Evening star., 1926-01-24

~ some length the Mussolini phe-
~ nomenon in its bearing upon
\ prcsent-day Italy and its sig
niticance for the future Of Eu-
ropean Development But there is a
ar broader, and even more interesting
phase Of which the Mussolini episode
is but one illustration. Newer and
quite as typical is the dictatorship of
/ Cen. 1'angalos in Greece. Again one
must take note of the recurring sug-
CeStionS from Paris that the solution
of the present French crisis may Yet
have 10 be dictatorship. possibly a
dictatorship without an individual die
fator, some form OF committee of safe
ty, but. at a events, Il break with the
parliamentary system Of the hour.
Underlying all the relationships
which have come and the dictators
who may Yet arrive. there is the sin
gle broad fact. Under the strain of
way and postwar conditions the par
q liamentary system has broken down
+ on the continent Of Europe. nd even
/ for the period OF the labor regime in
britain seemed TO have broken down
in the place where it had its origin.
In the war Lloyd George and Gle
nenCeau in hours Of extreme peril arro-
gated "a themselves the power and
I functions of Parliament. by common
consent Of their nations. In reality
pariia iamentary government survived
the war in ny nations only because
It was to all intents and purposes sIs
pended during the struggle.
But today II one considers the F,u
rupean situation. II is plain that the
attempts Of parliaments to regain con
tro have. in almost all cases, worked
badly. AT the present hour the single
continental government which is funC
tioninE in anything like a successful
fashion is that of MussOlini. II is true
that the MusSolini method does vio-
/ lence 10 all democratic conceptions. 1t
is true that il is attended by ma ny
if not most, of the evils and vices
which are inherent in dictatorships
/ however useful. however unacceptable.
Stands Out by Comparison.
Nevertheless. contrast the French
! or the German situation with the
Italian and certain facts are unmis
I taxable. In France the financial sit
! uatinn is desperate: il is desperate he
/ cause in the last analysis no political
party no combination of parties.
dares to shoulder the burden of un-
/ popularity incident to imposing taxa
tion. But without taxation and re
trenChment the franc must continue
TO fall and the financial and economic
/ situation to become worse. Day by
: day, week hy week month ny month.
, the French people. who are eninently
practical. see their money lose its
value while in the Parliament debate
. follows debate and cabinet succeeds
& cabinet.
Nor is the German situation better.
II is true that the German mark has
+ been stabilized with foreign assist
ance, that the difficulties which the
French face are not identical with
the German. Yet because Of the quar-
rels, which are details Of inner poll
tics. of paroChal conceptions. il has
heen Impossible to create new Cahi-
net for many, many weeks after the
! resignation of the Luther-Stresema
combination which went out on tho
morrow of the ratification of the Lo-
I carno paCts.
In Germany. as in France there is
nothing To compare with the British
( or American two-party system, al
though the British situation is now
complicated by the presence of three
parties and only made tolerable he
cause one has a majority over the
other two combined. In German!
there are a least dozen groups and
they fall into three broad CateCories,
while no one of the three has or can
Conceivably obtain clear ma jority.
German Situation Complicated
On the right-that is. on the Conserva-
tive side-are the Nationa lists and
their various accessories who certainly
T control a third of the present Reichs-
tag. In the center are the So-called
Bourgeois parties. the parties of busi-
ness. industry and trade. which again
can muster about a third. On the left
are the Socialists. with little more
. than a quarter of the house. rein.
forced when they are in the opposi.
ton by many Communist votes.
In this situation the Socialists will
combine with the Bourgeois TO put
through the Locarno pact. But the
Rource eoiS will combine with the
/ Agrarian Nationalists TO oppose Socia
legislation and to maintain high
tariffs. And what is the most ap-
palling circumstance is that the posi-
hilities of combination are few, while
the temptations To division are in
Vulnerable. The fundamental inter
ests of the country are lost sight of
in the quarrels of persons and fac
tions and the responsibility cannot be
fixed upon any party, for in our sense
| there is no party, nothing but ephem-
eral combinations.
In the United States the executive
branch of our Government takes office
for four years. The Congress which
! comes in with the President will. SO
far as the Senate is concerned. con
tinue substantially unchanged through
four years, the House for two. And
| If the House changes political com
pleXion in two years there will be
no paralysis of the executive The
Government will continue to function.
No Power In France.
Exactly the contrary is true in
France, in Germany. and was true
in Italy before the advent Of Musso-
lini: In France we have had three
cabinets in year and a half and a
fourth is wellniEh inesca bic now