MUSSOLINI AND EARLY FASCISM 2"]
have already noted,1 to frenzied attempts to outbid the
socialists and the General Confederation of Labour.
Mussolini raised the cry of all demagogues whose demagogy
is a cloak for their fundamental opportunism : ' Squeeze
the rich '. He knew very well that to save Italian finances,
lower the cost of living, satisfy all popular needs, old and
new, and overcome the crisis, it was not enough to decimate ,
capital or string up a few profiteers. But a sop had to be
found for the proletarian Cerberus. c The coffers are
empty ', he wrote on June 10. c, Who is to fill them ? Not
we, who have no houses, no cars, no factories, no land, no
workshops, no money. Those who can, must pay. Here is
our immediate proposal : let the owners expropriate them-
selves, or we will call up the army of ex-service men and
storm our way through all obstacles.'
All this served doubtless to make the situation even worse,
but it did not mean that Mussolini's socialist tendencies
were again in the ascendant, or that he was really a socialist
gone astray, a reactionary in spite of himself. Between
Mussolini and his own past stood a barrier of hatred, con-
tempt, and bloodshed. No less infamous than the betrayal
was the manner in which it had been carried out: the
acceptance of blood money on which his newspaper was
founded. II mode ancor m* offends. Repentance in sackcloth
and ashes would have availed him nothing, even if his pride
had allowed it, which was out of the question. But he had
never been a real socialist; only a mussolinist. While a
member of the party he had belonged to the left wing, chiefly
because the old leaders, who, in his interest, had to be
eliminated, belonged to the right. Directly he acquired the
Avanti he got rid of Claudio Treves, refusing his articles
because he wanted to manage the paper, his paper, alone.
This actually resulted in a duel. After his expulsion from
the party he dreamed only of repaying the humiliation he
had suffered, and his ruthless attack on it was inspired by
spite and his obsession for revenge.
Mussolini had done more than change sides, like a
Renaissance soldier of fortune : he had given up his
bohemian existence and begun to live a life of luxury, to
1 P. to.