Evening star., 1939-11-16
MussoIi7i Has Done
karve|s in Naples,
Traveller Discovers
Begging Is Abolished
And Guides Get
Established Fee
Eighth OF a Sertes.)
BY WILLIAM WHITE.

ROME, Italy (Via AirmaiD 1T
has been Is years since last visited
Italy, and during this interval the
Fascists have put up beautiful pub
lie buildings in Naples and Rome,
which, frankly, knock your eye out.
During these same 13 years New
York City and Emporia, Kans, have
also knocked your eye out with En-
pire State Buildings, municipal au-
ditoriums and modern store fronts,
and they have done it without abol-
ishing elections or pumping liberals
full Of castor oil. I only want to
be fair and factual; the Fascists
with their uniforms and castor oil
have made about as much progress,
but no more.
When you walk down the gang
plank at Naples you enter a spa
cious, impressive and beautiful
marble structure which makes any
of the landing piers in New York
Harbor look like a cattle shed. So
you say the Italians are putting
their best foot forward for the tour
lists. So say I presently went to
the Naples general post Office, where
tourists seldom 60, to see about
transatlantic airmail rates and
schedules. And this building was
also magnificent in marble, and far
superior in line and design to any
post ONCE I have seen in America.
Begging Is Abolished.
The Fascists have abolished beg
ging in Naples and the swarms of
them who used to meet you at the
pier and offer to show you their
ulcers have vanished. You are met
instead by swarms Of uniformed
guides, each given an official num-
Der, who offer, at a fee set by the
government, to show you the city of
Naples.
Before the evening express left for
Rome had half an hour to spare,
which I killed by buying a COPY of
Mussolini's brothers paper, the
Giornale dTtalia, and read it sitting
on a cane chaircat at an outdoor
table OF little cafe opposite the
station, slipping cup of chocolate
so small it would hardly hold your
two thumbs.
had just finished the French war
communique which said nothing had
happened on the western front when
I noticed that a little 7-year-old
girl with ragged, dirty clothes had
stopped in front of my table and
was looking at me with big wistful
eyes. She did not say anything
because, as you will remember,
Fascism has abolished begging. I
did not give her anything because
she was so much more ragged and
dirty than the rest of the italian
kids playing along the sidewalk that
her disreputable costume was too
obviously a plant. Pretty soon the
owner OF the cafe came out and
sent her away.
A Guide Gets Angry.
So then I remembered the young
man who spoke such excellent Eng
lish, and who button-holed me on
the pier to tell me if would let
him conduct me he would save me
much money in showing me how to
buy my ticket direct from Naples to
the Brenner Pass into Germany with
stop-over in Rome. The Young
man did exactly what he said he
would, and also, when he found out
was American, explained that the
Italian people did not like the Ger
mans, but that in this war intended
to stay neutral and make a lot of
dough by selling to both sides.
But. he said that the true
sympathies of the italian people, in
spite Of all the dough they planned
to make, were with the great
democracies, by which, he explained,
he meant England and France.
He said he had heard that America
also was sympathetic to them, and
planned to make even more dough.
Then he got sorer than a crutch
when gave him only the legal fee
for his admittedly valuable services.
But my theory is that when fine
things about the great democracies
should be said, I can say them my
self and have no need to pay Italians
to say them.
Mussolini may have abolished
begging, but Naples, when you
scratch its new chromium and
marble veneer, will always be Naples
However, I think he has come as
near to the goal as any one could
expect in single generation. At
least nobody showed me an ulcer.