By Benito Mussolini
In my capacity as presenter of this bill and after the brilliant speech of my friend and colleague Rocco, I limit myself to a few very brief statements. To begin with, I approve of this assembly concisely discussing the bills presented to it; it is a sign that they respond to a need felt by conscience.
Those of you who are unaware of the political history of these last fifteen years, you will find that the fact that I have introduced this bill is proof of my fundamental consistency throughout my life. When I was a militant of the Italian Socialist Party — about fifteen years ago — I experienced the adventure of politics of the first order, which later helped me a lot. Even then I believed very little in democracy, liberalism and the immortal principles. Even then I thought that the pen was a great tool, but that the sword was an even better tool.
By horrifying the sedentary socialists of the time, who are the same as those we see today, I clearly defended the need for an insurrectionary blow that had given the working masses the sense of tragedy. That was the last burst of youth from the Italian Socialist Party. It has not risen again since then. After the war it had a moment of elephantiasis, but it was not a physiological development; it was social pathology.
And since then I realized that Freemasonry had some influence on Italian socialism. It happened that certain attitudes of the parliamentary group, certain newspapers and certain sectors were the result of plea bargaining that took place in the Masonic lodges. The occult phenomenon had such massive proportions that the Congress of Ancona decided to put the question of Freemasonry on the agenda. There was a so-called verbal duel between myself and the late Raimondo, and the Socialist Party nearly unanimously proclaimed Freemasonry to be incompatible with the Party.
Then the war happened. Freemasonry too was effected by the war, like all other internationalist organizations. During these last months of government I had another experience and I discovered that Freemasonry infiltrated its men into what I call the nerve-centres of Italian life. It is outrageous that high-ranking officials should attend the lodges, inform the lodges and take orders from the lodges.
There is no doubt that the most important institutions of the State, those who administer justice, those who educate the new generations and those who represent the armed forces — who must be ready at any moment to defend the Fatherland — have suffered and are subjected to the influence of Freemasonry. This is unacceptable. It must come to an end.
I believe that with this law, Freemasonry — which I once described as a screen and which is not a mountain as it appears when seen from a distance, but rather is a toy balloon that at a certain moment must be popped — will reveal itself to be what it truly is: an old relic which no longer has any good reason to exist in the present century.
Now we see the usual zealots of freedom crying like babies. They say: this law is useless, because it will be circumvented. Well, since all laws are circumventable then I suppose laws should not be made at all, and since the laws of the past are also circumventable, then I suppose the whole legislative building should be destroyed!
Laws are instruments and their effectiveness is directly related to the energy and tenacity of those who hold these instruments. Therefore I am certain this law will give results. In the meantime, it is an act of courage. Perhaps yesterday we followed the current, but today we go energetically against the current.
Here is the essential. I do not even have excessive worries about international conspiracies. The evil that could be done to us by introducing this bill has already been done. We have already discounted it. Moreover, I do not believe that the Freemasons from beyond the Alps and beyond the sea will renounce the defense of their interests simply to damage Italy on moral and political grounds. There may be retaliation, but it will not be significant and will not harm us.
Gentlemen, we are in the century of Victory; we are a new generation. Even before the war we felt nausea and disgust for the old Italy; that Italy which was entirely in the hands of a small parliamentary political order; that Italy which was dominated by mediocre men who became powerful simply because they belonged to Freemasonry; the Italy of yesterday, where a ridiculous comparison could be made between the mayor of the capital and the pope in the Vatican. Our spirit is very far from all that. Here is the sign of our youth, here is the sign of our courage, here is the certainty of our future.
