THE MARCH ON ROME 311
towards the evening, seem certain of a cabinet in which
Mussolini will not be premier and in which the fascists
are to be oddly mixed up with people of every kind of
political complexion.3
Very worried, Balbo went off to Rome. But first he signed,
as De Bono and Bianchi had already done (De Vecchi at
this moment was not in Perugia) a curious document to
the effect that : ' The undersigned members of the supreme
fascist Quadrumvirate, invested with full political and
military powers, have decided, now the fascist forces are
mobilized, that the only acceptable solution is a Mussolini
cabinet.' Was this meant to be a kind of precautionary
guarantee taken by three of the Quadrumvirate against a
last minute surprise coalition ? Against whom was it
directed : the fourth Quadrumvir, De Vecchi ;x Grandi
and Ciano ; or Mussolini himself? In any case the docu-
ment is of purely academic interest, for the Quadrumvirate
never had the slightest opportunity of affecting the outcome
of the crisis. All the negotiations took place between the
king, the right-wing parties (Salandra and the nationalists),
Mussolini who remained in Milan, and a group of fascist
leaders, who remained in Rome (De Vecchi, Ciano, Grandi).
And directly the king's A.D.C. telegraphed to Mussolini,
on the morning of the sgth, the invitation to come to Rome
to form the cabinet, Mussolini prepared his list, took it with
him to Rome, and altered it at the last minute, without
once consulting the Quadrumvirate, who were still officially
in possession ofe full powers'.
Luckily the situation in Rome took the most favourable
turn for the fascist designs when martial law was revoked.2
General De Bono, who published his journal of the campaign
in a fascist review3 a short while ago, quotes for October 8,
1922 :
1 During the few hours he spent in Perugia, before going back to Rome to
follow the discussions, De Vecchi is said to have had a fairly violent quarrel
with Bianchi on the subject of the monarchy.
2 Balbo, who left for Rome on the evening of the 28th, was not at all clear
as to what was going on : * Is martial law in force, or is it not ? ' he asked in
his Diary. * It was announced and then revoked, but the military preparations
which are being carried out at the Rome Divisional Command prove that in
practice it is in force.' For even after the revocation the military authorities
were still in charge.
3 The Ottobre review for October 28, 1930.