268 THE RISE OF ITALIAN FASCISM making advances to Mussolini. The c Commandant' was at this period on very bad terms with the fascists. On October 13 he had announced the mobilization of his legionaries in Fiume. On the i8th the Fascist Party press bureau published a communique forbidding fascists to go to Fiume. On the igth Captain Coselschi, d'Annunzio's secretary, made the following announcement in the Rome Tribuna : c As you are aware, the Commandant has decided to convert the federation of his legionaries into a genuine and powerful organ of national propaganda, destined for the pacification of the country and the spiritual uplifting of the Italian people, divorced from all party tendencies. . . . The headquarters of the federation will be moved from Milan to Florence. The organization of the legionaries will not represent a party, but will be a group of disciples united to defend the faith of Gabriele d'Annunzio.3 As for the agreement between Mussolini and d'Annunzio, Coselschi continued : * I cannot give any details, as we are pledged to secrecy. I can, however, confirm that this agreement, which has to do with syndical forces, really exists and concerns an event of great importance for national pacification, with consequences affecting political as well as syndical affairs/ Mussolini, d'Annunzio and Giulietti had in fact just signed a pact dealing with the Federation of Maritime Workers. The text of the pact., signed at Milan on October 16, was not published till October 22 in the Popolo