Fascismo Trionfante

Despatches from Italy last week assumed almost the stereotyped cast of official bulletins, as Fascist censors ruthlessly blue-penciled all reports considered unfavorable to Il Duce (Benito Mussolini) or to Fascismo itself.

Foreign Censorship. The 56th birthday of King Vittorio Emanuele was celebrated at a reception tendered him by the Government and Premier Mussolini at the Capital. Foreign newspapermen were barred even from attendance at this function by the adroit form in which the official invitos were cast. It was specifically required that every male guest appear in uniform, and since even those foreign correspondents in Rome who are military men had left their uniforms at home, cables reported that all of them were refused admittance./- For good measure, numerous Italians who had outgrown their military trappings or allowed them to suffer from neglect were also barred. Despatches asserted that the American Ambassador, Henry P. Fletcher, was the only male guest who was allowed to appear in strictly civilian attire.

Local Censorship. The alleged attempt by the Socialist Zaniboni to assassinate Premier Mussolini (TIME, Nov. 16) was, of course, the excuse for much of this relentless clamping down upon anti-Fascist activities. News leaked through to the effect that Il Rivoluzione Liberale, noted anti-Fascist organ at Turin, had been suppressed; and at Rome a similar fate overtook the Avanti, Giustizia, Unita Cattolica and Voce Republicana, while other opposition papers such as Il Mondo and Il Risorgimento were "allowed to continue publication, although their entire issues were seized daily."

In Yugo-Slavia. Friction between Italy and Yugo-Slavia was generated, curiously enough, by the Zaniboni affair. At Trieste the Slavonian newspaper Edinost published accusations to the effect that the whole Zaniboni "plot" had been "framed" by Fascist leaders to embarrass the Opposition and serve as an excuse for further tyranny. Promptly Fascists attacked and severely damaged both the offices of Edinost and the Yugo-Slavian consulate at Trieste.

At once anti-Fascist and anti-Italian demonstrations took place in reprisal at Belgrade, Agram, Laiback, Spalato and other Yugoslavian cities. Apparently the Government of Yugo-Slavia made almost frantic efforts to quell these disturbances, which included the burning of Italian flags, attacks on Italian consulates and some scattered plundering of Italian-owned shops. Foreign Minister Nintchitch of Yugo-Slavia promptly despatched a note of apology to the Italian Government, and was reviled as a "traitor" by many of his countrymen for so doing. The incident appeared closed with the alleged arrival at Belgrade of an Italian note in which the original Fascist outbreak at Trieste was "deplored" and the Yugo-Slavian apology accepted.

/-But Miss Beatrice Baskerville, New York World correspondent, was present.