Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-25
BY GEORGE SYLVESTER
XIERECk.

NII2AfSN IN
| ut seems to me" I remarked, that
| fascism is as revolutionary in its way
as bolshevism."
Right you are" Mussolini fired
| back at me- ITALY had the choice
| between bolshevism and fascism. 1t
chose fascism. OF course, fascism
brings innovations. Woe to the revo-
| luton that doe snt. Those who have
been intrusted by destiny with the
conduct of a revolution may be llkened
| to those generals who have had COM
mand of an army in war Revolution
and war are two words that in
| sense go together.
War determines the course of a
revolution unless a revolution brings
on a war The strategy of both has
olution, it is not invariably the case
that things are carried by direct as
sault.
Sometimes In the course of a rev
olution it becomes necessary to beat
strategical retreat. Sometimes it
becomes imperative to pause long
upon the points of vantage already
won.
THE goal is this: Government
THE foundation of a city, the es-
Enlistment of a colony, the inaugu-
prodigies Of the spirit of man:
Government Is Mirror
And a government is not territorial
merely. 1t may be the government
of an empire that is economic or pO-
litical or spiritual.
1T is an ancient adage" the Duce
continued, that every people has the
government it deserves. A govern
ment is a mirror in which the people
may see reflected their own power
and their own capacity. 1t is the duty
of a government to last, but it is even
more the duty of a government to
make itself respected.
Russia, as an experiment in com
munism, is interesting. Everybody
now admits-and even the bolshevik
chiefs agree in admitting-that the
Communist experiment has failed
That is because communism, because
of its equalizing tendencies, is CON
trary to life and to the teaching of
history. There is the further fact of
nature-she is profoundly opposed to
equality and she may be said to exist
upon the basis Of the inequalities she
establishes"
Mussolni rose from his desk Walk
ing up and down the room, he added
pronouncing each syllable with slow
elaboration: "Fascism is based on re-
ality. Bolshevism is based on theory
What do we Fascists want? We want
to be definite and real. We want to-
come out of the cloud of discussion
and of theory and stand upon the solid
rock of fascism
Must Convert Theories.
I'VE must always realize the neces-
sity of converting our theories into
fact at last.
otherwise we shall go through life
as helplessly as do those generals who
command their armies on paper. We
all got to know that kind Of strategy
Of men who can sit at a table and
conduct an army by putting pins In
map.
These generals favored us with
their pin prickings while we soldiers
were eating our rations in the
trenches. When we told these strate-
gists of the pin prick that the time
had come to leave the map on the wall
and take the field, they considered the
hardships of such a course, they
thought over the peril of defeat, they
looked at the grim reality of the
trench and they held back.
THAT is how men are tested. The
weak cannot transform theory into
fact, they cannot translate an idea
into reality. The strong are those
who do as we'll as dream"
When" the Duce continued, with
quiet emphasis, two elements are
contending and prove in conflict that
they are irreconcilable, the only way
out is by force.
ITO me violence is fundamentally
moral. But the force of violence must
be welded by those competent to
guide their energies. Violence is more
moral than compromise. The fact
violence is justihable on the basis of
it's lofty motive renders it indispen-
sable that those who use violence be
guided by lofty morality-never by in
terested calculations of personal sat
isfaction Violence should be avoided
in all dealings with the innocent and
with the upright, with the merely ig-
norant or the merely fanatical"
Crimes of Violence.
What of the crimes Of violence at
tributed to the Fascisti?'
mo forward step in political evo-
luton is possible without sacrifices
and victims. It also involves certain
errors. Such errors, if they have been
committed, do not reflect on the fun
damental principles of Fascism. An
occasional act Of cruelty cannot be
avoided in evens the hottest crusade.
The Fascist are called black shirted,