Journal de Genève
- The Message to the Blackshirts
- Letter from Paris
- Two Trains
The Journal de Genève of 31 October 1926 led its commentary with an editorial signed W. M. on Mussolini's message for the anniversary of the March on Rome, read aloud across Italy by official speakers; the writer praised fascism's verbal power and called the text both a great piece of political prose and a true act of government. A letter from Paris attacked the French Chamber's finance commission for acting like a second government and rewriting the cabinet's financial plans instead of merely scrutinizing them. On Swiss affairs, J. M. claimed that the paper's warning had stopped the Confederation's pension funds sliding toward a deficit of 12 million a year, and said Federal Councillor Musy had agreed with that alarm.
Translation
The Message to the Blackshirts
What is marvellous about fascism is its verbal power. Mr. Mussolini's message, read throughout Italy by the official speakers on the anniversary of the March on Rome — a singular and penetrating speech that will remain engraved in people's minds — is at once a great piece of political prose and a genuine act of government.
Letter from Paris
The finance commission of the Chamber has always played an outsized role in political life. It often regards itself as a little government alongside the big one; it frequently overturns the cabinet's financial plans from top to bottom, instead of confining itself to exercising its normal and useful rights of scrutiny and correction.
Two Trains
We pulled the alarm cord, and the train that was carrying the Confederation's pension funds down the track of deficit at 12 million a year has stopped. The conductor, Mr. Musy, who himself saw the risks of derailment very clearly, did not fine us for our somewhat abrupt gesture: on the contrary, he agreed with us and, in categorical terms, criticized the view of those who were shutting their eyes so as not to see the danger.
Context
What the March on Rome anniversary commemorated by 1926
The anniversary in this editorial goes back to 28–31 October 1922, when Fascist demonstrators and Blackshirt squads converged on Rome. On 30 October 1922 the King appointed Mussolini prime minister, and power passed to the Fascists without armed conflict; the march was not the seizure of power that Fascism later celebrated. By October 1926, the fourth anniversary, the regime had changed character: after the assassination of Giacomo Matteotti on 10 June 1924, Mussolini went on to install a dictatorship, and from 1926 a series of royal decrees began widening eligibility for the commemorative medal of the march. A single message read by official speakers throughout the country belongs to this growing ritual of commemoration. W. M. calls the text 'a genuine act of government' and predicts it will stay engraved in minds; those are the Journal de Genève's own judgments, not evidence of how Italians actually received the speech.
Poincaré's cabinet and the Chamber's finance commission in 1926
The Paris letter was written just over three months into Raymond Poincaré's fourth cabinet, which held office from 23 July 1926 to 6 November 1928. Poincaré was both premier and finance minister, was invested with special powers, and began by demanding more than 11 billion in new resources; the Élysée's biography notes that the government launched a financial recovery policy to which his name remained attached. Poincaré knew the Chamber's budget work from the inside, having served as rapporteur for the Finance budget in 1890–1891 and as general rapporteur of the budget in 1892. Against that background, the correspondent's complaint is easy to place: a cabinet pushing a large revenue programme under special powers needed its budget passed, and a commission that rewrote government plans could delay it. The charge that the commission behaved as 'a little government alongside the big one' is the correspondent's political verdict.
Jean-Marie Musy at the head of federal finances
Jean-Marie Musy, cast in J. M.'s editorial as the 'conductor' of the federal train, had been elected to the Federal Council on 11 December 1919 and headed the Department of Finance and Customs. His record explains why he could side with a newspaper sounding the alarm over pension deficits: the Fribourg cantonal government's biography credits him with balancing the federal budget by limiting social spending, favouring indirect taxation and raising customs duties. He was equally strict with federal employees, introducing in 1927 a new civil-service statute that barred officials from striking. The figure of 12 million a year in deficit, and the claim that the Journal de Genève's warning stopped the 'train', are the paper's own account of the episode.
Original
Le message aux chemises noires
Ce qui est merveilleux, dans le fascisme, c'est sa puissance verbale. Le message de M. Mussolini, lu dans toute l'Italie par les orateurs officiels, à l'occasion de l'anniversaire de la marche sur Rome, discours unique et pénétrant qui restera gravé dans les esprits, est à la fois un grand morceau de prose politique et un véritable acte de gouvernement.
Lettre de Paris
La commission des finances de la Chambre a toujours joué dans la vie politique un rôle démesuré. Elle se considère souvent comme un petit gouvernement à côté du grand; il lui arrive fréquemment de bouleverser de fond en comble les projets financiers du cabinet, au lieu de se borner à exercer ses droits normaux et utiles de contrôle et de rectification.
Deux convois
Nous avons tiré la sonnette d'alarme, et le convoi qui emmenait les caisses de retraites de la Confédération à 12 millions à l'année sur la voie du déficit s'est arrêté. Le chef de train, M. Musy, qui percevait fort bien luimême les risques de déraillement. ne nous a pas mis à l'amende en raison de notre geste un peu brusque: tout au contraire il nous a donné raison, et, en termes catégoriques, a critiqué le point de vue de ceux qui fermaient les yeux pour ne pas voir le danger.