ITALIAN LABOUR AND REVOLUTION.
ANOTHER GRAVE CRISIS,
A great Socialist manifestation, more aptly to be defined as an Anarchist demonstration, organised Italy to-day, consisting of a suspension for two hours, from three p.m. to five p.m., of all train services and factory work because of the alleged “White Terror,” supposed to have been inflicted on the proletarian class by the Giolitti Government, and as a protest against the alleged “systematic defamation of Russia.” At three o’clock the drivers of engines were ordered to blow a prolonged whistle of agony, the factory whistles joining in. Trains stood still, and workmen marched out of the factories to the public squares to listen to excited harangues in support of Lenin and Trotsky. To-morrow and the following days Italian exchange will probably drop another few points on the money markets of the world. These are the blessings of the Bolshevik system which are intended to elicit jubilation from the proletariat and gratitude from the Italian people!
The Socialist organs make no secret of the fact that the order came from Moscow, and was followed with blind obedience. The manifestation is also a reply to the publication of the official Socialists’ report about Russian conditions at Trieste and the congress of Moderate Socialists at Reggio Emilia. These had a remarkable effect on public opinion, and a reaction was needed. The manifestation was signed by the Official Socialist section, the Labour Exchanges, the Young Socialist group, the Italian Syndicalist Union, the Lombard Anarchist League, and the Railway Federation. The latter group, in fact, are most anarchistically disposed, and claim credit for initiating the movement.
The railwaymen’s manifesto on the alleged “White Terror” declares that hundreds of their comrades are groaning in prison – which is false – or are threatened with prosecution for having taken part in the recent railway strikes and in the armed insurrection of Ancona. The fact is that hardly any arrests were ever made or maintained, and that for every act of insubordination an ample amnesty, including pay for the strike days, was granted. The paternal Government of Signor Giolitti thus reaps its thanks!
Special instructions were issued also that trains should stop near factories or stations, where, in the event of the passengers protesting, gangs of workmen would silence them with such lenient methods as sticks and stones and an occasional revolver shot or bomb. One asks on which side the methods of terrorism prevail. All the secondary railways across country and the city trams were ordered to follow the example, and every town and country was condemned to be impressed with the woe and sorrow of Russia. This will give the longsuffering Italian people a foretaste of the beauties of the Bolshevik regime, with red flags and “ikons” of Lenin and Trotsky as consolation.
Precise instructions were issued by the Railway Syndicate and other Socialist organisations specifying the cessation at three p.m. of every movement of trains. The railwaymen along the lines and at the stations were ordered to fold arms and maintain a serious, dignified attitude, avoiding provocations and gatherings, and prepared only to defend their cause in case there should be recriminations or reaction by the travelling public. The ticket offices were closed, and level crossings remained open with the red flag exposed. The railway directors seem to have been powerless to prevent the demonstration. All they could do was to give orders that from two p.m. to sjx p.m. the trains were to move cautiously, following only on telegraphic signals between stations. The rest was left to Providence and Bolshevik mercy.
Among the public one hears nothing but imprecations against this infliction, but everybody seems powerless to find a remedy. The Government itself is completely paralysed and hopelessly disabled. A feeling of sullen resignation to the inevitable prevails.