THE WORLD'S NOTABLE LEADERS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 411, 21 December 1932, Page 7

THE WORLD'S NOTABLE LEADERS

© Mmssolini Is One Of The Few Modern Statesmen Possessing Great Creative Imagination

ANY problem -wMch gives rise to an increasing volume of theoretical debate is invariably a problem of to-morrow. Tbe fact that for some years now tbe world bas been debating in talk and in print about leaders proyes tbat tbey are yet to seek. At tbe same time tbis longing for a leader sbows tbe weakness of our age. Strong races do not appeal loudly for a strong man; tbey generally bave one. For tbis state of tbings I see tbree qauses. In tbe first place, everybody feels tbat tbe present cbaos steadily is bringing nearer the danger of war, and in sucb severe crises patients are in tbe babit of calling for a doctor ■vybo bas to be a miracle-worker as well. f° In the second place ,so many different forms of government are competing side by side to-day tbat people are losing confidence in them all and would mucb prefer to fling themselves into tbe arms of a supreme world-dictator. Anotber cause of weakness may Ve found in the increasing anonymity oi all State decisions whicli, when tliey j 'happen to be foolisb, no cne indivi j dual can be beld responsibie for. it is i always some committee that bas maci o I the recommendations and decisions, some conference tbat cannot ba impeacbed by Parliaments or by (loyernments, although any doctor who made a professional blunder in an operation would bave to answer for it. Wbat distinguicbes a genuine leader from tbe average party chief if not his power of kindling tbe imagination ?^It is tbe combination of practical energy and imaginaticm that makes tbe great leader. The magic emanating from certain names in history bas never been due to tbe mere winning of victories or the uninterrupted bolding of offlce; over and above tbat tbere bas always been | something tbat niade tbe great i. an's personality interesting, something in bis character that app-taled to tbe imagination. Sometimes tbe decisive factor bas been personal to tbe man himself, sometimes it bas lain in tbe tragic close of bis life, as in tbe case oi' Napoleon and Lincoln, for the world loves a great final act. Tbe single figure tbat touched the imagination of tbe world after t'our years of tbe great war was tbe Unknown Soldier; and that is why every country clioso him for commemoration in its monuments. Among tbe leaders of to-day there are only a few who bave the creative imagination wliich lifts them out of the ruck. Mussolinf bas it; bis appearance, bis manner, bis inspirations, the tone of kis orders and speecbes all display it. Such a man appcars tbeatrical even wben be is not essentially so, for tbe ' contemporary world is more like a ; tbeatre tlian it is willing to admit. : Most people open a newspaper to see ; wbat tbeir leaders are doing in mucb ; thd same spirit of sestbetic curiosity i With wbicb tbey enter a stage-box. (

Tbe stage being tbus set, tbe great actors appear, and it is stupid to abnse them for being actors. Possibly Marcus Aurelius never struclc an attitude, but Csesar certainly did and was none the less a genius. , Tbe inborn capacity to rule is' a happy combination of certain gifts. Tbe „ chief quality demanded of a great leader. is tbat of keeping a/continuous bold on realities witbout ever in tbe process forgetting bis bistorical role, witbout forgetting, tbat is to say, tbe signifieance of what be is doing for bis generation. This sense of tbe symbolical meaning of bis actions is to be found, I tbink, in Mussolini, writes Emil Ludwig in tbe "Daily Mail." &■ Compared witli bim Stalin is more an organiser,' a realist driven on by mere fanaticism rather than imagination. Ke lacks not only tbe pliability of tbe Italian, but his quality of magic as well. For Stalin acts as one of a committee of 17, and tbat gives bim no choice but to curb bis powers.- In tbin t io tecbniqim of tbe Soviets re-

sembles tbat of democracy, altliough at bottom it is autocratie. Russia is ruled by a commission that can depose Stalin, primum inter pares, at any time; Italy is ruled by oue man wbom it would be harder to depose Jian any boreditary monarch. Since the time, 50 years ago, when our grandfathers saw in democracy the sole hope of salvation, it has been continuously cbanging until ' now it bas reached tlie present impasse; and we, wbo were brougbt up as democrats, no longer regard it «as tbe only desirable form of government. The Germans, wbo were the latest to adopt it, seem already on tlie. point of abolishing it again. Tbis is partly due to one of tbeir social qnalities; they love order more than freedora. Besides, they bave produced the tbree greatest tbeorists of dictatorship: Marx, the fatber of Communism; : Nietzsche, tbe fatber of Facfsm, and Eiegel, tbe patron saint of both. Tbe enly tbing they are incapable of pro- ; lucing is an actua] dictator; tbat is •

why they are always talking about the problem of leadership. Tbere, too, tbey show tbeir wonderful gift for theorising and tbeir failure in tbe realm of practice. "Tbe Germans and tbe Russians," Trotsky once said to me, "are always talking of:. world views. They have vlewed tbe world, certainly; but in tbe meantime otber nations bave eonquered it." ^ And yet tbere are outstanding leaders to-day even among tbe democrats. In the last 20 years Germany bas produced only two; Rathenau and Stresd; manu, neither of whom belonged eitber to tlie nobility, wbicb used to rule and ;iow rules again, or to tbe Socialists, wbo had tbe power in tbeir liands for so long witbout being able Lo make use of it. Botb came from the middle class, which for tbree centuries has given birtb to almost every man who bas * enhanced Germany's name in tbe eyes of tbe world. In Briand France possessed a bigbly gifted representative of democracy, and slie seems lately to bave found in Herriot anotber man wbo bas to be reckoned witb. Greece is represented by a first rate ;;alent in Veniselos, but I would in•line- to put bim among tbe dictator3. Among tbe new States tbe Czechs bave had tbe best luck witb tbeir leader. If a United States of Europe had been established a few years ago, a thing that is impossible at present, it seems to me tbat no better President could have been foun'd for it, after tbe death of Lord Balfour, than Masaryk. (§ In him I see tbe antitype of Mussolini; here the great democratic idealist confronts the great autocratie realist, and yet botb have qualities in common; it is merely tbat tbese qualities are combined in entirely difierent ways. Both men bave fashioned tbeir nations anew in the image of tbeir personal vision; but while tbe one, aa sole dictator, is still, at 50, building up bis country and with ruthless severity suppressing all tbat migbt disturfe him in bis- task, the otber, from the vantage ground of bis 82 years, kj gently manipulating tbe strings so as to weave them inextricably into th« warp and woof of bis nation. Opinions necessarily differ as to whether dictatorship or democracy is Uie better system; tbe question would require a different answer in every age and for every nation. But Mussolini and Masaryk seem to me $the strongest leaders representing to-day tbose two systems of government.