I must tell you that the Government over which I have the honour of presiding never has had, never can and never will have the intention of following a so-called antilabour policy. On the contrary, I want to praise the working classes, who do not put obstacles in the way of the Government, who work, and who have practically abolished strikes. They have redeemed themselves, because they no longer believe in the Asiatic Utopia which came from Russia; they believe in themselves, in their work; they believe in the possibility, which for me is a certainty, of a prosperous Italian nation. You have been directly interested in this greatness of the nation, and you, who come from such a live centre as Genoa, are the most suited to feel this ferment of new life, all this active preparation for a new destiny. The Government, as you see, governs for all, over the heads of all, and, if necessary, against all. It governs for all, because it takes into account all general interests; it governs against all, when any group, whether of the middle class or of the proletariat, tries to put its interests before the general interests of the nation. I am sure that if the working classes—of which you are the aristocratic minority—continue to give this noble exhibition of tranquillity and discipline, the nation, which was upon the verge of ruin, will recover itself completely. I do not say things which have not been well considered and thought over; and, after two months of government, I tell you that if the Fascista revolution had been postponed for another few months or perhaps only another few weeks, the nation would have fallen into a state of chaos. All that we are performing now is really work in arrears; we are freeing the citizens from the weight of laws which were the result of a foolish demagogic policy; we are freeing the State from all those superstructures which were suffocating it, from all the economic functions which it was unfitted to perform; we are working to balance the budget, which means re-establishing the value of the lira, which means taking a position of dignity and influence in the international world. The Italy which we wish to make, which we are building up day by day, which we shall succeed in making, as it is our aim and our immovable determination to do, will be a magnificent creation of power and of wisdom. You can rest assured that in this Italy the workman—and all labour both of the brain and of the hands—will take, as is right, the first place. PART IV MUSSOLINI THE “FASCISTA” THE THREE DECLARATIONS AT THE FIRST FASCISTA MEETING Speech delivered at Milan, 23rd March 1919, at the first Fascista meeting.