begin WITH the Fascstist move
ment A Fascstlst leader thus defined 1t to the
writer: "The Fascistlst movement Is the awaken
Ing of Italy to full sense Of Its own greatness
and destiny as q nation. Its appeal is essentially
and always to the patriotism of the italian people
rs an Italian people and 1t proposes at any cost,
even at the cost of democratic conventions, to
crush any tendency that may threaten to drag the
italian people into the morass of socialism, boil
shevism and internatlonallsm."
Except for the fact that 1t specifically names
socialism in Its Indictment this program is as old
as Italy itself. One naturally marvels that so old
an idea could have aroused so great reclame in
, people so recently emerged from the sophlstl.
eating flames of a European war.
The answer is to be found In the new genera
ton Of Italian youth; the youth that had just
missed the war and yet had shifted the fumes |;
the youth that found itself upon the declaration
Of peace hunting for 9; organizing, AMI.
mating IDEAL such as wars or revolutions produce;
such as youth always hungers for; something for
which to shout, fight and die II necessary.
But the cause Of proletariat revolution in Italy
had not then and has not yet developed a spokes-
man sufficiently eloquent and dramatic to capture
the Imagination of the Italian youth. Upon Its
vision at Flume four years ago there did burst
q skyrocket of great brilllancy, but It pointed
in another direction: Gabrielle D'Annunzlo DAN
nunzlo had no new ideal to offer, He had an old
= ldeal-vlva Italia (which he made seem new
through the force of his own imagination, fervoi
and magnetism. And the youth Of Italy respond
: ed. This fresh outburst of patriotism found al
objective in bolshevlsm, and from the contact o.
the two hostile forces bourgeois natlonalism anC
proetariat internatlonallsm, Fosclsmo was born
j. FascIsmo in every stage of It's development natu
+ rally encountered the bitter opposition of tn,
socialists This opposition reached a critca
stage in July last when the liberal democratic ele
n ments Joined forces with the socialists In demand
@ Ing suppresslve measures against Fascsmo on th
Il ground that Fascsmo, howeyer patriotic IN Its In
d tentions, had adopted program of action openl
n defiant of law, productive of internal disorder
l. and In direct contradiction to all the principle
and ideals of democratic government.
A