THE MARCH ON ROME 277
A large number of fascists belonged to the Grand Lodge of
Piazza del Gesii :l Gesare Rossi, Italo Balbo, the Marquis
Perrone Compagni, the deputies Edouardo Torre, Acerbo,
Terzaghi, Lanfranconi, Oviglio, Capanni. Between 1919
and 1922 a fair number offasci were formed through masonic
influence., and Domizio Torrigiani, Grand Master of the
Palazzo Giustiniani freemasonry, boasted, although he
afterwards regretted it—too late—that he had several times
put the Milan fascia on its feet again. Dissension inside the
Florence fascio had its repercussions among the masons,
leading to the creation of rival lodges and mutual excom-
munications. However in some fascist circles the feeling
against freemasonry hardened as fascism gradually became
more and more anti-democratic. At the end of September,
1922, the deputy De Stefani moved at a meeting of the
secretaries ofthefasci of Vicenza a resolution affirming that
4 membership of the National Fascist Party is incompatible
with active participation in freemasonry '. A few days later
he asked Mussolini his views on this subject and was told :
6 As to freemasonry—which I have always disliked—the
question you raise seems to me inopportune. It can be
revived when things are calmer. We must not bite off more
than we can chew.5 He thus checked De Stefani's zeal,
which might have lost him valuable support. On October 19
the Grand Master, Domizio Torrigiani., sent a circular
letter to all the lodges of his order in which he emphasized
the importance of the masonic contribution to fascism in its
earlier stages :
e When the terrible post-war crisis began we decided
that our order must give all its energies to the defence
of the state, and we are glad to say to-day that groups of
our Brothers, who enjoy high authority, have contributed
to the birth and development of the fascist movement.
The number of our Brothers in ihefasci is still increasing.
In the conflict of tendencies that accompanied the evolu-
tion of the fascist phenomenon, they have done their best
to encourage the elements most consistent with the spirit
of freemasonry. As with all our other Brothers in the
1 P, 48.