THE . WORKERS UNDER: FASCISM
• [To the Editor- of THE SPECTATOR.] SM,—In his article " The Workers under Fascism " Mr. John Brown tries to -make out that the Fascist system is designed Merely to confer privileges on the capitalists at the expense of the workers, the usual plea of those who arc unfamiliar with that system or who think that their readers are. But in several instances he has fallen into errors of fact.
Thus lie asserts that the 40-hour week had never reached nome. The truth of the statement depends on the date to which it. referS ; when the system was introduced some time hieVitably elapsed before it became effective in all parts of Italy, Now- it has been in for e in Rome for all classes of Workers, althoiigh at first it applied only to factory workers. When Mr. Brown speaks of workers going out to work on a building at 8 Lin. and returning at 9 p.m., he evidently fails to take into account (a) the time it takes them to reach their Place of work from their home and to return to it, and (b) the interval allOwed in the Middle of the. daY. Many workers and employees begin at 9 aim. and stop at 7 p.m., but only work- for 'seven hours as there is an interval of three hours from
12 to 8. • Mr. Brown speaks of the " drastic pay cuts " as accompany
ink the reduction of hours, but omits to add that they are attenuated at feast in part by family allowances. if the total is • somewhat leSs' than it was before the 40-hour week was' introduced, it' simply means that, in view of the economic . depression, the attempt is being made to spread out the work' among as -large a number of workers as possible.
That rents are rising is not the case, except in the case of the' houses of the wealthier classes. It certainly does not apply to the Workers' dwellings.
That laboiit dispbtes' are settled by " party officials "! through the labour courts is equally untrue. Collective labour disputes which cannot be settled by conciliation are dealt with by labour eprts composed of stipendiary magistrates, assisted by experts iii labour problems and production problems ; the Italian judiciary has always been noted for its independence. Anyone 'who examines the records of the labour courts will as- certain that- in the majority of cases the awards have been in faVour of•the• workers, in most of the others they have been based on a compromise, and only in very few were in favour of.
the employers. • . • •
The story. about workers being condemned to a minimum sentence of 12 months in a concentration camp for striking or protesting •is purely fantastic. The law lays down certain fines for strikes and lockouts and imprisonment for the organizers of such agitations, but the confino is simply not contemplated for such eases. Even the punishments provided for by the law forbidding strikes and lockouts have hardly ever been applied, and no one has been sent to prison for such offences, because the occasion has never arisen. The confino , is now very seldom applied to political offenders,' and the great majority of the confinati are card-sharpers, usurers, drug traffickers and persons concerned with the 'white slave traffic. The very few political offenders now confinati are kept apart from the above-mentioned gentry and given much more favourable treatment ; they are usually bound to reside in.
some particular place, such 'Frascati, Capri, Cava del Tirreni, Viareggio or Forte dei Manni, all of them well known summer or winter resorts.
I imagine that Most of Mr. .Brown's "terminological, inexactitudes " are due to ignorance of the Italian language, which is certainly • a serious handicap to persons who wish to, find out the real facts about Italy.—I am, Sir, yours faithfully, Liam V1LLARI. The Athenaeum, Pall Mall, S.W.1.
[Mr. John Brown writes :, " No one would question Signor Villari's knowledge of English, but he has somehow failed to understand my case.. I did not set out to show that the Fascist system is designed merely to confer privileges on the capitalists." My impression is that the system is inefficient, and I heard almost as much grurnbling from the employers as the workers. In my article I described some of the ways in which the bureaucrats arc Spoiling the export trade for the business men.
Signor Villari's statement that the 40-hour week is now operating in Rome and in all parts of Italy is remarkable, to say the least. The period to which I was referring was May,. 1935. There is certainly no 40-hour system in the capital, or the south. Leading officials, it is true, work less than 40 honrs a week, but the conditions of the workers arc as before. Signor Villari himself admits the pay cuts.
The ItAan judiciary may be " noted for its independence ", —but not in England. What is well known here is that judges, stipendiary magistrates and " production experts " . must be approved by the Fascist party. Article 64 of Part 5 of the Decree of July, 1920 (now in force) says of the Labour Court. " No person may be inclUded in the list of experts . . whOse political CondUct is not beyond reproach."
Signor Villari describes iny' story of the penalties imposed on strikers as " fantastic." May I remind him of Article 18 of Chapter 8 of the Labour Relation's Law 568. :" The chiefs, promoters, and organizers of, the offences mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. (not working hard enough, striking,, disturbing the continuity, or regularity of work in order to. obtain wage-increases) are punishable by detention for not less than one year." . As for the holiday resorts in which political offenders are given prolonged vacations—Italians who succeed in escaping from the Lipari Islands concentration camps have less flattering accounts.]
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