Description:

Mussolini Benito

Benito Mussolini ALS to Finance Minister Giuseppe Volpi regarding Ansaldo & Co., "this bottomless pit"

 

1p ALS signed by Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) as "Mussolini" near bottom right. Also inscribed overall in Il Duce's dark, bold, and large handwriting. Written in Italian on "The Head of Government" letterhead. Bearing miscellaneous clerical notations in pen, pencil, and red crayon, and hole punched in upper left corner. Mussolini's signature is feathered and partly smeared. Otherwise in near fine condition, with expected paper folds. Measures 8.125" x 10.75". A full translation is provided.

 

On February 13, 1928, Year VI, Mussolini penned this decisive note to his Finance Minister, Giuseppe Volpi (1877-1947):

 

"Dear Volpi,

 

I am sending you a copy of this report -- a most serious one, in my view -- which demonstrates that the State will not lose anything -- not even from the technical point of view -- by not wasting more millions on the bottomless pit that is Ansaldo.*

 

Mussolini."

 

*Translator's note: Mussolini's exact phrase "pozzo di San Patrizio," or, "St. Patrick's well," is an idiom expression meaning "bottomless pit."

 

Benito Mussolini, a former war veteran and right-wing journalist, had become leader of Italy's National Fascist Party after World War I. He was appointed Prime Minister in 1922, a title that he would hold until his dismissal in 1943, but in reality, he served as a de facto dictator after 1925. Under Mussolini, Italy and its one-party political system devoted itself to recapturing the lost glories of the Roman Empire. Secret police, propaganda, and strict state regulation of all aspects of life ensured almost universal compliance.

 

After World War I, Italy suffered from crushing debts, price inflation, shortages, and unemployment. Mussolini spearheaded an ambitious multi-prong economic program in Fascist Italy. His "Battle for Land" initiative reclaimed lands for agricultural use, while his "Battle for Wheat" initiative promoted agricultural self-sufficiency. Mussolini stabilized the currency, reduced waste, cut spending, and eventually controlled national banks, prices, tariffs, and foreign-issued stocks and bonds. Most importantly in the case of this letter, the State controlled or funded many private businesses.

 

Mussolini had propped up the Ansaldo & Co. in the early 1920s with a 400 million lira loan. Established in 1853 by Genoese entrepreneur Giovanni Ansaldo and others, Giovanni Ansaldo & Co. made a fortune in manufacturing, mining, and infrastructure (railroads, shipping, electrical power, and early automobiles to name a few). Ansaldo, which manufactured armaments and machinery, saw record profits after World War I, but by the early 1920s, the company was almost bankrupt. Hence Mussolini's intervention.

 

As the letter shows, however, Mussolini had grave reservations about continuing state support of Ansaldo, that "bottomless pit." Mussolini argued that "the State will not lose anything…" if support was withdraw, and to Il Duce, protecting and preserving the State was the ultimate objective. The party line slogan was: "Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato," or, "everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state."

 

Giuseppe Volpi served as Mussolini's Finance Minister between 1925-1928; he was replaced by Antonio Moscini five months after this letter. While finance minister, Volpi had linked the Italian lira to the gold standard and negotiated Italian debt repayment to its former military allies the United States and Great Britain.

 

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