Evening star., 1936-03-24
ii Duce Cirds for War.

Mussolini has taken a sensational new
step to bring Italy more firmly under
the yoke Of militant fascism. He does
not conceal its purpose. Its "one prem
ise," he unblushingly admits, lis the
inescapability of the fact that the nation
will be called to the task of war" The
Chamber of Deputies is abolished and
replaced by a Chamber of Fascists and
Corporations" Large private industries
will be subjected to state control. Only
smaller concerns will retain inde-
pendence. II Duce unqualifiedly aVows
that the program is a move to increase
Italy's economic self -suficiency in prep
aration for a possible European conflict.
when and how war will come, one
does not know" he thunders, but the
wheel of fate turns fast"
The National Council of Guilds, which
will supplant the Chamber Of Deputies,
will consist of twenty-five productive,
credit, transport, agricultural and pro-
fessional corporations or category guilds.
AS key industries, they will be run
directly or indirectly by the government
and administered with an eye single to
war needs. The Fascist Grand Council,
which means Mussolini, will determine
the rules under which the Council Of
Guilds will operate.
This bold stroke was proclaimed on
Monday in celebration Of the seventeenth
anniversary of the birth of the Fascist
party, which has held sway since 1922.
It's significance lies not in proposed more
iron-clad control of Italian economic life,
but in the prospect of war which Mus
solini luridly envisions. He emphasizes
the alleged abundance Of Italian re-
sources. Plainly to taunt the League
with its failure to bring the country to
it's knees, he insists that, after five
months of war in Africa, Italy is ade-
quately equipped with raw materials of
her own. AS this illumination comedies
with efforts to find a basis for Italo-
Ethiopian peace, II Duce's transparent
purpose is to expose the pretended inef-
fectiveness Of sanctions, while bolstering
his demand for their cancellation before
he will consent to end hostilities.
The kernel of the argument for gov
ernment domination of industry is the
alarming contention that "the dramatic
eventuality of war must guide all our
actions because "a period is approach
ing when Italian industries will have
neither the time nor the possibility Of
working for private consumption, but
will have to labor exclusively, or almost
so, for the nations armed forces" After
asserting that big industries from now
on will operate with no purpose Of profit,
Mussolini rants about "the highest sacri-
flee, namely that OF blood, which has
been demonstrated to be a sufficient
element to open the gates for our future" ="
The dictator does not specify for what
purpose the Italian industrial war ma
chine will first function. 1t can only be
surmised whether he foresees struggle
with the League over sanctions, a clash
with Germany to prevent absorption OF
Austria, an Anglo -Italo- Belgian
campaign to compel Hitler to respect the
Locarno treaty, or further conquest in
Africa. Making due allowance for his
saber- -rattling propensities, mainly for
home consumption, Mussolini's latest
outburst is bound to aggravate an anx-
ious worlds fear that hopes Of enduring
peace are idle dreams.