Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-31

! the King, to lay Fascism at the reef
| of the crown. 1t was neither SUD
| den nor an impulsive decision. L ne
| roots Of the monarchy lie too deep III
! Italy's heart, and our people nave
too great an affection for their glori-
GUS House OF Savoy and their VIC
torious soldier-king for fascish 10
| have taken any other course.
| asked him. with such poverty ana
| obscurity behind him. how he had de-
/ cided as he did. Because. he told me,
money and material things mean ap-
solutely nothing to him. Enough 10
| live on and that is all he asks lie Is
sure that il his ambition had been
money, that would have taken up all
his time and thoughts, and ne Wouio
never have been able to do the thlllss
he has done. No one. not even MS
worst enemies. have been able to say
one word against his honesty. 10
that one fact he attributes his sue
cess.
He has always been poor, ana sun
is His salary, aside from his eN-
penses. comes to about S96 month.
| He is absolutely independent OF mate
rial things for happiness. Even ms
| gorgeous room. he says, is not Tor
him but for the people who come
| there. 1t says TO them at once
This is power. Here the prooiems
| of a great nation are solved IL
| stands for italy itself. For himself
he could be just as happy in an
empty garnet
He left no doubt of his feeling on
! the subject when he declared:
Il am sure that my Indifference 20
| money, which ! consider the means
and not the end OF any life worth
| living, has helped me more than any.
I thing else in reaching the one goal
| for which l have been Working-the
| greatness and prosperity of my coun-
| try. Even the privations and the
| sacrifices ! have had TO go through
| to prove my ideals were not a dis
coura cement. but rather an incentive
| to fight on all the harder.
His one great elaXation Is his mo-
| tor car, for he is the best amateur
| racer in Italy. often tearing over the
mountains from Rome To Milan 'as
| far as from Boston TO Washington
in a single night. And yet. he says.
he could be Just as happy II IL were
taken away from him tomorrow.
He has lost his private life to such
an extent that it almost ceases TO
exist. Aside from his daily horse
back ride. with its incidental visit To
his famous lion cub at the Zoo and
the odd hours he can spend in his
racing car. the rest OF his life is
spent chiefly in his Office. in Parlia
ment or at official functions-for il is
almost unheard of for him to attend
a purely social affair.
LIE thinks that only little souls
need little things. but that the
big man is like a mountain climber.
with always a higher peak ahead.
He would change his mind again
tomorrow if his present beliefs were
found wanting.
dominates IL.
He practices even more than he
breaches. Everything he has asked
the Italians to do he has done twice
as hard himself.
He has completely changed the
very nature of a nation by one
means-eXample.
AS he explains it:
Il work; they work. I show dis
cipline: they show discipline. l have
self-respect: they have self-respect.
l am firm; they are firm"
Recently in the trial races for the
automobile grand priX of Italy. near
Milan, one of the italian drivers was
killed. The director Of the speedway
announced that the races would be
called off.
Mussolini told me he sent word at
| once:
NO. They will go on if all three
| drivers are killed. But they must
win. Can a battle stop because
soldier falls? Where would Italy's
courage and manhood be? Race
and Win"
nd yI-i., Il 1,A
first three prizes.
Mussolini says that these three
words have been the corner stones of
his career-fortitude, tenacity, deci-
sion.
To him these do not mean holding
| on to a WORKOUT belief or to an out.
grown situation. They mean push.
ing on to the ultimate truth-the
new achievement. the new necessity
He is as ready to change himself
as to change his ideas.
pERHAPS his most characteristic
right-about-face came just after
he became premier.
! He had crashed out of obscurity
| ike meteor-overnight The grim.
| unsmiling face and the ack-sflirted
|
Fascism.
The Lausanne Conference was in
! session in Switzerland. where the
government had hurriedly to revoke
| Mussolini'S long-standing order Of
| exile so that he could attend.
The melloWest diplomats of the
| world-even Lord Curzon, that most
superior person" and English gentle
man de luXe-were waiting, perhaps
with a smile on their lips, for the
! fantastic phenomenon from Italy to
| arrive.
| The Italian train pulled in. and a
suave, smiling gentleman, in top hat,
frock coat. cravat and spats of the
most impeccable English cut, de-
scended. 1t was Mussolini. and not
| only his clothes but his bearing and
manner were perfection.
! He out-Curzoned Curzon on his own
ground and returned to Rome Here
was his reasoning, as he told it to me:
II was not out to revolutionize
style and custom. You must go after
! the big things and leave the outward
| symbols that people understand
alone. My top hat, my spats and my
frock coat stood for the type Of man
who belonged at such a conference.
They stood for respect and courtesy
| for me and fors my country. They
| established Fascism as a normal, dig
nified government. 1t was not that I
! thought the frocll coat better than
I the black shirt, but that each served
it's purpose"
| To those who do not know the man
this change of front. this multiple
| personality, might seem pose, but
! to know him is to understand that it
is really a consuming sincerity, a
complete absorption In the matter of
the moment. that changes him, / am
sure, in spite of himself.
| He has taken nothing for himself