CALIFORNIA: RoBerTo Checked

Last week the authorities ordered 18 Italian-Americans excluded from the San Francisco military area as dangerous to security—the first such action against white citizens. The wonder was that it was not done earlier: everybody heard about the goings on in the North Beach Italian colony. Fascists there used to say RoBerTo as a greeting—Ro for Rome, Ber for Berlin, To for Tokyo. Italy sent teachers, books and medals for the Italian schools. Mussolini won a popularity contest hands down over Franklin Roosevelt.

The ousted Fascistophiles included a publisher, a lawyer, a dried-fruit dealer and Sylvester J. Andriano (president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, head of Italian language schools, chairman of the North Beach draft board and onetime San Francisco police commissioner).