THE GAPORETTO OF SOCIALISM 223
monopolized all the work of the port and placed a formidable
vested interest in the way of the fascist advance. But there
was a gap in this imposing facade which the fascists intended
to force. The work of the port—lading, unlading, caulking,
and repairs of all sorts—was done by several thousands of
workers who were members of the co-operative societies,
each one of which performed a special function in accordance
with strict rules reminiscent of those of the old corporations.
These societies were * closed' and their members given
priority of employment. Each morning a list was prepared
of the demands for various forms of labour caused by the
arrival and departure of ships, and if there were any jobs
to spare * outsideJ workers were engaged. During the war
and immediately afterwards there was work for everybody,
and the system served to protect high wages, from which
nori-members also profited. But when the economic crisis
broke out and the activity of the port was reduced, the
system was threatened from two quarters. Owners and
merchants wanted to bring down prices, while the growing
number of unemployed, allowed fewer and fewer shifts of
work, turned against the barriers of the co-operative
societies aad trade unions which were shutting them out of
the promised land of the port. A few days' work a week
was enough to give a livelihood, and wages were so high
that members sometimes gave up their shifts to outsiders in
return for a percentage of their earnings. During the time
of prosperity, real or artificial, there had been enough profits
for everybody, contractors, co-operative workers and lumpen-
proletariat. The margin of profit was now narrower and the
fight for the spoil had begun. la this fight the contractor
had a natural ally in the unemployed. Attacked on these
two sides, the system could not hold out, and collapsed in a
few days. The attack was led by the fascists. The shipping
magnates placed a million and a half lire at their disposal
to organize a punitive expedition against Genoa on a large
scale. A fierce onslaught was made against the closed
co-operative societies, ia order to make them open to every-
body. Work ia the port was not unlimited, and for this
reasoa aloae some system of regulation was necessary.
Actually once the victory had been won the societies were