Evening star., 1923-08-03
MUSSOL|N| RANKS
SUPREME IN ITALY
in Role of Benevolent Auto
crat Is Most Talked of
Man in Europe.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
ny Cable to The Star.
ROME, August 3.-Mussolini, the
man who could have overthrown the
king and made himself supreme In
Italy, but who chose instead the role
of benevolent autocrat with parlia-
mentary backing, is without doubt to-
day the most talked about, If not the
most striking. personality among the
statesmen of Europe.
There is something Rooseveltian,
something Napoleonic. indeed much of
the superman, in Mussolini. His hold
on the Italian masses is almost that
of saint Not long ago when the
people of Sicily were praying that
the eruption of Etna should cease
Mussolni arrived on the scene and
the very day he reached there the
volcano happened to subside, but the
peasantry attributes the miracle to
MusSolini. That is an example of the
fantastic powers credited to his mys-
tic genius.
Busiest Man I'm Italy.
The premier is the busiest man in
Italy. To grant anybody an inter-
view in these hectic days of recon
| struction means to give up precious
| time from a thousand and one prob
| lens pressing for his attention. be-
cause he retains in his own hands the
| administration of two cabinet port
| 1olios as well as the presidency of
| the cabinet But the word "Ameri-
can" has magic power in Europe to-
day. 1t is the open sesame to for
| hidden precincts of bureaucracy al
most everywhere.
Through a series of spacious ante
rooms, past a half dozen interme-
| diate secretaries and doorkeeperS, who
| flag callers and keep the premier
| from being disturbed even by his in
| Inmates, the writer was escorted to a
red-tinted chamber. where behind a
/ tlattop desk MusSolini was standing
He was issuing orders right and left
now sending secretaries and clerks
Scurrying to the four corners of the
building, now reading aloud approv-
ingly some brief statement prepared
for announcement on a domestic mat
ter. He has a characteristic gesture
as he stresses his points while speak
ing. With the thumb and forefinger
of his right hand held tightly to-
gether and the other fingers extend
ed as If directing an orchestra, he
brings his right arm quickly to the
manuscript with a wave of oratorical
emphasis that is indeed effective
liis black eyes fairly pop out at you
in conversation. They seem to ex-
press accurately the changing moods
of the man who is at one moment
the stern deSpot of fierce determina-
tion and then again a kindly Souled
emancipator who feels that he has
T-scued Italy from the bondage of
bolShevism.
Regarded rs Bit SeIf-COnscfous-
Like many men of daring achieve
ment. Mussolini is bit self-conscious
but he drives even that impression
away when he loses himself in an
explanation of the fascist movement
he is championing, or greater Italy
of which he dreams aloud. There is
d directneSs about MuSsolini's words
that make you feel he is penetrating
your mind in a search of counter
thought He asks more questions than
the interviewer and gets the point
almost before the sentence is COM
pleted. All around him are young
men. aggressive, virile people with
the ambition to do things and so for
ward.
Italy, under the youthful fascist,
is a nation awakened to it's own
strength and capacity. Not blind to
the immense tasks of reconstruction
ahead. but tackling them with the
same enthusiasm that the war itself
brought forth, Mussolini gives the
impression of man who does extra
legal things because he feels it is an
extra legal period in the country's
history. The war veterans are be-
hind him to d man. Mussolini was a
corporal throughout the war and dis
tinguished himself many times for
bravery. He was wounded several
times and was frequently recommend
ed for a commission, but some of the
higher-upS in those days did not want
to give too much recognition to So
cialist editor. although, to be sure,
Mussolini parted company with his
socialist comrades when they opposed
ltaly's entrance into the war
PASSES His Fortieth Birthday.
Mussolini has just passed his
fortieth birthday. His high forehead
shaven cheeks, black with a bristly
growth of only a few hours. sug-
Eest type of man one might see
in the business world. But his the
suance OF executive orders. quick
thinking. master of all lie surveys
we'll, there is hardly any one like
him in the political world today. He
is the envy of D'Annunzio. who
sensed the hour for heroic measures
marvel of elder statesmen under
whom Italy had steadily declined to
state easily victimized by COM
muniStS.
MussoIini is Italy today. we have
chorus as it pleads with the rest of
the world outside to forsake octo-
Eenarians and mediocrity and get on
he band wagon of progress, some
thing Europe needs more than ever
To-Day France is ruled by old men
80 IS the most of continental Eu-
rope. Youth everywhere is watching
the great experiment and elder bu-
eaucrats wonder whether there are
pther MuSsolinis in the making.