Evening star., 1933-10-01
LEFT: THE BRITISH FASCIST CHIEF

LEFT: THE BRITISH FASCIST CHE
BY c. PATRICK THOMPSON.
20 :;9 ] +: !, e. e :;;s e. ;s:ss; : :;
black shirt It Is silhou-
cite made familiar to the world by
the press photographs Of the last few
wears. Sir Oswald Mosley, Duce of
the British black shirts, has sent his
ultimatum to the chief Of the British
cabinet, a body which has clearly lost
its grip on the situation. Either the
cabinet must resign and the head OF
the government must proceed to Buck
ingham Palace and advise his majesty
to send for Sir Oswald Mosley to form
the new Fascist government Or"
Well, the news story which begins
thus has not yet burned the outward
cables from London and heated up the
ether Probably it never will go out,
nor anything like it. But the dreams
of the founder and Duce Of the Brit
ish Union of Fascists reach out toward
that vision, and his actions are in
spired by his dreams. Meantime, a
contemporary and uncolored closeup
of Sir Oswald Mosley orients the Brit
ish Fascist phenomenon more accurate
ly in the British scene.
A powerful black car pulls out OF
the traffic line in Kings road and
which used to be a woman's college,
London's biggest. Out steps a tall,
lean man, dark face unsmiling under
slicked- back black hair and above a
soft black shirt. One notices that his
limp. a legacy Of the war. does not
impede his speed Of movement.
In the spacious hall as he approaches.
a stir of excitement. A black-shirted
group stops chatting and jumps to give
passage A sentry clicks to attention
and extends an arm IN the Fascist
salute. And Duce Sir Oswald Mosley
goes on past the guard room. past the
and % C Propaganda" to the turret-
like room with fiat roof and windows
commanding views of the outside
street and the inner courtyard, which
In his private Office in the new Fascist
headouarters-a headquarters modelled
on the Hitler Brown House in Munich
and already known as London's
Brown House"
Quarters in Westminster.
Mosley's Fascists formerly had their
headquarters in Westminster private
house under the shadow of the Parlia-
ment building. But this Summer the
leader visited Rome and Berlin. On
his return things began to move. The
small Westminster house closed down
and the black shirts moved over 10
the former Whitelands College Tor
Women. which has two miles OF cor
ridors and enough space to park 5.OCo
Fascists.
Today $50 black shirts make the
Brown House their permanent quarters.
Probably there are 600 or 700 in Lon
don (the visitor might think there
were more, because they move up to
the crowded western streets during the
evening rush hour to show themselves
and create an impression Of numbers).
All the black shirts in England prob
ably would not overcrowd the new
Brown House. Still, those who have
seen Mosley's charts say the number
of recruits is rapidly increasing.
They hold meetings. They sell 2
cent. four-page pamphlet in the street.
They talk outside workshops. The
Trade Union Congress secretary says
they have been supporting unomc1al
strikes, the idea being to seduce work
ers away from the official unions. They
have been attempting Intervention on
the farmers side in the 1.-THE rent dis
putes in the agricultural districts
church or the Universities of oxford
and Cambridge, who invest IN land,
have been dispossessing farmers un-
able or unwilling to pay tithe rents).
It is all on small scale as yet. But
one recalls that Hitler started at
street corner with six men. And we
are living in strange and enigmat1c
times. None knows whether the pas
sage across from an Outworn to new
! world can be achieved in an orderly
manner, without a series of break
downs. A friend the other day told
Mosley that story about President
Roosevelt's retort to visitors remark:
IF you succeed you will be the most
popular President in history; OF & you y
fail, you will be the most hated.
"No," said Mr.. Roosevelt, IF I fail,
I shall be the last President" Mosley's
thin lips curved in faint smile under
his dainty mustache. Doubtless he
had thoughts.
Fascism Held Back.
There is a national government in
Britain which also has its immense
| recovery task ana problem. FaScHm
cannot make much headway while q
national government holds power. But
if that government fails there will not
be another coalition of elderly politi-
| clans functioning as a national team.
In the event of failure, anything may
happen. The Communists will certainly
get active. There will be strikes. riots,
an upsurge of militant labor demand
! ing power and a turn over to the So
cialist state by dictatorial means. Mos
lev organizes so as to be ready to seize
| Opportunities. He is q gambler IN
political futures.
A strange phenomenon in England,
Oswald Mosley. His father, the fifth
baronet, was a country squire of the
old school. His detestation Of his son,
when the latter went Left, was pub
licly expressed Educated In tie aristo-
| cratic tradition, Mosley went to
France with the cavalry, transferred to
the air force and returned with q
smashed foot and ankle to embark upon
a political career, still in the aristo-
cratic tradition.
He started of In the patriotic elec-
tion Of December, 1918, as Tory sup.
porter Of Lloyd Georges 'hard-faced"
coalition. He was only "a. Two years