Fascism will come to Great Britain before long. On that most of us can agree. The important and interesting thing is when will it come and what will be its form. For in England with its long established parliamentary tradition, its power to change with minimum violence, one scarcely expects a repetition of the Italian or German picture. It seems perfectly conceivable that a revolution might be effected within the existing governmental mechanism and be labelled merely a change in policy.

Seven league steps in this direction appear to be in the offing. To understand what the Conservatives might do it is necessary to look back a little. For some years past there has been within the Conservative Party a loyal opposition headed by Major Walter Elliot, who favors a positive, aggressive, policy in contrast to Stanley Baldwin's sit-tight-and-all-will-be-well program. This minorlty is now beginning to get the ear of the rank and file of the party because of a widespread public reaction against the present National Government's do-nothing policy.

General labor gains in recent elections and the fact that most of the Liberal M. P.'s have now joined His Majesty's loyal opposition force upon the Cabinet a change in policy if it is not idly to await its early death. That this policy may well take the form of cartellization of British industry on the grand scale is indicated by the remark made in the Commons by Major Elliot, Minister of Agriculture: "We (the National Government) shall be forced to come to the House of Commons to ask for sanction for wide-sweeping changes in the economic structure of this country." This was followed by similar remarks by other ministers, and it is held generally that these are intended to feel out public reaction and also to prepare for definite proposals after the holiday season.

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The possibility of the program carrying the country--and consequently the possibility of a peaceful, legalistic transition to fascism--will depend upon the specific nature of the proposals. Maintaining its tradition of short sighted stupidity, the Labor Party gives signs of acquiescing in the move, as is indicated by the warm welcome accorded the plan by the Daily Horald, Labor's official organ. Plously it adds that the workers must be given a share in control.

Some of the probable industries to be forced into cartels are coal, iron, steel, textiles, shipbuilding. Since the Conservative Party is dominated by industrialists they will be the class favored in opposition to the financial, reatier, and labor groups. Labor can be bought off by a meaningless advisory board which can be proclaimed in glory and stified at leisure, and the rentier class can be taken in by the prospect of no write-off of bad investment. Then the government entrepreneurs can proceed to scotch both of them by the invisible, intangible method of raising prices by restriction of production, allowing inefficient industries through tariffs.

By obscuring all this with the use of patriotic obfuscation, empty terms about cooperation of all for the good of all, the Conservatives probably can swing the nation with them in the next election. Concretely, and stripped of the blah, they offer security as opposed to equality. Furthermore they offer certain economics resulting from nationalization, abolition of competitive marketing, profitable business, which means active business. These advantages are obvious; the hidden results of lowered productivity, inefficient bureaucratization of industry with no ideological myth as an incentive, exploitation of the proletariat and of the rentier by rising prices are obscured. Given this situation, an intelligently led Conservative Party could engineer a constitutional coup d'etat. Once involved in a tioup of industry and government, parliamentarism would have to be dispensed with, England would be fascist. TERTIUS.