THE.. NEMESIS OF COMMUNISM.
IT would be interesting to work out a political estimate of what the people who cling to constitutional methods owe, to the " awful examples " provided by other nations which have fallen away. Nobody, we think, has ever attempted such a study. Yet in the sum the tacit warn- ings to us to keep on the straight path of constitutionalism which have come from other countries have been equal in potency to many thousands of speeches, pamphlets and leading articles.
There was .a short period after the War when it looked as though Bolshevism might conceivably grow into a formidable force in this country. What killed Bolshevism here was not so much the resistance of anti-Bolshevist politicians as the spectacle in Russia of what Bolshevism really meant. Now we receive a new warning from Italy of the results of unconstitutional methods. As firm friends of Italy we trust that the triumph of Fascismo will, after all, do no great harm. But the dangers are grave. Even if the abyss be avoided a lesson will remain sufficiently clear for any sensible person to read. Fascismo means unconstitutional action—Direct Action— and we do not suppose for a moment that unconstitutional- ism will serve constitutionalism in Italy or anywhere else . until the paradox has been made good by the circum- venting of countless risks and difficulties.
Less than two years ago the Fascisti combined together in order to help to make the law prevail over anarchy. They have ended by overriding all law and asserting that they are the State. The head of the Fascisti is now Prime Minister of Italy. The Fascisti are ultra-patriots, but what sort of attitude they will adopt towards other nations we do not know. We do not like their fury, but we cannot believe that they really have light enough hearts to upset the Peace, to try to filch away Italians from Switzerland, to reopen the Jugo-Slav question, to close the Adriatic Sea; to try to seize Malta, and to win for Italy the hegemony of the Mediterranean. The reports which attribute such intentions to the Fascisti are probably mad rumours. The obvious dangers concern Italy in her domestic capacity rather than as a power among nations. That this is so will be seen from the short history of the Fascismo movement.
The Fascisti rose under the leadership of Signor Mussolini to do what was not being done by a lethargic Government. Communists all over Italy were spreading the doctrine of the supremacy of the Proletariat. They denounced those who had been responsible for Italy's share in the War and those who had fought in the War. While preaching pacifism they were not themselves at all averse from violence. Force was right for them so long as it served their own class purpose, but it was wrong for everybody else, and particularly wrong for a nation which believed itself to be fighting in a humane cause. In the North of Italy the Bolshevists grew bold enough to seize the factories. Signor Nitti, who was Prime Minister, smiled drily upon their acts. He may have done this because he knew that they would fail to work the factories successfully, and because he wanted them to be convinced by the best of all teachers—experience. Or he may have done it because he felt too weak to intervene. In any case, his subtleties did not appeal to the fiery brains of patriots who were already itching to do something in the grand manner. The Fascisti declared themselves and took the field.
At first it looked as though they might conduct them- selves temperately and almost, if not quite, legally. After all, there is a point in the affairs of nations at which it is inevitable that one class should assert itself against another in order to correct a balance which has been entirely upset. But the Fascisti soon descended to conduct which was as much outside the law as that which they professed themselves to be punishing. Hot-headed youth, not to mention soldiers and sailors of mature years, who were curiously enough not less hot-headed, flocked to the banners of Fascismo. A uniform in which a black shirt was the principal feature was adopted. Signor Giolitti encouraged the new movement, perhaps because, like Signor Nitti, he felt too weak to oppose it. At all events, it was extremely convenient for him to use it indifferently against d'Annunzio and the Bolshevists. When a bourgeois was angry with Signor Giolitti for punishing that eccentric hero, d'Annunzio, he instantly melted at the spectacle of insurgent workmen being brought into subjection by the same weapon. Really, Signor d'Annunzio has much to answer for. He, more than any other man, created the moral conditions out of which Fascismo grew.
The Fascisti more and more abused the encouragement they received. They terrorized the Press. They beat magistrates who gave decisions against them. They required officials who were obnoxious to them to resign under threat of death. Their numbers grew. To-day there is a Fascist Army of 400,000 men. When Signor Bonomi succeeded Signor Giolitti the situation was already out of hand. He allowed soldiers, sailors and officials to become Fascisti. Shortsighted or panic- stricken employers, who had bitter memories of the seizure of the factories by the Bolshevists, used the Fascisti as a sort of private army to try to break up Trade Unionism. All over Italy the bourgeoisie joined the Fascisti because they regarded it as unsafe to do otherwise—though whether they thought themselves or their country in the greater danger is not clear. Now nothing but Fascismo counts. Newspapers which speak against it are sup- pressed in the name of Freedom. The Fascisti leaders pour forth manifestos couched in exalted and emotional language, which reminds us of proclamations by Mr. De Valera. The attempt to stop the class warfare of the Bolshevists has become a class warfare by the Fascisti-- a class warfare expressed in terms of national ambition.
All we can hope is that the motives of the Fascisti, which, as we have said, were respectable in the beginning, will lead them to a just and impartial rule in the end. If that should happen it will be because Fascismo has something within it which is disinterested and noble, and which will make it turn from methods that have so far stained the movement. However that may be, we shall mark carefully the reactions of Fascismo in this country. British Labour has set its foot on the slippery slope of Direct Action. We have heard less of Direct Action lately, and the reason may be that Labour leaders do not like the look of what they see at the bottom of the slope. If, however, they have not already taken the warnings of Russia and Italy to heart they may be convinced in the end by a bitter experience which will involve the whole country, but will inflict the greatest suffering upon those who are most apt to believe in Direct Action. Whenever a minority seizes power in the name of the people that minority turns into an instrument of tyranny. There seems to be no exception to this rule. The tyranny ends only when the people win back their power. In Great Britain the people now have the power. They have only to record their votes in sufficient numbers for any policy they desire and that policy will certainly be put into force. Those of us who might disagree with it would try to persuade our countrymen to vote differently at the next election, but till persuasion succeeded we should accept the will of the majority. That is the only way for a free and stable Democracy. Democracy has no other meaning. All who try to .put into practice other plans are the enemies of Democracy..
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