156 Chapter 7
1921, Steffens triumphantly told U.S. Ambassador William Christian Bullit, Jr.
(1891–1967),“I haveseenthe futureandit works!”^34 It wasnot untillate in his life that
Steffenslet himselffacethe truthaboutthe Soviets’ horrifyingbrutality.In hindsight,I
thinkwe havelearnedwhothe self-righteousfraudsreallyturnedout to be.
Mussolini’s ProgressiveAmericanContemporaries:His Apologists
AlsoconsiderIda Tarbell,the persecutorof JohnD. Rockefeller,Sr., in the pagesof
McClure’smagazine.Whereasshe likenedRockefeller—a peacefulAmericancitizen—to
someoligarch,she wasmuchless hardon an actualdictatorsuchas Mussolini.At least
she did not go as far as sharingSteffens’s warmfeelingstowardthe Soviets.Nonetheless,
Tarbellwaslike Steffensin havingsomeambivalenceaboutMussolini.She heldreserva-
tionsaboutthe undemocraticaspectsof Mussolini’s rulebut waslikewisecharmedby his
take-chargeattitude.JohnP. DigginswritesthatTarbell,too, “becamefascinatedby the
experimentalfeaturesof the CorporateStateand wrotelavishlyaboutthe moraluplift” in
it. For thatreasonTarbelltraveledto Italyherselfto interviewIl Duceface-to-face.In
Diggins’s words,onceTarbellreturnedto the USA,she informedthe U.S.Departmentof
Statethat “the newlaborlawsin Italyconstitutedan admirablesocialexperiment.”^35
In her 1939memoir,Tarbellremarkson howIl Ducetookpowerin a relativelybenign
fashion.“I hadbeenamazed,andhadneverceasedto be amazed,” thatMussolini’s
“dramaticmarchon Romehad...beencarriedout withoutbloodshed.An astonished
worldhad seentensof thousandsof unorganizedand in partunarmedmenmarchfrom
everypointin Italyto Rome,call for Mussolini,get himby orderof the Kingand march
homeagain.... It wasthe mostamazingtransferof governmentI hadknownof.” She
addsthat,overall,the mostardentdefendersof parliamentaryrepublicanismfelt they
hadno optionbut to acceptMussolini.“‘He has savedthe country,’ mentoldme.” Her
visitwasnot whatshe expected.She describeshowhorribleeconomicconditionswerein
Italypriorto Mussolini’s coup,whenthe streetsweremarkedby “a clashof orderand
revolt.Menandwomennot onlyrefusedto workthemselves,but to let otherpeople
work.Grainsdiedin the fields,threshingmachinesweredestroyed,... railwaytrainsran
as suitedthe crew.Sundaywas a day,not of rest...but of war;fêtes weredangerous,liable
to be brokenup by raids.” On the converse,she states,underMussolinipublicorderwas
restoredandeconomicproductionresumed.She rhapsodizesaboutwhatshe sawin the
reformedcountry.It was pleasingto witnessa revivalof “a worldof work.... Howcould
it be, one asked,that in so briefa time” from 1920 to her visitin 1926that “a peopleshould
dropits clubsandpickup its tools?” Tarbellthentellsthe reader:“Therewasonlyone
answer:Mussolini.” Ah, whata savior!She clearlycreditshimfor rescuingthe nation
fromself-destruction.She thenfawninglyreminiscesabouther firstencounterwiththe
man:
As I crossedthe longroomtowardthe deskMussolinicamearoundto meetme, asked
me to takeone of the twobig chairswhichstoodin frontof his desk—and,as he was
seatingme, wasapologizing,actuallyapologizing,in excellentEnglishfor keepingme
waiting.As he did it I sawthathe hada mostextraordinarysmile,andthatwhenhe
smiledhe had a dimple.
Nothingcouldhavebeenmorenatural,simple,and courteousthanthe wayhe put me at
my ease.... I foundmyself,not at all afraidto talk,but eagerto do so. If he had not been
as eager,I thinkI shouldhavedoneall the talking,for luckilyat oncewe hit a common
interest—better[public]housing....
“Menandwomenmusthavebetterplacesto live.Youcannotexpectthemto be good
citizensin the hovelstheyare livingin, in partsof Italy.” [Is that whatyou wouldexpecta
SocialDarwinistto say?–S.H.]