FASCIST DECALOGUE.
STATE PARAMOUNT. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. AN ALL-REVEALING DOCUMENTS. Decalogues have grown to great favour In Italy and several have already been drawn up for those engaged In various spheres. The latest decalogue or ten commandments is that prepared for the' “soldier-citizen.” In Fascist Italy both terms are now inseparable. Every citizen is a soldier. One cannot, it is claimed, be a good citizen unless he is at the same' time a good soldier. The State looks after every man, youth and boy, to see that he is properly trained as an efficient soldier. The New Decalogue. In order to Impress still more vividly In the mind of every soldier-citizen his military duties, the following decalogue lias been widely circulated in Italy:— 1. Let duty be thy watchword and thy guide in every action. 2. Learn to love and honour thy country above every other thing. 3. Be pure as dew, solid as rock, ardent as tiie sun. 4. Ask God for strength and cour- , age to become' every day a better soldier, scholar and citizen. 5. Let thy thoughts and thy actions be always worthy of the commission entrusted to thee. 6. Sacrifice thy life for thy Fatherland, King and the Duce. 7. q’he' future is in thy hands, the hope of all in thy youth. 8. Let thy best recompense for thy worst in the knowledge that thou has done it well. 9. Do not forget that discipline is the first virtue of the' soldier and citizen. 10. Glory be thine if thou hast been worthy of it. Personal Booklet. These ten comandments are inserted in the personal booklet supplied by the Government to every Italian male between the years of 11 and 32 and whose possession is made compulsory by law. Tills booklet is to keep a yearly record of the owner’s physical condition, his fitness ns a fighting soldier, his military training, his political, sporting and intellectual activities. Everything is supposed to be noted down. Jf a man happens to have a missing, tooth—that it duly recorded. The handbook contains a diagram of of a complete set of teeth, and each missing or faulty tooih must be noted in Ihe diagram. Each owner of the -booklet must note' when any member of his family passes on. and state the causes. In addition to the decalogue, the handbooks contain occasional patriotic reminders and familiar Fascist quotations, Thus when the Italian boy enters his fourteenth year, he will find in the page referring to that year this sentence': “The twentieth j century beholds Rome as the centre of j Latin civilisation, mistress of the Mediterranean, and a lighthouse for J all peoples.” Laws for Military Nation. i Extracts are given from the “Laws | for tiie Military Nation ” which deal 'with pre- and post-military instruction and military culture in general. , Tiie scheme of which the booklet is : the outward manifestation is to give every Italian man training in arms before lie reaches tiie age of conscription, and to continue the training after he has been officially called to the j colours. I The impression left by a perusal of j (Continued in next 'column.)
the booklet is that with such an allrevealing document, the soldier-citi-zen knows exactly what he' has to do In case of mobilisation, and the authorities are in possession of all information required about the military efficiency of every single soldie'r. The boklet is also an lndispensablo document for obtaining a post or work in Italy.
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Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20255, 26 July 1937, Page 4
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581FASCIST DECALOGUE. Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20255, 26 July 1937, Page 4
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