ITALIAN COMMUNISM.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 September 1920, Page 2

ITALIAN COMMUNISM.

A GRAVE CRISIS. By TelejranU.—Press Assn.—ConyrlcM. London, Sept. 15. Workmen in tlie Fiat factory at Turin refuse to recognise the leaders of tlie Confederation, and declare they will never surrender the works. The Communist leaders claim that 40 per cent, of the 30,000 Fiat employees are working, but many of these are making munitions or completing tlie forts on the roofs of the workshops. A good part of the day is consumed in meetings .and demonstrations. The Co-operative Alliance lent the strikers half a million lire, but this is a mere drop in the bucket, as the Fiat Company's wages alone were 1,400,000 lire weekly. Beuter's correspondent iu Rome states that details in connection with the commandeering of factories show that the workers are up against the awkward problem of raw materials, while foodstuffs and money are petering out. The workers' attempts to barter manufactured gbods for peasants' produce are almost barren. Meanwhile troops are being drafted to Turin, and tanks, guns and armored cars are in readiness, as the authorities fear that hunger may drive '■he workers to make a descent upon the city.—Reuter.