IT IS most unfortunate that at such a time as this official action should suggest that even if there is not one law for the rich and another for the poor, there is certainly one method of the administration of the law for the Communist and another for the Fascisti. Four foolish young men, belonging to some Fascisti organization, stole a Daily Herald motor car containing eight thousand copies of that newspaper. They were arrested and taken before the magistrate, and then by order of the Public Prosecutor the prosecution was withdrawn. The Attorney-General has made a most unconvincing defence of the Public Prosecutor’s action, but the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, which can hardly be suspected of Socialistic sympathies, has passed a strong resolution on the subject, the trade unions are naturally indignant, and Mr. Arnold Bennett aptly summarizes the situation when he writes: “ I should like to know what would have happened if a band of Communists had held up a Morning Post van, and treated eight thousand copies of the Morning Post as the eight thousand copies of the Daily Herald were treated.” To put it very mildly, the Public Prosecutor has blundered badly, and his blunder will be fully exploited by the Communist agitator.
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