Premier’s Speech, After Futile Bomb Attack, Plainly Aimed at France.
100.000 CHEER DEMAND FOES ABROAD BE CURBED
Message Sent to Americans Contains Assurance No Peril Will Change His Course.
ROME. September 11.—”Tell the Americans and the Italians of America that neither pistols, bombs nor other Instruments of death can make me desist from my course.” Premier Mussolini declared tonight to the Associated Press correspondent, whom he received in his private office in Chigi Palace.
“This is the third attempt against me in the space of several months. but, like the others, this one has not disturbed me in the slightest. I consider myself a soldier who has specific orders and who is ready to confront any risk. My duties impose upon me the task of working with all my energy for the well being of the Italian people.”
Alluding to the pronouncement made in his speech this evening that capital punishment would be reinstituted if necessary, Mussolini declared, while the throng under his
windows continued to shout “Long live the duce.”
Premier in Cordial Mood.
“The grave measures of which I spoke to the Roman multitude are not for myself, but for the Italian people, which must not be forced every once in a while to see its magnificent activity disturbed.”
The premier was in exceptionally cordial mood, coming forward from his desk in the huge office to greet the correspondent, who was accompanied by the Marquis Paulucci.
Speaking in perfect English, he jokingly asked whether there had been enough “copy” to send to America today, and when the attempt against his life was referred to the premier smiled and shrugged his shoulders, as if to say “it is nothing.”
Sees Fascism Unbreakable.
A general statement issued this evening by Mussolini to the foreign press says: “This attempt, like the preceding ones, left me perfectly calm. A few moments after the explosion of the bomb I was at my working desk imparting necessary instructions throughout Italy. The emotion of all classes has been great, but order is undisturbed.
“The nation gathers around Fascism as an unbreakable bloc which has never stopped even for a moment the rhythm of its vigorous activity.
“Tell foreigners who take an interest in me and ail Itallans abroad that bombs explode, but Mussolini tranquilly remains at his post facing any danger, because this is his precise duty.”
Warns Against New Plots.
A bomb flung at Premier Mussolini this morning by an Italian anarchist, who had sneaked back into the country from France to kill him, failed to reach its mark. but has caused relations of Fascist Italy and republican France to be more tense tonight than on any day since the Black Shirts entered Rome in October, 1922.
Saved from death by the alertness of the chauffeur who stepped on the gas when he felt the bomb strike the motor car, the supreme chief of Fascism this evening faced a mob of a hundred thousand cheering patriots and announced that Italy would demand that plots against her peace fomented on French soil must be stopped at once.
“This must end.” shouted Il Duce to an immense gathering in Colonna Square tonight. “We must put an end to gentle tolerance of parties culpable in these matters. It would be well for responsible governments to take note of this, because otherwise their friendship with the Italian people may be fatally compromised. And we are reads to apply suitable methods for this purpose.
Believed He Meant France.
Premier Mussolini used the word governments in the plural and did not refer by name to his neighbor across the Alps, but it was crystally clear he meant France.
The third attempt within tis year to murder the Fascist dictator was a dramatic affair of but a few seconds. As the premier was riding in closed limousine from his home in Villa Tortolonia to the government offices in Chigi Palace. Ermete Giovannini, 26 vears old a marble cutter, stepped from a recess and hurled the bomb. The bomb crashed the glass at Mussolini’s side and fell not in the car but back on the running board and then rolled to the ground. The chaffeur, scenting danger. although he had not seen the assailant, increased his speed. When the bomb exploded with a terrible detonation the car was many yards away and was barely scratched by the flying pieces of the bomb.
Mussolini escaped without a wound, but eight people in the street lay bleeding from superficial wounds. Giovannini was captured immediately, the police being on hand quickly enough to save him from the vengeance of the crowd.
Assailant Is Young Man.
Giovannini is a pale, tense faced young man with burning eyes and thick, long , hair. He claims to be an anarchist of an individualist type and so have alone conceived and carried out the plot.
The young man is thin and medium height, quiet in demeanor, dressed in a modest but neat brown suit.
When first questioned by the police he would not talk, but several hours of grilling broke down his reserve and he cried. “I’m tired. Wait a bit and I’ll tell you everything.”
Then followed his confession. Giovannini said he was born in 1900 in the town of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in a distriet of north Italy where he early went to work in the marble quarries. He was called to the colors in the latter days of the war and thereafter became an adherent of the Communist cause, becoming one of the most active agitators in his region. The two bombs which he flung at Mussolini today he had retained from the days of his army service.
Active Against Fascism.
With the advent of fascism the youth went to France, visiting Nice, Marseilles and Paris, taking part in anti-fascist activities. Recently, so his story runs, he conceived the idea of returning home and eliminating Mussolini, whom he regarded as an evil genius to his country.
Not having a passport, the young man was forced to re-enter Italy secretly last Thursday. He says he arrived at his home and remained there until this morning, when he arrived in Rome about 7:30 o’clock. The prisoner does not explain how he acquired his knowledge of the premier’s usual morning travel route, but he says he walked the streets until 9 o’clock, when he stationed himself near the Pia gate to await the passage of the premier’s automobile.
When captured the prisoner was found to have only 60 lire, but he also carried an automatic pistol loaded with dumdum bullets—that is, the nickel shells of the bullets had been filed so as to cause them to expand like a mushroom upon hitting the victim.
Shows No Fear of Mob.
The prisoner showed no emotion when captured, nor on the trip to the police station, when he was menaced by the hostile crowd. He maintained his cool demeanor when taken to the main prison to be questioned and there, after answering the preliminary questions, he calmly demanded a cigarette and a glass of water.
The police do not believe the prisoner’s claim that he was alone in his plot. They say such is the usual claim made by such prisoners. They believe that he was chosen and financed by antifacist organizations in France, but to all queries the prisoner repeats:
“I’m an anarchist. I have no accomplices.”
The remarkable escape of Premier Mussolini evoked a demonstration of popular joy in Rome today, paralleled perhaps, only by the Armistice day celebrations in New York or London or Paris.
People Show Great Fervor.
Rome indulged in a demonstration that increased in fervor all day long. There is scarcely a window in all Rome that does not fly a flag, big or little, the tricolor for Italy or the black and gold for fascism, whereof Mussolini is the supreme and unquestioned leader.
All the walls, the boardings and even the pavements are covered with posters or every size and color exhorting the citizens of Rome to express their relief over Il Duce’s escape in peans of thanksgiving. The narrow streets of the central part of the city seemed to be in constant flow with the parades of men, women and even children. The blaring of the hundreds of bands frequently was drowned out by the fascist cheer, which has a real American college boy punch in it.
Thousands of black shirts, armed with pistols and carrying heavy clubs, acted in a double capacity of guides and police. They led the parades and, likewise, kept on the alert to suppress possible excesses of the hotheads.
The present attempt on Mussolini’s life differs strongly from the last, when Miss Gibson, admitedly insane, shot at the premier. The police say the attempt this morning was patently a political crime. They say Giovannini came purposely from France to commit the crime. It is accepted throughout the city that the would-be assassin was backed by circles of antifascist Italians in France.
The feeling against France, which at various times these last iew years had to be quelled by Mussolini’s admonishing voice, again is at the boiling point.
The failure of France to suppress or expell these antifascist agitators is considered by the press and public in Italy as almost tacit consent to their “dastardly machinations.”
Death Penalty Demanded.
L’Impero sounds the keynote of this popular feeling by demanding in its leading editorial today the immediate reinstitution of the death penalty for the would-be assassin; urging Mussolini to accept measures providing greater personal protection: urging that the Italian government immediately ask France for the extradition of the antifascist agitators.
The police and military precautions against riots and attacks on the homes of antifascists are elaborate. Soldiers surround the offices of all the antifascist newspapers. The place most heavily guarded is the beautiful Farnese Palace, the seat of the French embassy and consulate. Other French centers like the Villa Medici, where the French academy is located, also are well protected. The government has no intention of allowing a repetition of the outbreaks that occurred after Miss Gibson’s attempt on the premier’s life when the Russian and Polish embassies were attacked by the mob.
The Evening Star, Washington, DC, September 12, 1926
