Premier Benito Mussolini celebrated his 41st birthday in Rome. During the day more than 30,000 congratulatory messages were sent to him. On all sides he was praised for the great work he had accomplished "for the good of Italy and of humanity."
Signor Benito Mussolini, full of Napoleonic gestures, was born at Varano di Costa on July 29, 1882. He is the son of an iron worker and started life as a laborer. His first important political appearance was at Milan when he was beaten in a parliamentary election by a rich opponent. So angry was he that history records that " he broke the ballot boxes in a fit of petulance." This untoward act caused the police to be inquisitive and Mussolini left for Switzerland.
In that Republic he soon made things too hot for his health and he returned to Milan, where he joined Signor Bissolati (prominent Socialist) in forming a new party of reformed Socialists.
When the war came along he forgot his political prejudices and joined the army, fought and was wounded. His great personal courage won him general praise, and in a modest sense he became a hero.
After the War he was profoundly conscious of the inevitable upheavals that follow all wars, but he was not long to act. Bolshevism taught him his great lesson; the great social unrest in Italy of 1920-1921 gave him the necessary impetus. In a country where the shirt has played such an important part in polities since Garibaldi produced the Red Shirts (symbols of liberty) it is not unnatural that Mussolini should look to shirts as a political weapon. He founded the Black Shirts, or the Fascisti Party, on the political theory that Bolshevik tactics must be used to combat Bolshevism. It is said that he chose black on purely utilitarian grounds, including the financial aspect of decreased laundry bills. Having become a Napoleon overnight, he armed his black shirted minions with castor oil and the party song, Giovinezza—both equally deadly.
Although the Fascisti cannot be absolved from using armed force against the civil population, Mussolini's coup d'état of . October, 1922, was largely effected by the potency of his castor oil and the monotony of Giovinezza.
In his 42nd year, as the Dictator of Italy, Benito Mussolini is largely a miniature Napoleon, whose gestures he loves to imitate. Of medium height and pale complexion, with lustreless eyes, he controls the Italian ship of state, firmly convinced that his Fascisti are the saviours of his country. In affairs of state Mussolini exhibits remarkable self-control, rare judgment and an efficient application of his ideas to the solving of existing problems.