ITALY: Cabinet Changes

Signor Alberto de Stefani, Minister of Finance, called upon Premier Benito Mussolini, to whom he said, in effect: “Certain people in the Party have criticized me for balancing the State budget at the expense of municipal finance. In vain have I defended myself; and in order to silence these hostile voices, I offer you my resignation.” With expressions of regret the Premier accepted the Finance Minister’s resignation.

Shortly after, Signor Cesare Nava, Minister of National Economy, called at the Palazzo Chigi, where the Premier resides. Ill health obliged him to resign and he hoped that the Premier would at once release him. The Premier, no doubt with a muffled sigh of relief, accepted the resignation; for it was known that Signor Nava, a Populist or member of the Catholic Party, was not entirely welcome or at ease in an otherwise all-Fascist Cabinet. Within a day, Premier Mussolini appointed Count Giuseppe Volpi Minister of Finance and Prof. Giuseppe Belluzzo Minister of National Economy, thereby making his Cabinet all-Fascist. The only member of the Premier’s original Cabinet, excluding himself, is Signor Luigi Federzoni, Minister of Internal Affairs, who, next to Mussolini, is the strongest man in the Fascist Party and who may one day succeed the Premier.

Stefani. Alberto de Stefani became Minister of Finance in 1922, since when he has worked miracles for Italian finance, turning a heavy deficit into a surplus. Opposition to him crystallized last spring when he issued certain decrees regulating Stock Exchange transactions which, however brilliant in theory, were disastrous in practice.

Nava. Signor Cesare Nava was merely a political pawn. Mussolini needed him at one time for his pro-Vatican policy but, as it is now clearly recognized that that policy has been advanced as far as possible, Nava became an anomaly in the Cabinet and was virtually removed to make room for a Fascist.

Count Volpi. Count Giuseppe Volpi, scion of an old Venetian family, was born some 50 years ago. As a young man, he interested himself in Levantine trade and little by little became a recognized expert on Near Eastern affairs. He was nominated as negotiator of the Italo-Turkish peace treaty which ended the war of 1911-12. In 1922, Premier Giolitti appointed him Governor of the colony of Tripoli, where he did invaluable work in modernizing the port of Tripoli town. When Fascism appeared, he wholeheartedly embraced it and became one of Mussolini’s faithful henchmen.

Belluzzo. Prof. Giuseppe Belluzzo, aged 48, studied engineering at Milan Polytechnic, where he was graduated in 1898 and where he became a professor in 1901. He wrote many books, invented a number of useful offensive weapons for use during the War and has held, during the past few years, a number of important positions. His appointment as Minister of National Economy was acclaimed by all sections of public opinion and one of his tasks will be to give effect to Mussolini’s policy of making Italy independent of cereal and coal importations by developing the colonies and the water power of Italy.