THE NEW SPIRIT IN ITALY'S LABOUR LEGISLATION
[Signor Villari is entitled, as a distinguished advocate of Fascism: to answer the article which we published on July 10th from a correspondent in Italy. Fascism has fostered Italian national pride in a marvellous manner, and has undoubtedly advanced national prosperity. But it must not be .thought that we should like to see the British spirit of individual liberty subjected to any such trial of extreme etationne.—E D. Spectator.) CRITICS of Fascism are so anxious to prove (a) that the movement is wickedly reactionary and con- ceived solely in the interest of capitalist blood-suckers, and (b) that it is merely Bolshevism in disguise, that they are apt to ignore the real spirit of the movement and, incidentally, the contradiction between (a) and (b). This is particularly the case with regard to the recent labour laws, the paradoxical description of which ill the article putlished in the Spectator of July 10th might well leave the public in ignorance of the essential objects of these measures. Perhaps a little explanation on the point may therefore prove useful.
The experience of the past years, especially of the stormy period from 1919 to 1922, had proved how disastrous to the general welfare of the nation was the almost uninterrupted series of strikes and lock-outs. Richer countries might afford such luxuries, but Italy, poor as she was in natural resources, could not, and the only hope for the reconstruction of her national economy after the War lay in industrial and agricultural peace and in the rigid discipline of labour and production. The Fascist movement, especially after its successful onslaught on the formerly all-powerful Red unions of the Po valley in 1920-21, absorbed large masses of workers and created a new spirit in the relations between capital and labour, and the newly-created Fascist syndicates succeeded in effecting peaceful solutions of numerous labour disputes in a manner satisfactory to both sides. Thus, while in 1920 there had been 2,090 strikes with 2,313,685 strikers and a loss of 30,569,218 working days, the figures for 1922 were only 575, 447,919 and 6,916,914 respectively.
The Fascist theory is that strikes and lock-outs, independently of the rights or wrongs of either party, are in themselves pernicious, as they hold up production to the prejudice of third parties, viz., the community as a whole, and thereby weaken the nation both economically and politically. Nor should it be forgotten that in Italy such agitations almost always assume a distinctly political and revolutionary character, even if they commence as purely economic disputes. But strikes were not wholly eliminated, even after Fascism had come into power, and it was believed that in certain cases they could not be avoided. 'Acre were, indeed, in 1924 and 1925, some strikes actually promoted by the Fascist syndicates in the interest of the workers. Gradually, however, an entirely new conception of the labour problem was being evolved. Fascism rejected in toto the notion of class warfare, with its attendant sequel of hatred and discontent. The nation, the Fascists claim, is not divided into two watertight compartments—the employers and the employed—but it is a compact whole, composed of innumerable categories of producers, all of whom must contribute to the welfare of the country. The old Marxian German cry "Proletarians of all the world, unite" is replaced by the principle of the 'community of interests of all classes within the nation. The interests of the workers are more closely bound up with those of the other classes of Italians than with those of the workers of foreign countries or of international bodies run by cosmopolitan agitators. To unite all classes within the nation is the first object. After that the time may come for closer international solidarity.
The Fascist syndicates are thus placed on an essentially patriotic basis. They rapidly secured ever wider support and their membership increased at the expense of the old Red unions and of the newer Popolare unions which were losing their hold over the masses. To-day they comprise well over two million members, which is a very large figurein a country like Italy where organized labour represents a smaller proportion of the total than is the case in Britain, Germany or the United States. The whole country is now covered with a network of syndicates according to the various categories in the various trades—employers, experts, the managerial and clerical staffs, and the workers—grouped in larger units, municipal, provincial, regional, and into the fifteen national corporations. To these were subsequently added the syndicates of professional men. On these bodies representative powers are conferred, whereas other unions, such as the Red syndicates, may continue t9 exist, but merely as de facto organizations without legal recognition or responsibility.
The most interesting aspect of the new labour legislation is the system of compulsory arbitration which has been established. Just as private individuals arc not allowed in any civilized country to take the law into their own hands, but are obliged, if they feel themselves to have been wronged, to have recourse to a court of law, in the Fascist view the same principle is applicable to classes and categories of employers and employed. If a dispute arises and cannot be settled amicably, the aggrieved party must apply to the labour courts created for the purpose. These courts are the labour sections attached to the courts of appeal and are composed of three judges and two assessors, one an expert in labour problems and the other in questions concerning production. Their awards must be based on the law, when it exists, custom, the conditions of the particular trade involved, the cost of living, and the cost of production, and the judges arc instructed to bear in mind the general interests of produc- tion, i.e., of the community as a whole, and to avoid the risk of causing the closing down of an industry and the consequent unemployment. Both strikes and lock-outs are therefore prohibited, and the party which has recourse to such action or refuses to abide by the award of the court is liable to punishment. With the creation of the Ministry of Corporations the whole syndicalist organization is placed under the supervision of the State and the whole force of labour, which under the past regime had been divorced from and indeed antagonistic to the nation, is brought within its orbit. It will, of course, need time before final judgment can be passed on the success or failure of the scheme, and the actual laws may have to be modified in part. But with the spirit of collaboration which inspires all classes in Italy to-day there is every hope that it will succeed, and if it does it will have provided a solution for one of the gravest social and economic problems of the day, in spite of the supercilious scepticism of certain foreign highbrows.
LUIGI VILLARI.
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