(The CRIMSON invites all men in the University to submit signed communications of timely interest. It assumes no responsibility, however, for sentiments expressed under this head and reserves the right to exclude any whose publication would be palpably inappropriate.)

To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

Professor Carver's interesting interview contained a statement concerning Mussolini which is worthy of comment. He said "If his political methods had been as sound as his economic policies, he would rank as the greatest statesman of modern times." With many others Prof. Carver shares the idea that Mussolini's power was ill-gotten"; as a matter of fact, the greater part of the American press has thought substantially along the same line. Of course it would be ridiculous for me to defend seizure of authority by force of arms as a general policy, but I believe that censure of such action under unusual circumstances is a debatable point. Therefore having in mind the extremely unusual circumstances which brought Mussolini to the forefront. I would like to say a few words in defence of his coup.

My intention is not to give an elaborate description of the wretched conditions in Italy before Mussolini took the wheel for a few striking instances will suffice to support my point of view. Riots robberies, assaults, and even murders were things of every day occurrence. Strikes not only of a local but also a general character, such as involved the nation's railroads and telegraph system, were so numerous that to pick up an Italian newspaper and miss a front page heading prelating thereto would be an unusual surprise. Graft existed in all departments of the government, and burdensome taxes were imposed in order to supply wages for thousands of government employees, whose work was to devise new methods of increasing their personal property. Even the soldier who had faced several years of hell on frozen peaks was the object of ridicule, jeers, and often the victim of brutal assaults. A brother of mine, who was an officer in the Italian army at that time, wrote to me from Milan that to wear a uniform on the streets in the daytime was to invite serious trouble, while a similar act at night was intense flirtation with death.

In spite of all this the government was looking on indifferently. It was helpless before a parliament consisting of numerous parties and parties within parties. New elections due to insidious propaganda had not ameliorated the situation, and it was impossible to pass a law which would please a majority. Ministry after ministry rose and fell, while strife and bloodshed continued throughout the nation. A communist revolution was openly spoken of. But finally a revolution did come, and a bloodless revolution it was. Instead of a Lenine at the helm, there appeared Benito Mussolini, the man of the hour. Seizure of power under the above circumstances, I am inclined to think, does not deserve to be censured. Surely a modern Cincinnatus who has had the ability to bring about the "one bright spot in Europe" must have meditated considerably before choosing his plan to take possession of the ship of state Sincerely yours.   F. E. LA CAUBA 1G