June 16. possible that a system foreign to the nature of the Briton may be foisted upon him in. the shape of Fascism, if the Black Shirts led by Sir Oswald. Mosley are allowed to have all the freedom which they have been continually abusing since the sudden accretion in strength as a result of the active support which hasbeen sivan to the movement by certain of the British "national"—newspapers. For the purpose of preventing further "disorderly outbreaks the Government is con templating rushing through Tegislation calculated to give the police greater powers in dealing with the monster meetings which Fascists, and the smaller assemblies which Communists organize, to. prevent hem from becoming' unruly. and threatening the public peace. As an offset to Communism in Britain the Black Shirt movement may have something to commend it. It certainly has the advantage of being able to organize a strong body of public opinion against the ocirines of the reds, but that is about the only thing that can be said in its favour. Perhaps it may bbe added that it is a youth movement designed to prevent the per-Petuation of all those evils which the older generations seem unable to cope with, and to offer the only possible resistance against the ub-Versive efforts of the Communists but it is apparent that even if the oint be conceded, it is to a great Gogree offset by the fact that the movement has all the disadvantages arising from the immaturity of its leaders and also the rank and file, That is apparent from the frequent fracas which occur in the streets of the large cities, when Black Shirts, and Communists also, parade the thoroughfares obviously looking for each other and solely for the purpose of committing breaches of the peace. They seek to invade each other's meetings for the purpose of breaking them up, with the result that-an unarmed miniature civil war is afoot, in which the doctrine of the combattants seems to be "It you see fan opponent's head, hit it?
That, however, is merely a phase of the two movements which progress side by side, with different ends in view. The Government, it is clear, intends to pass some legislation' designed to restore a certain amount of order at meet ings of either side, though there does not appear to be any intention of endeavouring to curb the freedom of speech of which both parties are at liberty to avail themselves under the existing constitution. To attempt to do that would be to set out on a very thorny path. The Government recently met considerable opposition over its Bill designed to restrict seditious activities. sought to overset an old established principle of English law, by incorporating in the Bill a pro-sion which in effect meant that person were found in possession of seditious literature he would have to prove that his intention was not unlawful. That was subsequently amended to lay upon the Government the duty of proving that the possessor's intent was unlawful, thereby restoring the onus of proof to the prosecution where it should properly belong. The Government's present intention, Rowever, does not appear to be aimed at the suppression of sedition if {t be of Communist per~ suasion, or the tendency to set up a different form of government on the part of the Fascists; it does, however, intend to see that either party in the exercise of the constitutional Liberties given it shall refrain from actual combat in which unoffending persons, having, perhaps, not even a passing interest in the antics of either, so frequently come to harm. In this desire there appears to be complete unanimity amongst the Conservative, Liberal and Labour members of Parliament, animated with 'a desire that Britain shall be allowed to work out her own revolution Slong the lines she has always been following, for the history of Britain has been that of one long continuous revolution.
That is where the Black Shirts may prove just as obnoxious to the Briton as the Communist undoubtedly does to an overwhelm~ ing majority. There is a danger that if the threat of Communism proved sinister enough public opinion would go over towards the Black Shirts rather than endure what other countries have suffered at the hands of the politically immature Red. It would be the lesser of the two evils, it is true, but it would nevertheless be an evil. British temperament is not suited to the establishment of the particular form of tyranny for which the Black Shirts stand, even though it be a benevolent one. It necessitates the sacrifice of rights which have been possessed by the Briton for so long, as to be taken as a matter of course. It would require the relinquishment of that wide personal liberty which it is contended can and should only be limited in times of national emergency such as war. An imposing effervescence of Communism might be considered to be such an emergency, but then the Government could' be expected to use every means in its power to cope with it. On the other hand the establishment of substantial forces of young men, uniformed, disciplined in everything except the carriage of arms, owing a personal loyalty to one leader, extra~ governmental in its character, injects into the struggle a third party whose activities may very well weaken the more constitutional forces of the government. British
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.