THE GAPORETTO OF SOCIALISM 213
July 28, Ravenna.
' Last night the squads began the destruction of the
vast premises of the Provincial Federation of Socialist
Co-operative Societies. ... As usual the fascist action was
quite unexpected. The old palace, once the dwelling-
place of Byron, was completely destroyed.1 The fascists
only do this kind of thing when they are driven by
absolute political necessity. There are no half-measures
in civil warfare. The supreme aim is to ensure the safety
of our country. We carried out this exploit in the same
spirit in which wre used to destroy enemy depots during
the war. During the night the burning of this huge
building lit up the whole town with a lurid glare. We,
too, must strike terror into the hearts of our enemies/
July 30, Ravenna.
41 went to the chief of police, leaving Dino Grandi in
command of the thousands of fascists who had collected
in the suburb of San Roch. I announced that I would
set fire to and destroy the houses of all the socialists in
Ravenna, if within half an hour he did not place at my
disposal the necessary means for getting the fascists away.
It was a dramatic moment. I demanded an entire fleet
of lorries. His officials completely lost their heads ; but
half an hour later they showed me where I could find
lorries, ready filled with petrol. Some of them actually
belonged to the Chief's office. My ostensible reason was
to get the unruly fascists out of the town, but in reality
I was organizing a " column of fire " (as the enemy have
described it) to increase our power of reprisal in the
province, I took my place with Baroncini, Caretti of
Ferrara and young Rambelli of Ravenna in a car at the
head of the long column of lorries, and we set out. This
journey began yesterday morning., the sgth, at u o'clock,
and finished this morning the 3Oth. Nearly twenty-four
hours of driving, during which no one rested for a moment
or touched food. We went through Rimini, Sant*
1 The Federation, which had bought this historic palace, was presided over
by Nullo Baldini and united ninety-two co-operatives, possessed 6000 hectares
of land and rented almost as much again.