It might be a cause of surprise to the superficial observer, this sudden ascent to power of a party which, a few days before it took the government into its hands, had been threatened with martial law, an order which the King wisely refused to sign, thus avoiding civil war. But whoever has followed the development and progress of Fascismo during the last four years, considers its great strength and power in the country, its formidable membership (now over a million strong) compared with that of any other party (the Socialists are reduced to seventy thousand), and takes into account the high and patriotic principles on which this movement is founded will not wonder that the party got to power through an extra-parliamentary crisis. We cannot and must not forget that these “black shirts”—as the Fascisti are called—have really saved Italy from Bolshevism, which was sucking her very life-blood, and that they are thereby entitled to the gratitude of our country and of the world at large. “The Moscow conspirators, whose object was the overthrow of Western civilisation, swept with a wide net,” writes Lord Rothermere in his recent article, _Mussolini: What Europe owes to him_. “They made great headway in Germany, especially in Berlin; they seized Budapest under the direction of a convicted thief, but it was upon Italy they counted most, and when Mussolini struck against them in Italy, he was fighting a battle for all Europe.” I do not think—and the Hon. Mussolini agreed with me in one of the conversations I had with him—that people abroad, especially in England and the United States, know much about Fascismo. It had been diagnosed as a sporadic revolutionary movement, which sooner or later would be put down by drastic measures. Not many have realised that in this after-war period there is no more important historical phenomenon than Fascismo, which, as our Prime Minister said, “is at the same time political, military, religious, economic and syndicalist, and represents all the hopes, the aspirations and requirements of the people.” The popular air “Giovinezza” (Youth), the official song of the Fascisti, with its thrilling notes, which magnetised the heart of the people, the characteristic black shirts with the shield of the “fascio” on their breasts, the “gagliardetti” (Fascisti standards)—all these have largely contributed towards rousing a delirium of enthusiasm among the masses for the great cause.