Veni, Vidi, Vici

Benito Mussolini, hale and hearty and fresh from the recent Fascista victory in the General Election (TIME, April 14), was received with every mark of wild enthusiasm by the Romani, when he returned to the Eternal City from Milan.

Outside the Palazzo Chigi (Italian Foreign Office) a crowd estimated at 100,000 assembled to do honor to Il Duce (the leader) of Facism. Signor Cremonesi, Royal Commissioner of Rome, attempted to address the crowd, but it shouted him down with cries of "Basta, vattene!" which, translated into, the vernacular, means "Enough, beat it!"

Then Benito appeared on a balcony at the corner of the Corso and the Piazza Colonna. There was a momentary hush. Then 200,000 hands clapped and 100,000 voices bawled "Viva d' Un a Noi" (Three cheers for one of us).

Mussolini addressed the assembled Romani thus:

"Five million free Italian citizens rallied as one man round the symbol of Fascismo, and I do not allow and we will not allow the Italian people to be insulted by attempts to make the world believe that they were herded to the polls like a flock of conscienceless beasts.

"Rome has marched in the forefront at elections. Our opponents said that the Roman Government clerks would not vote for us, but they have voted. They said that in Rome there is no population of workers. As head of the Government I wish once and for all to confute this miserable lie.

"Rome works! Look around you and you will see energy and enterprise pulsating around you, because the Rome we dream of is not the capital of a small kingdom of antiquarians and must not rest content to be. How solemn is the following: 'Every one must surrender before what we have done, for what we have done is irrevocable.' Our party has declared: 'We will give Italy five years of peace and fruitful work.' This I have declared myself because whereas some people say: 'Let the country perish provided our faction survives,' we Fascist! say: 'Become heart of our young nation, but it must become the wonderful capital of all the Latin world!' . . . You see that this victory leaves me quite calm because the greater is victory the greater are the duties of work, discipline and national concord, and I ask you Fascisti, will you perform these duties?"

Here thundered 300,000 "Si's" (yesses).*

Benito continued: "I accept your monosyllabic reply as the formula of a solemn oath and ask you to raise the triple cry of 'Viva il Re! Viva L' Italia! Viva il Fascismo!" The crowd repeated the solemn oath with enthusiasm.

Final results of the elections showed that Fascista Party polled 4,600,000 votes, that the parties combined with Fascismo polled 400,000 votes, other parties 2,100,000. The new Chamber will be composed of 374 Fascisti, 39 Popular Party, 26 Socialists, 22 Maxmilists, 17 Liberals, 17 Communists, 12 Constitutionalists, 11 Social Democrats, 7 Republicans, 3 Peasants' Party, 2 Slavs, 2 Germans, 2 Scandinavian Autonomists. Total 534. The Popular Party will, in general, support the Fascisti, which gives Benito control of 413 seats or nearly 80% of the Chamber. The practical effect of this result is to ensure a Fascisti Government for the next five years, when according to the Constitution the Chamber must be dissolved. Ad interim it is impossible for the Government to be defeated.

The difference between "yes" in German, French and Italian has been thus described: The German say Ja; the French, Oui, oui; the Italians Si, si, si.