"' ---.- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ § .. . § . THE ·_ FASCIST! . .. EXP:OSED , A YEAR. OF • . FASCIST DGMINATlON· 'By the Late GIACOMO MATTEOTTI . 'franslated by ·.E. W. DICKES • • • § § § § § ~· § § § ·§ § § §, § § § § § § . § . § § - t § § § § § § . § pendent Labour Party Publication IDepartment I 14 Great George Street,_ Westminster § LONDON § . ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ,-"'° 8/Jillinga,nd 1 SiXJ>ence. PRESIDENZADELCONSIGLIO ?--~ DEi ~IN~s:rru ~1-----~-~ Struttura d1m1ss1one · ; anniversari nazionali i ,d evcncispocci,,;na,ionali I~ e mternaz10nah ivi.,i,\O~
The I.L.P. Publication and Literature Department. ,. issues the Socialist Review (6d. Monthly) Socialist and Labour Pamphlets and Books. Write for the Labour Bookshelf · and lists. 14 Great George St. Westminster, ' London. Biblioteca Gino B~anco t
THE FASCIST! EXPOSED Biblioteca Gino Bianco
◄ Biblioteca Gino Bianco
Biblioteca Gino Bianco
i ' GIACOMO MATTEOTTI Biblioteca Gino Bianco
THE FASCISTI EXPOSED A YEAR OF FASCIST DOMINATION 'By the Late GIACOMO MATTEOTTI 'Translated by E. W. DICKES Independent Labour Party Publication Department 14 Great George Street, W estminst&r LoxnoN • Biblioteca Gino Bianco
Biblioteca Gino Bianco lnt. lnstituut Soc. Geschiedenls m5twdam
CONTENTS . • INTRODUCTION •• ~ ..•• • •• • •• ••• p ART I. THE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SITUATION PAGE . IX. ·1 PART II. ACTS OF THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT. I. The Abuse of Decree Laws ... II. Taxation Policy . . . . .. 14 . . . . 14 III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. x. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. xv. XVI. ... Customs Policy .. ., ••• Economic Policy. (A) State Intervention in Private Enterprise . . . . . . . .. (B) Opportunities Given to Private Speculators. . . . . . . . .. Labour Policy . . . . .. Public Services . . . . . . . .. . State Railways . . . . .. Postal .and Electrical Services ... Justice . . . p. • •• Schools . . . . .. The 9ccupation of Corfu ..... A Party Police . . . . .. The State Enslaved by a Party ... Electorate and Elections ... The Mutilation of the· Local Authorities . . . . . . . . ... Constitution, Propaganda, etc. . .. IS 18 19 19 25 30 40 42 47 49 51 54 56 58 61 62 6g PART III. THE WORDS OF THE LEADERS-- .. . 72 PART IV. . --AND THE CHRONICLE OF DEEDS •.• 84 PART v.. THE CONQUEST OF MOLINELLA PART VI. THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS •.• •.• 120 .. Vll Biblioteca Gino Bianco
Biblioteca Gino ·sianco
INTRODUCTION On the 10th of June, 1924, a man was kidnapped in one of the streets of Rome, taken away in a car .'and cruelly murdered. Two months later dogs found his martyred body with a rasp still sticking in his pierced b·reast. It was Giacomo Matteotti, the secretary of the Italian Socialist Party and the intellectual leader of the Opposition in the Italian Parliament. · There is no better test of a man's life than his death. And there is no truer evidence of how the victim fell than that given by one of his murderers, who confesse~ that Matteotti' s last words were :-"You may kill me; you will not kill the ideal. My children will be proud of their father. The workers will bless my dead body." These words, reported by one of his torturers, could not have been invented. · Giacomo Matteotti died at the age of 39. . He was brought up in corn/o.rtable surroundings and given an extensive education which made him acquainted with foreign languages ( especially English, which he acquired at Oxford) and foreign studies. He easily found access to a brilliant. career. in juridical science. This he gave up, however, in order to take his place in the -ranks of his party-the party of freedom and justice • of a higher degree than that afforded by present laws. Came the war. Matteotti stood against it, and, as a fighter against fighting, he was imprisoned for years in a dungeon in Sicily. After the war he gradually rose to prominence~ Unlike m.ost of his countrymen he was a man of cool, intellectual fudgment, controlling a fiery heart and a firm will. He was aware of his na+ion's emotional boundlessness and tried to avoid it. He was a man of fact, a teacher as well as a leader to his followers. He tau.ght them prudence and held them back from. risky adventures while never hesitating to da1'e himself. lX. Biblioteca Gino Bianco
The last time he left his native country, just a few -.,eeks be/ ore he fell, he was refused a passport and crossed the frontier in disguise. But he returned to Italy undisguised and himself disclosed his identity to the authorities. We asked him why he should run suck a f'isk and he answered simply :-" Our people want encouragement. They will see that one need not put up with everything.,, I remember another word he spoke during his sho1't 3ta,, in this country. He 'Wasspeaking of the sufferings of his fellow-workers in Italy. "The worst," said he, "what even the strongest aniongst our p ople cannot stand is that, for the last two years, when a man leaves his ho1ne in the morning he does not know whether he will return that night . . ." He said it very quietly. And he went back-to die. He died because he had spoken to the world of what the Italian people are going through and because he was going to say more. After -his great speech in the Chamber, in which he vigorously denounced the violence and mockery of the so-called "elections" in Italy-a speech which enraged the artificial majority, the products and puppets of this election-the official Press hinted at him, threatening that he would have to be "silenced. 11 Soon it appeared that his murder had been plotted and executed by a gang of criminals composed of some of the highest officials of the .Fascist Government and party and most intimate friends and counsellors of Mussolini himself. And, though contemporary history scribblers are busy whitewashing the Dictator's person from the stains of this blood, there is something to be said about the responsibility in an autocratic system which focuses all power upon one person. Fascism has always· boasted of having done away with democracy and its system of 1'esponsibilities and has always proclaimed the identity of party and government. It is not Fascism which could to-day discla·itn the culpability of the whole system when criminals 1'ank amongst its most 1'espected se,vants. It cannot term them outcasts to-day when they ha-z_1ebeen instrunients ·until yesterday. There is yet another word to be added. But fo1' the x. Biblioteca Gino Bianco
chance that a witness noted the number of the car in which M atteotti was abducted there wo·uld have been no clue and he would si1nply have disappeared-like so many others. . We know to-day that a numbe.r of persons witnessed what happened in a street of the capital and yet did not venture to intervene, having become accustotned to similar displays by the ruling power. Can we say more in condemnation of the type of order actually in force in Italy? Need we say more to prove that Matteotti is but one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, who died like him-unknown fighters for freedo1n and victinis of violence? Let him say it himself. In this book, which he· was forced to publish anonymously, he has recorded the deeds of Fascism during the first year of its reign. He was about to add the chronicle of the second year. He was not allowed to finish. He had to prove by his death that what he has registered with almost striking sobriety in these pages, which we. read to-day with profound ernotion, is, in fact, true to the very letter. Suddenly that letter has turned red. Never was it more cruelly true to say . that a man has written· with his heart's blood. · And never has another word become more true than those prophetic words of the dying hero-they killed him but they were unable to kill the ideal for which he stood. They tried to stop a fighting force, and they have stirred a whole nation. They wanted to silence a single man, and they have raised a world-wide move- . tnent of horror and protest. They killed one, and there are hundreds eager to take his place in the ranks. They stabbed M atteotti to death, and he is still alive; they buried his body, and his spirit is amongst us, leading and fighting more than eve1'. · OSKAR POLLAK .. September, 1924. xi. Biblioteca Gino Bianco 7
.. Biblioteca Gino Bianco .1 ,,..
.. THE F ASCIS-TI EXPOSED. A YEAR OF FASCIST DOMINATION. The Fascist Government justifies its armed conquest of political power, its use of violence and the risk it incur,red of igniting civil war, by the plea of the urgent necessity ~f restoring the authority of law arid tho State, and of rescuing_ the country from economic and financial conditions approaching utter ruin. · The statistical and historical data and documents compiled in this book are a demonstration of the very contrary of this. They show that never as in this last year, during which Fascism has been in power, has the law been so thrust f1Sidein favour of arbitrary action, the State so subjugated by a _faction, or the nation so split up into two classes, a dominating and a subject class. The country's economic and financial cbrtdition has, on the whole, continued to show the improvement and the slow recovery from the devastation of the war, which had already begun in the preceai.ng years; but had . begun thanks to the energies of the people, not the excesses and extravagances of Fascist domination. As to this latter, one thing is demonstrably true : that the profits of the speculators and the capitalists have increased in proportion as the reward of labour and the small resources of the middle classes have diminished, while these two latter classes have lost all freedom and aJl that is of worth in citizenship. I Biblioteca Gino Bianco J
PART I. ·rHE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SITUATION. 1. The Exchange. The first promise made to the country by the new rulers was to restore the Italian lira in a short time to the value of 50 gold centesimi. 1 The promise was a manifestation of the Fascists' faith in miracles. While they were preaching the liberation of things economic from State control, they were dreaming of exerting by political measures an immediate influence upon things economic. In point of fact, the tendency of the Italian lira to stabilisation and slow improvement had already been manifested before the coming of Fascism to power, and if_ the international questions arising out of the war could have been ~ettled the improvement would have been still more rapid. In 1919-20 the agreement with the Allies which artificially pegged the exchange came to an end; and the exchange fell precipitously, revealing all the damage done by the war. In 1921 and 1922 there were various oscillations, with a tendency towards stabilisation and improvement. In 1923, that is the year of Fascist rule, the exchange has tended rather to worsen than the contrary, in comparison with 1922. The average rate .·at which the dollar was quoted in the Italian exchanges during January to September, 1922, was 20.9 lire; during 1923, the Fascist year, 21.7 lire. 2. The Balance of Trade. The war had gravely affected the balance of foreign trade, but from 1920 onwards there was a steady movement in the direction of a return to pre-war conditions-once more with no aid from miracle-workers. (It should be mentioned that after June, 1921, there was a change in the method of valuation, tending to reduce the figures.) 1 That is, to half of its pre-war value, instead of about onequarter .-T,ans. 2 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
Imports. Exports. Deficit. ,. (in millions of tire~) First six months 1914 . . . 1.888 1.285 6o3 " ,, 1920 . . . 14.007 5.985 8.022 ,, ,, 1921 8.749 3.96 2 4.787 ,, ,, 1922 •'•·· 7. 772 4· 200 3. 572 " " 1923 9.073 4.886 4· 187 July to September, 1922 3.417 2. 150 1.267 ,, ,, 1923 .. . 3.616 2.440 I. 176 Year 1913 . . . 3.667 .2.592 1.075 ,., 1920 ... 26.840 11.775 15.065 " 1921 17.238 8.277 8.961 ,, 1922 15.770 9.297 6.473 Despite the deficit in the balance of trade, the balance of foreign debts and credits could be regarded as already in Italy's favour from the beginning of 1922 onvvards, that is under the old regime. Professor Iannacone's figures for 1922 were as follows: · Debtor balances 7,518 millions Credit balances 7,746 millions Surplus 228 millions 3. Note circulation, ,yeserves, and advan9es. Official or semi-official communications of the Fascist press have announced that "The circulation has been reduced to a notable extent. At the entry into power of the Fascist Government, it exceeded 18 inilliards of lire; now it is about 16 milliards" (Gangemi, of the Ministerial Press Bureau, in the Europe Nouvelle, "L 'Italie de Mussolini"), "reducing it by more than 2 milliards,. or 300 millions a month, while the· preceding Governments took nearly two years to reduce it by 1½ milliards." (Communication of the Volta news agency, June 21, 1923.) The truth, as is shown by the documents, is as follows. The circulation reached its maximum in December, 1920; owing to the last of the extraordinary 3 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
expenditure due to the war and of_ the special estimates for victualling, which were brought to an end by the Giolitti Government in the winter of 1921. Recovery began in 1921, and would have reached two milliards but for the crash of the Banca di Sconto, which brought the circulation over 19 milliards. In 1922 the improvement recommenced, <1:nd reached nearly r½ milliards. On the other hand, 1923, the Fascist year, shows month by month figures which average less than a milliard below the corresponding months of 1922, and in June, July, and August less than half a milliard. Thus there continues, fortunately, the slight tendency to improve which already characterised the preceding years; but, once more, in this field the new Government has produced no miracle. December, 1920 January to June, 1921 July to November, 1921 December, 1921 January F'ebruary March April May June July August September October 1922 18.755 18.258 18. I 13 17,711 17.320 17.823 17,997 17•747 17.989 Millions 1 19•73 2 18.560 17•94° I 19.209 1923 17,466 I7~ I 53 17,0 35 16_,685 16.280 17•337 17.382 .l6I 2- 17, 0 35 17, 145 17,238 1 The figures include the whole of the Italian paper circulation with the exception of the State notes for 5 and 10 lire and the buoni di cassa, which have remained unaltered. 2 From May, 1923, onwards, the official figures do not include the amount of the 25 lira notes, namely, 261 million lire, which 4 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
The reserves were as follows : Year 1920 1921 1922 1923 . Gold Millions 1.059 1,092 I. 126 1.134 Silver Millions 115 114 116 116 Foreign securities or deposits Milliomi 9°3 792 799 603 The advances m~de by note issuing institutions have decreased as shown by the fallowing table, once more without any remarkable change : December, 1921 January to April, 192~ May to June, 1922 July to ·october, 192.2 July to October, 1923 4. Deposits; savings; postal, telephone revenues; pa.wnshops . .The total savings w~re: June 30, 19.20 ... ,, 1921 ,, 192.2 ,, 1923 ... Millioni 4,839 ... 4,167 3,62~ 3,068 2,972 telegraph, and, Millions .20,659 26,618 28,316 3 2 ,334 -that is, an increase in 1923 equivalent to the average of preceding years. The revenue ?f the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs was as follows : 1919-20 1920-21 1921-.22 Millions 344 5°9 63.2 were transferred under the decree of April 26th, 1923, from th~ banknote circulation to that of the State, which actually increased from 1,867 millions in 192~ to 2,028 millions in 1923. The transfer is one of accounting only, and· the sum 01261 millions must therefore be added for exactitude in comparison. 5 B Biblioteca Gino Bianco
First six months, 1922 1923 Millions. 585 623 -that is, an average increase, with no notable change. The pledges taken by the pawnshops, however, continued to increase : January, 1921 '' 1922 ,, 1923 Sep tern ber, 1923 75, 2 35 152,306 179;568 20 4,437 5. Prices, bankruptcies, share capital. In 1923, the prices of commodities increased on the average. It is not desired to hold the Fascist party responsible for this; but the fact may serve to disillusion those who threw all the blame for the rising prices of former years upon the workers. Wholesale prices (Bachi index) averaged 696 in 1922 and 726 in 1923. Owing to the decrees removing restrictions upon rents, the rents of dwellings, an important part of the cost of living, increased on the average 40 to 50 per cent., and will continue to increase, while reduced consumption may perhaps bring reductions of prices. There has been a great increase in the average monthly number of bankruptcies: Monthly average 1920 . . . 52 1921 149 1922 297 1923 (nine months' average) 443 The share capital investments have increased : Monthly average 1920 1921 Million lire 423 288 1922 232 1923 (nine months' average) 383 6 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
6. PYofits and Wages. Stock exchange industri.al quotations improved, acording to the Bachi index, from a minimum of 56.45 in April, 1922, to 67.47 in Septem her (under the old regime) . Under the Fascist regime the figures are October, 1922 January, 1923 July ... August 70.16 72·93 76.62 80.49 Italian con sols improved as fallows : January, 1922 . . . 75·9 September . . . . . . 81.8 January, 19~3 84.4 September . . . . . . -88.3 October . .. 89.2 Wages have, on the contrary, greatly diminished. The average in the metal and engineering industries was about 25 lire a day in 1921 and 19 in 1923, or a diminution exceeding ·20 per cent. In the textile, building, chemical, etc., industries the reduction is also estimated at 10 to 20 per cent., even 30 per cent. in the small centres. Only in certain small industries and in printing is the reduction less than 10 per cent. · In agriculture the average of the reductions effected by the pacts imposed by the Fascist groups or the farmers, as compared with the pacts formerly freely concluded between the employers' and workers' con-- federations, is about 10 to 15 per cent. in actual wages ; but the effective reduction is brought above 20 per cent. by the lapse or restriction of the former guarantees of ~mployment, the altered terms for other than normal \\'Otk, and so on. According to the figures compiled by the National Accident Insurance Bureau, the general average of daily wages has diminished from 18.74 lire in 1921 to 17.05 7 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
in 1923, that is ten per cent. In the most important industrial centres the reduction is greater : Turin, from 18.97 to 16.54 lire. Milan, from 17.80 to _16.17 lire. Genoa, from 22.80 to 20.28 lire. Bologna, from 19.00 to 16. 56 lire. --that is thirteen per cent. If, then, the national economic inaices show that the slow and painful reconstruction following the damage of the war still continues ; if the indices of capitalist profits are increasing; and if only wages are decidedly diminishing; the conclusion is_that the existing regime has brought no extraordinary improvement in economic conditions in the country as a whole, but has made only this innovation-that economic recovery is continuing, but at the exclusive cost of the poorer classes. 7. Unemploymtnt, emigration, strikes. Official statistics record a marked diminution of industrial unemployment. Monthly average 1920 143,833 1921 445,000 1922 409,390 1923 (eight months' average) 261,494 But the statistics lack uniformity and are hardly worth attention. In 1920-21 the statistical returns were entrus_ted to the Communes, and were made the basis of the grant of assistance and of relief works. It was thus evidently to the interest of the compiling authorities to swell the figures, which were not methodically collected. Now the data are collected in the_Prefectures by Government .. commissioners, who work on restrictive lines, demanding personal report and a severe test which, especially in the rural districts, ends apparently in eliminating 8 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
from the returns an important part of the unemployment which actually exists. · · A correct estimate, however, of economic conditions requires count to be taken of the Italians who, failing .to find employment in their own country, have sought it abroad. Tlie Italian emigration registered in i'921-_22 amounted to 180,000; the ·actual figure was probably about 225,000, which after deducting 80,000 repatriated leaves a net emigration figure of 145,000. The official figure for 1922-23 was 309,000, the actual probably 400,060, and repatriation 60,000, leaving net emigration 340,000. Adding this to the 261 ,ooo unemployed, we nave a total substantially in excess of the corresponding figures for preceding years. The Fascists have made much of the fact that there have been fewer strikes : 156 during the first Fascist year, 680 in the year before, with a reduction of 90 per cent. in the number of strikers. There is no doubt tliat the bludgeon and the absolute non-existence of freedom of organisation and assembly are a material hindrance to strikes. A century ago ther~ were no strikes at all. To-day in Italy no men strike or can strike except the members of the Fascist organisations. · But the numbers of strikes are also influenced by economic conditions. In periods of crisis and economic depression the ·number of strikes · diminishes. The British experience shows this. There, there is neither Bolshevism nor Fascism, and despite full liberty the number of strikers in 1921 was 1,801,000, with 85 million days lost, and in 1923 (nine months) 358,000, with eight million days lost. Note.-The Ministry of Agriculture and the Fascist papers have taken credit for the increased grain crop of 1922-23, which amounted to 54 million quintals, showing an excess over 1921-22. But the crop ·was sown 9 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
• under the old regime; the variations of crops are mainly dependent on the season and the rains ; and if politics are to be brought in, the crop of the Bolshevist year 1920-21 was 52½ million quintals or almost as much as the Fascists' crop ! Fascism has even claimed credit for the increase in the traffic of the port of Genoa. But (a) the traffic increased 13 per cent. in 1922 as compared with 1921; (b) the increase in 1923, the Fascist year, was mainly due to arrivals of British coal, through the falling off of reparation coal from the Ruhr, and to increased imports of grain to make good the poor harvest of 1922. And, on the other hand, the taxes of ·Genoa have been increased. For instance, the tax on lighters has been increased from 5-20 to 30-100 lire. And the decree of September 15, 1923, has imposed the following fresh taxes: an additional 5 centesimi per ton on arrivals, with a further 5 centesimi for anchorage ; 50 lire per metric ton taken in or discharged ; 2 lire per railway wagon; 1 to 40 lire for ·every passenger. There is a charge of 2,400,000 lire per annum for the Fascist Militia now policing the port, and virtually employed on purely political duties. There has been a certain recrudescence of thefts. With Fascism there returned to the port the "Confidente" or "intermediario" or "sub-contractor," a parasitic figure whom the port organisations had succeeded in putting to flight. There are more dockworkers than formerly. And the '' Autonomous Port Consortium'' has been for more than a year under the control of a Royal Commissioner. 8. Public Debt. The public debt has, naturally, also been a refractory subject for the magic wand. Although the exceptional war expenditure has definitely come to an end, the debt has continued to increase, as is shown by the following table, from which the debt on account of fiduciary circulation, already dealt with (section 3) , has been excluded. ·to Biblioteca Gino Bianco
At At September 30, September 30, 1922 1923 Debt I Million lire Million lire Consolidated 44,45 1 44,446 Redeemable 4,9 15 4,862 Long-term bonds 7,499 11,033 Ordinary bonds 24,57° 24, 1631 Other advances 410 548 Total internal debt 81,845 85,052 External debt, in gold lire 2 I ,81 I g. Budget Deficits. The apologists for Fascism have spread the fable that only the Fascist Government "had succeeded in bringing the State budge.t within sight of balancing, by bringing the deficit down with a rush from the many milliards of past years to the very few of the current year. '' The truth is that the approach to balancing preceded Fascism, and was in large part the consequence of the cessation of the extraordinary expenditure due to the war. When this is taken into account it is at once clear, as the following table shows, that the Fascist Government has made and is making very little improvement over 1921-22. 1 This reduction, by means of the issue of long-term bonds, was begun by the preceding Government, which had reduced the figure by nearly tw·o milliards, from 26,837 milliards on April 19, 1922, to the figure shown above. During the early months of 1922, moreover, the Bonomi and Facta Governments reduced the interest on the annual bonds from 6 to 5 per cent., realising an economy of over 200 millions a year. No reduction has so far been announced by the Fascist Government, despite the boasted improvement in conditions and the reduced needs of the State. Biblioteca Gino Bianco 7
Exceptional Total war Net Net ascertained expenditure, normal anticipated deficit now ended deficit deficit Million lire Million lire Million lire Million lire 1920-21 17,409 12,160 5,249 1921-22 15,760 12,505 3,255 1922-23 3,041 ? 3,'041 ( ?) 1923-24 2,616 1 10. Taxation Revenue. Reliel' was promised to · those taxpayers who, before the arrival of Fascism, had organised taxation strikes ; and on the other hand the Fascist press published under big headlines, in July, 1923, the news that there was to be an increase of 1 ,Soo millions in the revenue. 1'he truth is that the taxation revenue, after the great post-war expansi0n due to the depreciation of the lira and to the necessity of meeting the new burdens left behind by the war, is now at the level reached by the provision made by past Governments, and is tending naturally to a settled figure. The official revenue figures are as follows: 1920-21 1921-22 1922-23 January to October, 1922 '' 1923 Million lire I I ,069 12 ,795 12,781 10,782 10,716 Further amounts have to be added of 1,059 millions in 1921-22 and 1,208 in 1922-23 for the difference between the values of the paper and the gold lira, paid in respect of customs duties payable in gold. Thus in all 14 MILLIARDS of taxation was paid in each of the last two years, compared with 2 MILLIARDS before 1 Already this figure has been increased, additional expenditure amounting to 400 millions having been decreed ; the Ministerial Estimate of November, 1923, indicated an anticipated deficit of 2,913 millions. 12 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
the war. It is to THIS GREAT EFFORT, made almost entirely since the. war (in -1919-20 we had nearly reached 7½ milliards) , and made in the face of the economic crisis already begun, THAT ITALY MAINLY OWES THE STABILITY OF HER CURRENCY AND THE APPROACH TO A BALANCED BUDGET. The Socialists claim the honour of having stimulated the past Governments to adopt this course ; while the Fascists excited against the financial provision made the bitterest opposition of the possessing classes; organised taxpayers' strikes, and secured the arming arid subsidising of the first bands of the civil guerilla warfare. And while Fascism thus took advantage of the~e classes' intolerance of taxation to carry it into power, to-day it is making capital out of the beneficent results of the taxation which it opposed and obstructed, by pretending that the credit for them is its own! Under the Fascist Government the burden of taxation is continuing to fall, and to fall more heavily than ever, on consumption rather than on wealth, as is shown by the .following table, based on official data for the first ten months of 1923 :- Yield of taxation : Direct 3,692 millions, ·on exchange 1,093 " On consumption 3,054 " Monopolies 2,737 ,, Customs 900 " 13 Biblioteca Gino Bianco or 32 % ON W1;ALTH. or about 10%. 1 or 58% ON CONSUMPTION.
PART II. ACTS OF THE FASCIST GOVERNMENT. 1.-THE ABUSE OF DECREE LAWS. The evil and danger of legislation by decree were summed up as follows by Signor Tittoni, as President of the Senate, in the sitting of April 3, 1922, when the Senate was opposing the abuse of this expedient at the hands of the Government of the day : "Save for quite exceptional cases, the decree law is the fruit of lack of foresight and preparation, and of the impulsiveness and precipitateness which are among the greatest of dangers. . . . ''The decree law is the tortuous method to which those classes have recourse, and those temporary or permanent associations of particular interests, which aspire to winning advantages at the expense of other classes of the community, advantages which they would fail to obtain by the straightforward method of legality. . . . ''The decree law serves Governments as a means of extricating themselves from their embarrassments at difficult moments . . . but tfie budget of the State pays dearly for the momentary tranquillity so secured.'' On May 31 the Senate passed the following resolution, which was accepted by the Government : · "The Senate, convinced of the necessity of placing restraints on the use of decree laws. . . . '' The following figures show the numher of Decree Laws Promulgated. Annual average, 1901 to 1911 (period of free institutions and of Socialist influence) 4 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
Annual average, 1915 to 1921 (exceptional war and post-war period) . . . 419 During the eight· months of the Facta Ministry 103 During the year of Fascist rul~ (apart from about Boo decrees issued under the Plenary Powers law) . . . . . . . . . 517 That is, no Government has made such extensive and deplorable use of decree laws as the Fascist Government. Irregular Decrees. During the year the Corte dei Conti rejected, and . subsequently registered only under reserve, more than . . . . . . decrees 500 That is, no Government has made ·such irregular and illegitimate use of decree laws as the Fascist Governm·ent. 11.-TAXATION POLICY. The Fascist Programme. On die eve of the 1919 elections Mussolini declared that- "One of the principal demands in the Fascist programme is the decimation -of wealth,_ the confiscation of war-time excess ·profits, and a drastic levy· on capital.'' · (Milan, November 11, 1919.) In the Fascist programme put forward in July, 1920, by the Central Fascist Committee (Mussolini, Bolzoni, Rossi, Arpinati; Farinacci, etc.) , the following were · included as immediate demands : "(a) A heavy extraordinary levy on capital, progressive in character, to have the form of a real partial expropriation ·of all wealth, and to be payable within a very short period ; '' (b) The sequestration of all property of the religious Congregations, and the abolition of all the episcopal revenues, which constitute an enormous charge upon the nation and a privilege of a few persons; 15 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
'' (c) The revision of all contracts for war supplies, and the confiscation of excess war profits left unproductive ; '' (d) 1-Ieavy inheritance duties.'' The Fascist achievements are the direct opposite of the programme. (a) The decree law No. 1431 of November 10, 192.2, issued immediately after the accession of the Fascist Government-by way of an immediate return for its supporters-abrogated the law which required the inscription on all securities of the owners·' names; such securities were thus enabled to escape from all control by the taxation authorities. (b) On November 6, 1922, the National-Fascist Under-Secretary of the Treasury declared to the Paris "Journal'' that "The confiscation of war profits must be abrogated"; but as this revenue was a necessity for the budget, only the largest and most obstinate firms were spared-those firms which were the only ones in Italy which had still paid nothing three years after the cessation of the levy. (c) The Minister of Finance has described the levy on capital as "exceedingly stupid"; and he issued circulars directing that the valuations and transactions should be "as equitable, rapid and considerate as · possible" (Riv. Fin. P.S., May, 1922)-that is, of course, for the capitalist taxpayer. (d) The tax on directors and managers of Joint Stock Companies has been halved. (e} The tax on perfumery and jewellery has been halved. (f) Foreign capital invested in Italian industries has been declared exempt from t<i1-xation-by the very people who had protested so loudly against the harmful intrusion of French and German capital. (g) The inheritance duty has been declared a piece Biblioteca Gino Bianco
of demagogy; and the principle of "proprieta quiritaria" 1 has heen re-established. This same Fascist Ministry, which declared in the 1921 election that "The rights of property must be regarded as a simple question of administration in the interests of the collectivity; no more. The rights of property as conceived by the Romans are to-day a privilege which should no longer exist" (Verona, May 4, 1921)-once arrived at power, has abolished the succession duty within families, on the following ground: "Fascism is also, and above all, indissolubly bound up with respect for the family and for the Roman conception of property." (Decree No. 1802, August 20, 1923.) Under this provision the State has renounced ~oo million lire a year paid by the richest citizens, and the opportunity of attaining by more rigorous investigation at least 400 millions, ·.which are wanted for balancing the budget. (h) Up to the present I every provision making progressive the existing direct taxation has been postponed. These provisions- were decreed on November 26, 1919, and the postponement of their application is a practical acknowledgement of sympathy with the resolutions passed by associations of the leading industrialists and capitalists. To make good the reduction of the contributions of capital and of the richest classes, the Fascist Government, the moment it arrived at power, instituted for the 1 A fundamental principle of Roman law, under which property transferred to direct descendants was exempt from taxation on passing.-Trans. 1 The complementary taxation has just (end of December, 1923) been announced as intended to be put into operation as from January, 1925; the surcharge is raised in theory to 10 per cent., but in practice will be less than 5 per cent., and less than the surcharge already in force in 1919. Biblioteca Gino Bianco
first time taxation of all wages of employees of the State, the provincial and communal authorities, and railway, tramway and shipping companies (Decrees Nos. 1660 and 1661, November 16 and December 21, 1922), deducting on an average 10 per cent. ; it has instituted fresh taxation of the incomes of small farmers, and maintained the tax of 20 lire on vineyard produce despite the reduction in prices. III.-CusToMs PoL1cv. The Fascist Minister of Finance loves to declare that he is of '' Free Trade leanings,'' and his apologists have found proof of this in the suspension of the duty on sugar, in the correction of an erroneous duty on flour, and in the acceptance by decree of certain reductions on foodstuffs proposed in Parliamentary Committee. The proof of the contrary is found in the following facts: The Fascist Government has refused (a) to suppress the duty on grain; (b) to reduce the duty on rice; (c) to suppress the protective duty on flour; (d) to reduce the duties on grapes and wine ; (e) has refused all proposed reductions on textiles, wool and cotton; (f) has not yet carried out the request made by resolution of the Chamber for an enquiry into wool duties; (g) has not given effect to the resolution of the Chamber in favour of suppressing the duty on pig iron, modifying the premiums on manufactures, and correspondingly reducing the duties on all metal and engineering products; {h) has not yet put into execution the resolution of the Chamber in favour of the suppression of the duty on copper and its derivatives; (i) has negatived similar proposals· in regard to agricultural machinery, clocks, etc. ; butter, cheese, soap ; oil ; cement, glass, and other building material; chemical and medicinal products, etc. 18 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
. IV.-ECONOMIC POLICY •. (A) State Intervention in Private Enterprise. Mussolini, as leader of the Fascists, defined the Fascist programme as follows in his first speech to the Chamber, on June 21, 1921 : ''The State must be restriGted to its purely juridical and pol,itical functions. The State should give us a police, a system of justice, an army, a foreign policy. All the rest, even secondary education, must be restored to the field of activity of the individual . . . We have enough. State Socialism already.'' And one of Signor Mussolini's Under-Secretaries, expounding the· Government programme on February 4, 1923, declared that- "The Government will bring back our financial legislation within the bounds of its classic· content, which excludes dange~ous interventions in private enterprise and at the same time closes· the State treasury· to the unending swarm of parasites who in these latter years have been emptying it. '1 The actions of the Fascist Government have not corresponded to its professions, as the following examples show. (a) The Salving of the Ansaldo Firm. The decree la':Vof June 14, 1923, sanctioned the agreement between the Government and the Ansaldo Company, concluded in February, under which public funds were applied to the refioating of this private enterprise, whose speculations and sunk capital had been the principal cause of the crash of the Banca di Sconto, which was allowed to go into liquidation. The chief ·result was the breaking up of the vertical concern built up by the Ansaldo Company, which had included the mines of Cogne, the works at Cornigliano, and the firm's shipyards. Rival groups- were thus. enabled· to gain control of the various sections of the concern, to the advantage of rival companies and banks. Biblioteca Gino Bianco
The State became a shareholder in the first group, Ansaldo-Cogne, bringing in 72 millions of cash, against 78 millions' worth of shares allocated to the creditors for works constructed, and further taking u.p 41½ millions of mortgage bonds. No. 135 of the "Agenzia Economica" contains a notice of the appointment of Commendatore Rosboch, a member of the Cabinet, to the board of the new Co1npany ; and of the fact that a combination with the Fiat Company was· envisaged. There is also talk of a combination with the French firm of Giraud, that is, with Creusot. The State has also undertaken to pay 22 millions to the builders of the six Battisti steamers, who are holding the vessels for their own private account, although they were not entitled to more than a small part of this subsidy. · The State has further recognised the right of the same private Company to a subsidy of 900 lire per ton in respect of certain other steamers, although they are not to be completed until 1924 instead of 1923, as provided by the Bellotti decree. 1 The State has also undertaken to have 230 locomotives repaired in the works of the private Ansaldo Company, without prior settlement of prices, and without obtaining competitive offers from other firms. The State is further committed to an annual contribution to the private Ansaldo Company, on consideration of the maintenance by the latter of certain plant in efficiency and of the plant being held at the disposal of the Government. The amount of the contribution will be fixed by a Commission ; no effective equivalent for it is being rendered. The State has accepted by arrangement the sum of 52 millions in lieu of all taxes and duties, ordinary and upon excess profits, due from the Ansaldo Company in 1 See section (f), paie 23. Biblioteca Gino Bianco
respect of many milliards' worth of production and profits during and since the war. (b) Acquisition of Industrial Concerns. On April 29, 1923, the Fascist Government decided to purchase 18,000 shares in the Mineral Oil Refinery of Fiun1e, for 8,300,443 lire. Signor Monti, an engineer belonging to the Fascist technical committees, had stated that ''The acquisition of the shares, considered as a commercial transaction, can only create a spurious prosperity, injurious to the finances of the State, and dangerous to the establishment itself.'' As a director representing the Government on the board of the Refinery there has been nominated Commendatore Rosboch, a former bank employee, who is not resident in Fiume, and has never been associated with the oil industry, but who had negotiated the purchase; among other "oil experts" appointed to the board were Massimo Rocca, Dino Grandi, Iginio Magrini. 1 (c) Intervention in 13anking Affairs. At the end of 1921 the Banca di Sconto was allowed to crash, but in 1923 the Fascist Government, intervening in the very field of private enterprise in which it had professed that it ought not to intervene, came to the rescue of the Banco di Roma. · The fact is qisclosed by the reports of the Bank itself;· but it is not revealed by any law or decree. This shows that a few persons are able to dispose of milliards of public money, even in the interest of private concerns, without either public or parliamentary control. 2 The facts are, however, revealed indirectly by decrees · 1 Well-known Fascist political leaders.-Trans. i In recognition of this favour the representatives of the board of the Banco di Roma gave a public assurance to the meeting of . shareholders on September 29, 1923, that "the work of the board will be inspired by a sense of the deepest responsibility and of gratitude to the Fascist Government." They forgot to add that payment was being made not by the Fascist Government but by the Italian nation. 2l C Biblioteca Gino Bianco
on other matters which have been issued in the past year. (i) The decrees of January 2 and September 27, 1923, renewed the privilege of the three banks of issue until 1930. No question is more delicate than this, and none merited more attentive prior examination in the Finance Committees of the Senate and Chamber. Instead, recourse has been had without further ado to decree laws, not covered by the plenary powers of the Government ; and there have been particular circumstances not always laudable. Owing to irregularities in the publication of the decrees there was very heavy speculation, in the course of which immense sums were ,von and lost. An enquiry into the scandal was opened -by the Government itself; and naturally nothing came of it. (ii) These decrees also laid down that the tax due from the banks for the paper money issued beyond a certain limit, instead of being paid over to the State, should be retained, as to three parts of it, until 1930, as a reserve to make good possible losses of the banks. It will be possible for over two milliards to accumulate in this period in the hands of the Banca d 'Italia, which, at the bidding of the Fascist Government, may use this public money to rescue private concerns and to cover possible losses. There has been nothing so far to show that the directors of the embarrassed banks have been required to make good the banks' losses. Senator Marconi, a member of the board of the Banca di Sconto, was admitted to membership of the Fascist party in October, 1923. In November he was absolved from all liability. (d) Unliniited Access of t_heHeavy Industries to the Resources of the Banks of Issue. Under the decree law No. 587 of March 29, 1923, the limit up to which the Consorzio privato per sovvenzioni su valori indusBiblioteca Gino Bianco
triali is allo,ved to draw upon the banks of issue for credit, apart from the subventions to which it is already entitled, was raised above the original figure of one milliard lire. Thus a quasi-monopoly of credit, half State, half private, withdrawn from all public control, has been set up by the authority of the State, working with public money, and in a position to influence the fiduciary circulation, which is the first element in the cost of living for every citizen. The Consorzio has the right of rediscounting with the Bank of Italy at 1½ per cent. below the official rate of discount. For the rest, the rate of discount in Italy has often been fixed at an unduly low figure to the advantage of limited groups. (e) Funds for ex-Austrian Industrialists. Under Royal decree No. 21.48 of September 27, 1923, the Fascist Government granted a loan of 138 million lire for 35 years at 4 per cent. to certain great industrialists of Trieste. The loan constitutes a settlement for alleged war damage, compensation _for which was refused to firms which were predominantly foreign in ownership and administration. · An analogous project was submitted on May 31, 1922, , by the Facta Government, but met with such objections in the Finance Committee that it was not then passed. (f) A Further 55 Millions for Shipbuilders. On September 25, 1921, Signor Bellotti, Minister of Industry and Con1merce, granted a subsidy of 125 million lire to shipbuilders. The Finance· Committee declared that the shipbuilders were in no way entitled to this, and that only a certain sum, within a total of 125 millions, could be allowed in the case of shipbuilders who had completed vessels before June 30, 1921, and had _obtained a promise of subsidies. Yet the decree 23 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
· •was promulgated, and with a change in the provision fixing a maximum amount. The new Fascist regime, however, has not only not put a stop to the bad practice ; it has extended it, first admitting to the benefits of the subsidy steam vessels completed in 1924 (Royal decree No. 879, March 22, 1923), then increasing the subsidy ftind by a further 55 millions (Royal decree No. 1344, June 14).. Thus the 24 vessels mentioned in the Bill presented in the Chamber on December 13, 1921, have been nearly doubled. Let not the taxpayer imagine that in this way the State has become owner of a larger number of vessels. No ! The vessels are all in private ownership ; they were also already in large part completed ; the State has only the satisfaction·of having reimbursed to private individuals virtually the whole of the present value of the vessels ! (g) Building Subsidies. The Fascist press carried on one of its most vehement campaigns against the State subsidies for the construction of dwellings for ,vorkpeople and employees. But though on the arrival of the Fascist Government in power this policy was brought generally to an end, a fe,v interesting and singular exceptions were made. There were granted- (1) Under decree No. 105 of January 11, 1923, for co-operative housing for journalists, a subsidy of 270, ooo lire per annum ; (2) Under decree No. 1044 of April 22, 1923, for dwellings for employees of the Foreign Ministry, 200,000 lire per annum. Two further decrees, No. 1932 of July 12, and No. 2118 of September 10, 1923, authorised the railway administration to grant loans of 40 million lire for housing construction for the railway co-operatives. Biblioteca Gino Bianco
The president of one of these co-operatives happens to be l\tIussolini 's. secretary. (h) State Subsidy for Shipping Lines. Under decree law No. 1998 of September 10, 1923, the Fascist Government revived this lamentable practice, with a temporary subsidy of 1,610,000 lire for the line from Palermo to Tunis. . (i) Loans to Private Companies. Under decree law No. 1386 of June 17, 1923, the Fascist Government granted Treasury bonds up to 100 million lire to the Societa I taliana per le F. S. del Mediterraneo (Italian Co. for the Mediterranean State Railways). (B) Opportunities Given to Private Speculators. Suppression of the Enquiry into War-time Expenditure. The Fascist programme of 1920 contained a demand for ''the revision of all contracts for war supplies.'' But Fascism was hardly in power before it issued a decree (No. 1487 of November 19, 1922) suppressing the Committee of Enquiry into war expenditure, which had proceeded to the revision of contracts and had restored to the State some hundreds of millions illegitimately extorted from it. Sicilian Railway Concessions. Under two agreeA ments of March 21, 1923 (not published until October 1 1 !) a concession for the construction of Boo kilometres of Sicilian rail ways was granted, one-half to a certain Signor Nicolini and a Signor Romano, on behalf of a Company to be formed, and the other half to a General Public Works and Services Company, of which Signor Biraghi, a member of the Superior Council of Public Works, is consulting engineer. · The cost of the work is about a milliard lire; the concession has none of the usual characteristics : it is not for a definite object (there are no plans; it has not been decided whether the lines are to be of normal or narrow gauge ; the 400 kilometre sections may be reduced or increased; the route is not determined); Biblioteca Gino Bianco
there is no guarantee to the State ; there is no time limit for completion of the work. Only this is clearly determined : the right is to be enjoyed, for no consideration in return, by simple private individuals lacking any sort of title (unless, perhaps, the friendship of the Minister), of the monopoly of a work of construction of a value running into a milliard,· and capable of extension ad lib. (a right on which the concessionaires may trade, drawing sensational profits) ; and of a commission of 8 per cent. in addition to the payment of the costs of flotation and of all possible and imaginable general expenses : a small douceur of 80 millions ! Sugar. In 1922, in consideration of an exceedingly high protective duty, the sugar refiners undertook to supply the whole of the 1922-23 crop at 575 lire the quintal. The Government maintained the duty and the fixed price until the end of May, 1923, thus preventing the entry into the country of foreign sugar, which was cheap in the autumn of 1922. In May, 1923, protection had become superfluous, as foreign sugar was dearer than Italian. The Government then abolished the duty, but at the same time it arbitrarily and secretly allowed the refiners and dealers to sell their sugar at prices higher than the agreed price, on the ground that the Italian crop was insufficient for the year's consurnption. Refiners and dealers were thus enabled to dispose of some 700,000 quintals of native sugar at prices averaging 65 lire the quintal above the fixed price. The Government told the Chamber that it had helped to regulate prices by admitting German sugar on reparation account; but, as the Socialists foresaw, this sugar only began to arrive too late to be of effect. Thus, first the Governm_ent inflicted on the whole nation a loss of several millions of gold lire by preventing the admission of cheap foreign sugar into the country ; BibliotecaGino Bianco ;.,
Then, in contravention of a precise undertakipg, it put nearly fifty million lire, taken from the consumers, into the pockets ·of the sugar speculators; And finally, it now finds itself burdened with over 40,000 quintals of German sugar, paid for at a price ·which is making its resale difficult. Cost of Li·ving. Fascism has destroyed the co-operatives and the communal authorities and voluntary associations which aimed at keeping down the cost of living. But in June, 1923,. the Minister of Commerce set up a Committee which reported that "the State must encourage, intensify and co-ordinate the action of the administration and the local authorities in connection with the organisation and discipline of the markets, on the one hand, and the efforts, on the other hand, of provincial and communal authorities, co-operatives, chambers of. commerce and private individuals to secure the most economical means of supply'' ; and the Minister proposed ''to · set up authorities to control the supplies of the more important centres.'' (June 22, i923.) Thus, in substance it was proposed to return to the system which had been destroyed., Actually, ho,vever, nothing was done. The markets were not supervised. Order was not introduced into the system of supplies. Authorities were not cdnstituted; and speculation triumphed. Here, indeed, is a specimen of local Fascist methods, from Carrara: The Fascist High Commissioner assembles all the marble quarrying firms, deplores the unrestrained competition, establishes a price, "prohibiting any sort of reduction, direct or indirect," and threatens any who sell at cheaper rates with ''branding as guilty of improper trading, with all the logical and practical consequences . . . assuring his hearers that he has the support of the Government. . . . Agreements already concluded at lower rates are to be Biblioteca Gino Bianco
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