-FASCIST ITALY
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It seems ungracious to criticize the article of "Vita Nuova," in your issue of July 20th, since you have been so fair- minded as to print views with which you do not agree, but there are one or two matters of fact on which it is well that your readers should not be led astray :—
1. Freedom of Election. "Vita Nuova " implies that the electors freely chose the present Deputies. In fact they have no such free choice. By the Electoral Law of May, 1928, the names of the candidates to be submitted to the electors are chosen by the Fascist Council from lists submitted to them by the National Confederations and other legally recognized bodies, from those designated by the Council itself and from those approved by the Electoral Body. Since no Confedera- tions or other bodies are approved except Fascist ones and the Electoral Body is a Fascist institution, no candidates can go forward except those whose views commend themselves to the Fascist Party. The nation votes " Yes " or "No," to the whole list thus submitted to it, and if half the votes plus one are in favour the whole list is elected. As Mussolini has said : "We do not care a whit for this so-called public opinion. Fortunately we are still an army." (La Stampa. 23.6.25.) 2. Personal Liberty. The fate of the wife and brother of Signor Rosselli, who recently escaped from Lipari, is a lesson to English people who still believe that personal liberty exists in Italy for anti-Fascists. It should be remembered that .Rosselli's " crime " was that of helping the aged Turati to leave Italy. For this Rosselli served the sentence given him by the Court, but on his release he was deported, without further trial, to Lipari. The " crime " of his wife and brother is that they are related to him.
3. "Vita Nuova " says that the savings bank deposits have doubled, but omits to say during what period. In the four years preceding the March on Rome, when the Fascists say that Italy was given over to Bolshevism, these savings in- creased from ten to seventeen million lire. That they should continue this gradual growth can hardly be attributed to Fascism.
4. It is not correct to say that the Army has been reduced. A reference to the Gazetta Ufficiale for 1923 and the present year will show this ; but the figures need careful examination, since the Air Force is sometimes counted as part of the Army and sometimes separately. There are about 30,000 rank and file of the militia in constant service who are not reckoned as part of the Regular Army, but are armed and drilled.
6. Sig. Mussolini is not 'dependent on his Parliament in the least. No motion may be moved nor Bill brought forward without the consent of the Government. It is true that in the Senate Signor Croce opposed the Lateran Treaty and was not punished. His name perhaps protected him. But Professor Cosmo, who collected signatures for an address to thank him, was arrested and sent to " confinato " for five years.
6. The Rome correspondent of the Observer says that the dispute between the Pope and Sig. Mussolini (over educa- tion, which was one of the problems the Treaty was supposed to settle) "shows no sign of dying down" (14.7.29).
With regard to the general prosperity of the people much could be said. The Minister of Labour recently reproached the employers with discontent, though he had allowed them to reduce wages by ten per cent. twice in the last year. And the index figure of February this year is a point higher than in 1928. This does not look as if the workers were generally prosperous, as "Vita Nuova " alleges. Whether any degree of material prosperity would in the long run compensate a nation for the loss of all mental and spiritual freedom is another question.—I am, Sir, &c., LOVER OF TRUTH.
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