MUSSOLINI—THE MAN

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 66, 10 December 1938, Page 3 (Supplement)

MUSSOLINI—THE MAN

Mussolini is short, stoutisb and swarKhy, with powerful bands and blunt, stubby fingers. He has a characteristic manner of speaking, and inspires instantaneous liking and respect. He is almost brutally outspoken, but his tone is not as authoritative as one might expect, and his expression not as bard a.s it appears in bis photographs. The idea I had formed of Mussolini from the camera and the Press was of a man who was perpetually holding forth and acting like a tribune, says her Royal Highness the Inf. On the contrary, lie has a soft and pleasant voice and a .subtle mind. He is a great man, who realises that he is great and that he has saved the dynasty and miraculously restored his country. . . . The salon in which the Duce received me and which does duty as his .study, is plainly yet tastefully furnished, and contains none of that ornateness usually to be found in Italian bouses. The huge work-table is piled with books, documents and statistics. I came away, uplifted by the feeling that I had been speaking to a great man, a true statesman and a fervent Italian.