Page:William Z. Foster - The Revolutionary Crisis of 1918-1921 (1921).djvu/43



Special attention was given by the Fascisti to the destruction of the workers' political organizations. Free speech and assembly were entirely abolished in many districts. Men who dared to place their names in nomination on the Socialist ticket were beaten, assassinated, or driven away to other towns and ordered not to return on pain of death. Some were held incommunicado in the private jails of the Fascisti. A favorite terroristic method was to force the resignation of regularly elected local officials who might be friendly to the workers. In such cases the Fascisti would boldly and insolently demand that the Socialist mayors and councilmen get out of office, even though they had been placed there, as often happened in many radical strongholds, by nine-tenths of the total votes cast. And the history of the struggle indicates that the resignations were usually forthcoming when demanded. Those officials who refused did so at their peril. Good fortune would be theirs if they were not summoned to the door to answer a knock some dark night and then murdered in cold blood.