ITALIAN PROGRESS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23599, 7 March 1940, Page 11

ITALIAN PROGRESS

INFLUENCE OF MUSSOLINI TALK BY FATHER McKEEFRY In spite of what might be thought of Mussolini, there was no doubt he had done a great deal for Italy and its people, said Father P. McKeefry, when giving impressions of a two-year world tour, in an address to a luncheon meeting of the Auckland Creditmen's Club yesterday. Mr. 11. S. Abel presided over a large attendance. The new spirit which Mussolini had inculcated into the people was remarkable, Father McKeefry said. The Italian people as he had known them when a student in Italy before the Fascist era suffered from an inferiority complex, and foreigners could not help disliking and despising them.' To-day thev were a different race, with abundant self-respect, a better standard of living, and a more hopeful outlook. Reports about various restrictions on liberty in Italy were not borne out in fact, Father McKeefry said. The greatest freedom was allowed in ordinary criticism of current affairs, and it was not true that Mussolini's name was spoken in a whisper. All sorts of stories were told about him in good humour and if there were to be any knocks these were against Fascist Party officials. Mussolini was personally popular, but some of the officials were hated.

"Ho foreclosed on his mortgage because he found that the King of Albania was arranging a second and was going to give the second mortgagee possession," said Father McKeefry in referring to Mussolini's incursion into Albania. Who the second mortgagee was. was not clear; some said it was Britain and France, but others believed that Germany had an eye on Albania with a view to getting an Adriatic port. The Italian people were surprised by Mussolini's action and some were critical, but it did not cause any upheaval.