SECRET GOVERNMENT

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 465, 21 September 1928, Page 9

SECRET GOVERNMENT

GREAT FASCIST POWER ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY NOW (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. rress Association.) (United Service) Reed. 10 a.m. ROME, Thursday. The Fascist Grand Council, with Signor Mussolini presiding, adopted a measure for governing its constitution. The Council will be the supreme organ of the Fascist regime and tne Government, co-ordinating the activities of both. It will sit secretly. Its members, including the leaders of the Government and the Fascist Party, will be unpaid and immune from arrest or criminal proceedings. The meeting concluded amid cheers for the Duce.

The Grand Council’s decisions, which were adopted after a nightlong discussion, vest the supreme power of Italy in itself. It will be the final Court of Appeal in all questions of interpretation of law, and it must be consulted in all constitutional measures, including Bills relating to succession to the throne, the King’s, and the Prime Minister’s powers, the composition and attributes of the Grand Council and the Senate and the Chamber, the relations of the State with the Catholic Church, and the Government’s responsibilities regarding he regulation of syndicalist activities and treaties involving modification of Italian territory. Moreover, it will maintain lists of names for submission to the King in the event of vacancies for the Premiership or Cabinet, and will also examine the lists of Parliamentary deputies. The Council’s president will be the Premier. The members include the presidents of the Senate the Chamber, members of the Cabinet, the chief of the general staff of the Fascist militia, and the presidents of the confederations of labour, agriculture, and industry, with ex-secretaries of the Fascist party, and others who have served the country well, or are qualified to speak on the subjects under discussion.