Evening Star Newspaper, May 17, 1931, Page 83

Is Italy for War OR PEACE? _ - AN ANSWER FROM - Benito Mussolin1 - v THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, MAY 17, 1931, eI 8 Italy building for another war, seek- ing alliances that will strengthen her position among the leading powers of the earth, planning eventually to raise herself by military power? How about Mussolini, who has been pictured as dreaming of the Caesars and the glories of ancient Rome? Is he a military dictator secretly mobilizing an- other monster war machine, or a force- ful leader, intent upon peace, who em- ploys drastic and dramatic measures “to lift his people by their own bootstraps” into beiter economic amd social condi- tions? What of the Fascist movement? What are its true aims and intents? Was it organized to throttle foes within the gates, or is it a secret organization in maintenance of militarism? Here is the answer from “Il Duce” himself, in which he throws down the gauntlet to all his critics. Here is his own authorized statement as he gave it to Mandeville Roe, an English jaurnalist, sent jrem London to Rome to obtain from the Italian prime minister a forth- right statement of Italy’s position before the world today. ROME, May 4, 1931. ISITORS to Italy this year will notice hardly believe it is the same place. In the old days, however, not very many strangers came to Italy because the war was just over and, owing to the disorganization which existed, tourists did not feel encouraged to come. Therefore, today there are relatively few people except the Italians themselves who can compare the old Italy with the new. Yet there is much difference, not merely be- tween the pre-Fascist Italy and today but be- tween -war Italy and present conditions. Pascismo is a revolution, not a mere reaction. We look forward, not backward, and therefore we did not try to get back to pre-war oondi- tlons. Today our industries are organized in an en- i Ins‘ead of the old quarrei- ing between employers and employed we now have the corporations which settle their own affairs internally. On these corporations repre- question, and the help of the ministry of corpo- is always at their disposal. Under our r of labor the interests of all are safe- guarded; all industries arrange their own con- tracts by means of joint commitiees of employ- ers znd employes to provide the conditions most canvenient to all parties, and that contract hss the force of law. HO can regard that as State interference with indusiry? It is the workmen them- - contract or there is some other labor dispute, _ the recourse must be had to the labor courts. Because people have not seen the state of Italy before Fascismo came to power, we are much misunderstood abroad. Yet people * imagine that because it was necessary for us to meet force with force in order to put down bolshevism, we are, therefore, ruling Italy today by the sword. That is absurd. We have sheathed the sword; the soldiers have gone back to the plow and to the factory. There they are fighting another battle for Ttaly and winning it. Have you seen the farm- houses around Rome? Al that land used to be malarial marsh at one time; now it will some- times yield as many as three harvests a year. Out there you will see on the houses the names of places made celebrated by the feats of Italy's soldiers during the war. Here are the same men victorious over nature, for it is combat- tenti who inhabit these farms and who have dralned off these marshes. That we have been so successful in this di- rection is due to two things. In the first place, of course, our people are not industrialized in the same way as the English, and, therefore, the ex-soldiers were more easily able to take to the land. Becondly, which is the mdst import- ant point, it was due to the spirit which moves them. That spirit you will see throughout Italy’s life today. It is in the home, in indus- try, in the fields, everywhere. see the great changes we have made in industry and soci:l conditions because these ; the eye can see them. So e s work. It is to that we owe our recovery from the conditions of anarchy which preceded. It is in Fascism also that we trust for our future progress. It is, thercfore, wrong to say that Fascismo began with me and will end with me. There is much more work to be done in Italy, and when my work is done then I shall leave in the peo- ple a spirit which will endure, Some people liken me to Bismarck; they say I have created a machine which enly I, the inventor, can work. We know how the German Empire gradually drifted into the final catastro- phe after Bismarck’s guiding hand was removed, but the spirit of the Germans then was very different from that of the Italians now. We have something besides a marvelous ma- chine fn Italy today. We have a people tried and tempered by the ordeal of anarchy and who know what their patriotism is worth. Some people seem to imagine because we have not a parliamentary government exactly like the English one, with a system of warring parties inside the House and a large mass vete outside it, that Italy is no longer a democratic country. It is not necessary to have all that in order to know the will of the Italian people. We have our ballot boxes, too, of course, and our own system of elections. What do men say of me? If they hated me I should be only one against millions. Instead of that, I have converted them. Pascismo started with seven men in a whole nation; now We have been judged by our acts. Fascismo has convinced the minds and captured the hearts of the Italian people. T is absurd for anybody te suggsst that Fascismo is a rule of the sword. There is Do need to rule by the sword. The people trust Pascismo; they are enthusiastic about it. Pascismo is not a military rule, nor is the patriotism of the Ifalian aggressive. We de not seek war, but if anybody seeks war with us we intend that 21l the regrets shall be with our an;enuwerelnd&shhcnovu,hm of what is said to the contrary. Italy nceds peace fer the consolidation of her imdustries “Il Duce,”’ in an Authorized Inter= view, Avows His Country Has Sheathed theSword; That Her Soldiers Have Gone Back to the Plow and the Factory. a few months is very good. Our employers mow have to seek their labor through the exchanges. The managers of the exchanges are able to lay their fingers on the most suitable man for every job that is available, The unempiloyed are saved ail the ‘trouble and expense of replics to newspaper advertisements, all the heartbreak of tramping the streets looking for work, because the exchanges provide the vacan< cies. The exchanges are classified by indus< tries—agriculture, commercial and industrial, As our organization increases and extends in all fields, so will the ecapacity of our industries to employ, and the yield from them will tend to make Italy a richer and more prosperous country even than she is now, just as our ef- forts in the last eight years have brought her from anarchy to order. Thus is translated into fact my saying: Workers—As an immediate witness to my work, know that I have no passion but ane; to insure work for you, to increase your weil- being and to raise you up morally and spirit- ually! N a radio broadcast address from Rome on New Year day, 1931, Premier Mussolini de- livered a message to the United States in which he set forth his stand on peace, and his article herewith prcsented is an elaboration of those views. In his New Year day radio address the premier said: “I should like to contradict many ramors spread abroad on the aititude taken by Pascism and the danger it is supposed to represent for the peace of the world, Such accusations are groundless. Neither I, nor my government, nor the Italian people desire to bring about war. “I fought in the war as a soldier in the ranks. I know what war means. Th> terrible memories of thoese 3 ears wh>n whole generations of the youth of s» many coun'ries were laid low by th> hail of lead has not boen from my mind. “With the experlence that I have had, how osn I consider with anythiog but horrer the peuspeet of anothe: war?” (Coprrighit. 1481.)