Page:Gaetano Salvemini and Bruno Roselli - Italy under Fascism (1927).djvu/6

 When the Fascists came to power, they had to face war liabilities much less formidable than the preceding governments. The war liabilities fell from 12,000,000,000 lire in 1922 to 6,000,000,000 lire in 1923, and to 1,500,000,000 lire in 1926, and yet the Fascist Government had to borrow $100,000,000 in the United States in 1925. From July 1, 1925 to June 30, 1926, 32 banks had gone bankrupt. From September 1, 1926, the population has been put on war bread. Last November the Fascist Treasury was no longer in a position to pay the short-term bonds which had expired and obliged their owners to accept instead of money new permanent obligations. A compulsory, not a free national loan, is being floated during the present weeks. In such a way, the Fascist Government has restored Italy to prosperity and saved her from bankruptcy.

When I read Fascist figures, I always remember what an old friend of mine, a Professor of Statistics, was wont to say—"My boy, there are four degrees of lying. The first degree consists of the harmless lie which is very common among children who, out of the abundance of their youthful imagination, tell tales which never happened, without wishing to harm anyone. To the second degree belongs the lie told in order to escape the responsibility of some action without any desire to harm anyone else. Then comes calumny, the lie attacking a man in order to harm him unjustly. In the last degree of all we find statistics."

Fascist propaganda claims that Mussolini has restored order in Italy. What kind of order? A friend of mine, a member of Parliament, Signor Matteotti, was kidnapped in a motor car, under order of Mussolini, and killed. Another friend of mine, a member of Parliament, Signor Amendola, was twice savagely beaten by Fascists and died as a result of the second attack. Another friend of mine, a former member of Parliament, Signor Pilati was killed in his own bed at midnight by the side of his wife. Another friend of mine, a lawyer, Signor Consolo in the same night was killed in his own house in the presence of his wife and his two children. When I was tried in Florence in July, 1925, my two lawyers were severely injured and my friends savagely beaten. Many friends of mine are in prison. Many of their houses have been looted or wrecked. Many of them had to flee abroad to escape prison or assassination.

The Vice General Secretary of the Fascist Party wrote last September 28th, in the Roman paper Popolo Di Roma: "Those who have gone abroad must be hunted and tracked down. Every commune ought to be obliged to post a list of all those who have gone abroad, together with the addresses of their families. The danger of reprisals on their families will restrain them from further activities."

Last November, after the attempt on Mussolini's life made by a youth of sixteen (who it is good to remember was a dissident Fascist), the whole of Italy was given over to a terrific pogrom. For instance, in the city