Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-12-14


approval before submitting them to
parliament. But so numerous were
these bills that the cabinet usually
ended by taking q lively interest only
in those having o political issue. The
same thing is still happening in France
and Great Britain. with the result that
each minister of the cabinet is working
only with his own oficials. without the
collaboration Of the rest Of the minis
tiers.
In a parliament the trouble Is more
evident; too many laws. The disorders
of the parliamentary system are due
not to bad personnel, but to conditions
which would prevent the best conceiv-
able personnel from acting rs an eff
ficient legislature.
DeIusiOn Quick to Arrive.
In certain countries the middle
classes have sought q remedy in Fascist
regimes. The delusion has been quick
to come. Dictators are obliged for
their own sake, to increase the centrali-
zation of power still further-hence
they have all of the inconvenience Of
the parliamentary regimes and none
of their advantages. They have the
same incompetence, the same decisions
of anonymous administrations, but no
longer do they have the criticism Of
public discussion, the only remedy ex-
isting against corruption.
The Inconvenience of parliamentary
life in the end probably will be checked
by remedy which will be just as eff
fective against the blind adventures of
dictators; the remedy l am thinking of
will consist of accepting. or pushing,
the principle of federalism Cor reg
| ionalism, as one might say for italy
and for France. Parliament--for in
| stance, the House Of Commons in
! Great Britain-ought to remain the SUI
preme legislature, while questions re-
lating to health, agriculture, mines,
public works, etc, should be dealt with
by assemblies for England, for Scot
land, for Wales. The business Of the
House Of Commons would be halved.
AS result, its functions Of control Of
| foreign military and imperial affairs
would be done eficiently instead of in
efficiently, and the prestige of the
House Of Commons would rise again TO
the heights Of the great English parlia-
! mentary epochS.
There is another slogan about die
tatorships which formerly found some
| favor. That relationships might bring
the able to the top. On the occasion
Of my first visit to New York this was
the objection q great banker raised to
the skepticism about dictators which ]
had shown in an address before the
| Council of Foreign Relations. I an
swered that he would soon experience
the competence and efficiency of dicta-
! tors servants. think he has, by now
the truth Is Just the opposite OF
/ the illusion of the New York banker:
Dictatorship eliminates the courageous
| the critical, the intelligent. As I am
not myself concerned (having resigned
on the very day a dictator appeared In
my country and having maintained my
resignation despite written request to
the contrary from the said DICTATOR,
! may add that the able have no chance
at all under q dictatorship, except In
/ so far as they are servile, INSCRIPTIONS
and never openly critical.
It has been frequently asserted that
democracy is a form Of mob rule and
that dictatorship is the rule of the elite.
| Again the truth has proved to be Just
the contrary; dictatorship Is organ
lied mob rule, and frequently organized
lynch law. All dictators are demagogues,
and the would-be dictators, such Is
Herr Hitler, archdemagogues. No prime
minister in any European country has
proved to have as many catch phrases
power in Europe.
Appeal to Bad Emotion.
When dictators appeal to the emo
lions Of the mob It Is most frequently
to the bad emotions-if only because
they try to provoke war feelings and
paroxysms Of boaStful malignant jingo-
ism. Dictators thrive only in o war
like atmosphere, and If their foreign
policies remain peaceful it is only be-
cause they are the prisoners of an in
ternRtional atmosphere which, luckily
they are not strong enough to break.
Only one Of the postwar dictators
has appeared to be, up to the present
at least, a success; and this exception
proves the rule. 1t Is worth while to
explain briefly why this unique excep-
ton has succeeded. allude to Mustaphs
Renal, the Turkish dictator.
If Ken1al's dictatorship still is, or still
seems to be, success, We must not
! forget that the whole policy Of this man
was marked at the outset by two rare
decisions which are the very opposite OF
what all dictators have always done and
still do DictatorS always end in dis
aster because they are obliged to embark
upon a policy Of show and vain pres
tige; they have to supply glory to
compensate for liberty. Renal had the
courageous line of remuneration at the
beginning of his domination and-what
| Is still more original--to stick to it, even
amid the intoxication of military success.
The Turkish Empire, with its caliph-
ate, its threats of jihad (holy war;, pre-
tended to a world policy that had long
hnap ananhrnnisfin MuStaDha RENAL