Evening star., 1939-01-17

! sake IN event FRANCE TeJecCS 1Ialy
demands?
Everything indicates that Hitler
wants again to use Mussolini as .
club, as he did at Munich. Whether
he is willing to 60 further if the
French refuse to be intimidated is
a question which nobody can an
swer now. In the meantime Mus
solini leaves the country to the ten
der mercies of Starace, Alfieri and
Farinaci.
CianO Middle of -Roader.
Mussolini's officially recognized
successor, Count Galeazzo Ciano,
keeps to the middle of the road. He
does not approve whole-heartedly Of
his father-in-law's policy Of letting
the three muSketeers" run Italy: he
realizes the people have greater
faith in tried men like Balbo and
Grandi, but Ciano is a clever Dip
lomat. He does not stick his neck
out. He is just waiting, like most
other Italians. for II Duce to become
himself again.
The actual makers of present-day
Italy, men like Field Marshal Bado-
Clio. Field Marshal Grazziani and
the old Fascist, De Bono, are in the
doghouse. They are military men
with long experience with their peo-
pie and with war and they have no
patience with the outbursts of the
young pups who are willing to
plunge the country into chaos for
their personal aggrandizement.
Soon after his triumphal return
from Ethiopia. Badoglio went so far
as to advise King Victor Emmanuel
to make clean sweep of the whole
thing. The King refused. Had it
not been for his tremendous pres
tige with the country he would have
been in a difficult position. Musso-
lini did not punish him; he was
merely discarded, like Grazziani, a
much younger and energetic officer.
They are both now somewhere in
Italy, very much forgotten men.
People Have Worried Look.
To the outside Italy looks very
much the same as two years ago,
except that there is a worried look
in the faces of most people, look
which was absent then. Also things
are more expensive and of poorer
quality. This is not true, however,
in the big restaurants, which cater
to the comparatively few foreigners
who visit Italy now. These are pro-
.,n3nt al
charge import" prices-that is,
prices which cover the import duties
of articles coming from abroad But
the cheap workingmen's restaurants
have raised prices by something like
80 per cent compared with 1896 and
reduced the size Of the portions 50
per cent.
Even cheese. that staple food of
the Italian, has grown more scarce.
There is no longer that lad lib"
serving which one got in the past.
Cheese, an Italian Official explained,
is like gold. 1t is an eXportable
commodity and provides Italy with
| coal and iron. Hence. the consump-
/ ton in the country must be re-
duced, although the production has
increased, in order to enable Italy
to barter it in Germany for those
goods which italy needs for her
heavy industry.
The same thing applies to fruit.
! The people of this country are al
lowed to serve at their tables the
small, diseased fruit while the large,
luscious Italian pears, apricots and
peaches are actually transformed
into gold You will find them in
London and Paris fruit shops but
never in Rome or Milan.
The Italian people are not as
patient as the Germans. They have
done wonders by Tightening their
belts. They thought this Tightening
was worth while, provided it did not
last too long. Now they cannot see
the end of it and are beginning to
grumble. II Duce still has the
magic wand; he can still flll them
with enthusiasm, but he is no longer
as close to his people as he used
to be. Farinaci's secret police are
much closer to them.
The termites have undercut the
structure so carefully raised by II
Duce. He can still prevent their
destructive work, but everybody
here-foreign observers as we'll as
old school Fascists-are asking:
will he realize soon enough what
is happening?"