The Washington times., 1934-04-23
KNICKERBOCKER
EYES SPREAD
Of FASC|SN
Continued from Page y

ing Cfa111c OF the meCrOpO1S an
Investigator of the future Of de-
mocracy in the western world can
drive in IL minutes from the house
OF parliament to an address in
Kings Road, Sloane Square, where
the organized forces of uniformed
faScism have their headquarters.
1t is called in popular parlance
the Black House.
Between the noble seat of dem
ocratic government in Britain and
the dingy headquarters of its
Fascist enemies lie IL minutes
taxi ride.
Centuries Between
Between their conceptions Of
government lie centuries Of the
struggle of Britons to become free
men.
And between the date when
freedom became secure and the
date when it became once more
seriously menaced lie almost ex'
actly 100 years, for the reform
act that made the British parlia
ment what it is today came in
1882 and today in 1884, the Black
House has arisen to threaten to
wipe out everything that had been
achieved in those last 100 years
Of democracy.
British faScism may not come
through the Black House. It may
not come at all. But the Black
House is the best symbol Of the
forces that in one or another form
have put democracy on the de-
fenSive in Britain and have al
ready grown so strong that men
Of every class and party are ask.
ing the question will Fascism
come to England?"
MiIitaristic Air
Next, the Black House is a bar.
racks and arsenal of the British
territorial army. The field guns,
the soldiers of the armory polish
ing shells, give the Black House
next door a borrowed air of mill
tarism.
Over the Black House waves a
flag, so grimed by the SCOT of
London that only close inspection
reveals it as union jack.
At the door of the Black House
stand two young men. They are
dressed in black trousers, black
Jerseys buttoned up with high
neckS like Russian shirts, and each
bears upon his breast an insignia.
It is shield with the Union
Jack as background and the lie.
tors Of imperial Rome, a bundle
Of rods with an axe in the CEN
ter, upon it. These are the
faSces, symbol Of the supreme
power over the lives Of the peo-
pie.
The Old and the New
They represent what they rep
resented for old and new Rome,
that rods bound together mean
strength. The insignia is the in.
sigma Of the British Union of
FaSciStS. That is the name of
the organization that hopes one
day to be for Britain what the
National Fascists meant for Italy
and the National Socialist Ger
man Workers Party meant to
Germany.
Blackshirts swarm in the black
house. It was formerly a church
school for girls.
Today, in the dormitorieS
where pious young ladies slept
under the guardian eyes of their
teachers, row upon row of cots
give rest to the robust bodies of
young Fascists.
12O CHARTERED There
They Jump to attention and
give us the stiff-arm salute.
There are 120 of them quartered
in the building. It covers nearly
half a city block. For an hour
we walked through it's labyrinth
inc corridors. Like the Britain
that the Black Shirts hope to
build, the Black House is virtually
Self-contained.
It has it's Storeroom with every
variety of food and drink. It's
kitchens are large enough to sup
ply headquarters corps up to 200
men. A large dining room serves
regular meals and a bar serves
snackS.
The propaganda department
has its own radio station and
printing presses. The two peri
odicals, Fascist Week" and
"BlackShirt." have a considerable
circulation.
In a large bare room the walls
are decorated with crossed fenc-
ing foilS, and a huge deaths
head surmounts the m t t o
Rather death than betray thine
OATH"
Each Flag a Branch
This is headquarters of the de.
tense corps, modelled after the
Nazi IS. ST." "Schutz-Staffel,"
meaning defense staff, the black
coated Praetorian guard of Hitler.
Its organizer. Francis Hawkins,
sat before large map of London
in another room and explained
the tiny flags that dotted its sur
face. Each flag represented a
branch of the defense corps.
They claim so such branches in
London alone, and declare they
have already founded branches