THE BUILDER APRIL 1926

THIS brief, first hand, account of the present situation in Italy
as it affects members of the Masonic Order should help readers of
The Builder to expose as occasion arises the many misleading
reports that are appearing in the press. The author is an American
citizen and Past Master of an American lodge but even so it is
safer for him that his name should not appear.

The State of Freemasonry in Italy

My attention is frequently drawn to such fantastic statements, as
that in the clipping you sent me, and which are evidently published
for purposes of anti-Masonic propaganda; and these are spread with
too much good (or bad) faith by newspapers. Only recently some
brethren showed me an article in a Grotto (Masonic) magazine
setting forth that Mussolini was a great friend of Freemasonry, and
that he was a 33rd Degree Mason himself!

The alleged political activities of Latin Freemasonry have been
greatly exaggerated. Politics and patriotism are frequently
confused as if they were synonymous terms. Even the leading
Fascisti could not deny the patriotism of Italian Freemasons from
the days of the first movements for a united Italy down to the
World War. They have never been found guilty of any act of treason
which would have justified the terrible persecution to which they
have been submitted, culminating, as it did, in the law abolishing
the Order and confiscating all its property. Personal observation
has taught me that Freemasonry in Italy is the same as in
Anglo-Saxon (pardon the word !) countries; and the Grand Lodge of
the state of New York, after a thorough investigation, was fully
convinced of this fact when it exchanged warrants of friendship
with Italian Masonry.

I have the honor of being a personal friend of Grand Master
Torrigiani and of Secretary-General Bacci, as well as of other
leading officers of the Grand Orient of Italy. I had the privilege
of meeting them all many times during my long stay over there from
June last to this January, and was always invited to attend their
gatherings. While in Rome last September, I was invited to attend
the Convention of the Grand Orient, at which G.M. Torrigiani was
unanimously re-elected. That memorable gathering will never fade
from my memory. Over 300 of the very best citizens of the country,
despite the savage attacks against them, assembled from all parts
of Italy and from distant colonies. Involuntary tears come to my
eyes when I recall a young delegate from Florence depicting the
brutal attacks on Masons and their property going on daily in that
city. Perhaps, who knows, he was fated to be one of the victims
himself a few days later, in that horrible slaughter which shocked
the civilized world ? And my heart also goes out in deepest
sympathy with those who are now languishing in Italian jails--only
for being enthusiastic Masons and not in agreement with Fascist
principles and practices. We may sincerely hope that none has in
any way seriously compromised himself. Glory be theirs--martyrs to
the immortal ideal of liberty !

The day after the Convention of the Grand Orient, the Fascist
newspapers in Rome were full of trivial insults and fantastic
statements. On the front page of one paper there appeared this
caption: "300 Masonic Pigs Met to Plot Against Italy." Among other
absurdities, they stated that a man--who was not even present--had
presided over the gathering. It was consoling to read this, for it
proved that they had not succeeded in planting any spy into the
Convention. In truth, nothing was said or done which the Italian
Masons had any reason to hide, and the Grand Orient gave out to the
press an authoritative statement of just what had taken place. Some
newspapers printed it, but the Fascist organs continued to draw on
imagination. Right here I want to declare that neither at the
Convention nor the other Masonic gatherings I attended, nor during
the many confidential conversations I held in Italy with prominent
Masons, did I ever see a thing done, or hear a word uttered, which
in any way could justify the cruel persecution directed against the
Order. On the other side of the ledger, I can assert emphatically
that I heard some very high Fascisti freely reveal facts too
dangerous to repeat.

Soon after my arrival in Italy I discovered that, evidently due to
my signed contributions in American Masonic magazines and in the
"Rivista Massonica" of Rome (the organ of the Grand Orient of
Italy), and also to my known friendship with leading Italian
Masons, I was being closely watched by Fascist spies. I felt and
knew that they were anxiously seeking for the smallest excuse to
arrest me, but by carefully refraining from saying or doing
anything that could conveniently be misinterpreted, I never
presented them an opportunity. And I must admit that not until the
liner left Naples was I relieved of the fear of being "framed", or
having something incriminating "planted" on me to implicate me in
some mythical plot allegedly inimical to the Government.

A few days prior to my sailing I went to Rome to bid good-bye to my
friends. Grand Master Torrigiani was then preparing a new
Constitution to submit to the Government in the hope of being
allowed to reform or reorganize the Grand Orient so as to comply in
every detail with the law passed against secret societies. He must
have failed in this project, for recent press reports state that
the Government had taken over for one of its departments the
Palazzo Giustiniani, the seat of the Grand Orient and the pride of
every Italian Freemason.

At the last Convention of the Grand Orient in September, 1925, in
view of the then expected law against secret societies, which would
have prevented another gathering being held, G. M. Torrigiani was
unanimously given a new, extraordinary authority to suspend or
modify the Order, or to take any other steps he might deem
necessary in the circumstances that might arise. After the passage
of that law, he suspended the Order in a circular which was given
out to the press, so that now the Grand Orient of Italy is
represented only by its Grand Master, Domizio Torrigiani. Here it
may be pointed out that this law is enforced only against
Freemasons; all the others are left alone, especially the really
dangerous one of the Jesuits.

But if by luck or judgment I avoided trouble during my stay in
Italy, an unpleasant surprise was reserved for me at the moment of
boarding the vessel to return to New York. I was stopped by
officials and escorted to the police station, where a Police
Commissioner after submitting me to a long interrogation, ordered
me to hand out all the papers in my possession. I truthfully
answered that I had no papers of importance beyond my American
passport, my citizen certificate, and my return steamship ticket.
He then ordered me to be rigorously searched and my baggage to be
ransacked. No papers were discovered, but they found and
confiscated (a) a Masonic Apron in its leather folder, presented to
me as its Past Master by Garibaldi Lodge, No. 542, F. & A. M. of
New York; (b) a leather case containing a silk ribbon and a gold
badge inscribed "Garibaldi Lodge, No. 542, F. & A. M., N. Y."

In vain I protested, as an American citizen, against the
confiscation of my personal property; but the Police Commissioner
said that he had to obey orders. Finally I was permitted to go on
board the liner, only just in time. I need hardly say that the
affair caused me the deepest regret, all the more as I treasured
the two items of which I was deprived--so unnecessarily. As an
American citizen I am entitled to appeal to the State Department
and claim the protection of the American Government; but as I still
retain a feeling of love toward my mother country, I should be
unwilling to raise any avoidable fuss over the matter. My view on
the situation is strengthened by the fact that my lodge, when it
learned of the affair, as an expression of protest, unanimously
resolved to present me with a new Apron.

I can fully understand the anxiety of American Masons to know just
what is going on in Italy, and hence I have no objection to make
this public. Many other things I would like to tell, but he who
gives such information is exposed to terrible personal peril. When
the danger shall have been removed by the inevitable restoration of
freedom, much will be revealed which will horrify the whole world.

I wish something could be done at least for our illustrious
brother, General Luigi Capello, one of the outstanding heroes of
the World War, who is suffering in the jail of Regina Coeli in
Rome, undoubtedly innocent of any crime, but being a Mason in Italy
today is enough to be condemned.
