Word: guarneri
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...days before all Italy was aroused last week by the screech of Fascist sirens and the clang of Catholic church bells rung by special permission of the Pope, quiet Professor Felice Guarneri had matters of vital moment to discuss in his snug Roman office at the Ministry of Finance. One day last June the Professor was abruptly summoned by the Dictator, given absolute control over Italy's exports & imports. Since then no Italian has been able to get foreign exchange with which to buy anything abroad without Guarneri's O. K. No other man alive knows so much...
...affiliates and, when these curtailed credit to Italy, their action was given by British bankers subsequently as a reason why they could not extend credit to Italy. "I have been steadily engaged in adjusting the National economy to [such] existing conditions in the past few months," continued Guarneri on the record. "These measures have now been taken. Imports we have reduced to the most crucial minimums, and all Italian resources public and private have been pooled to pay for imports which are indispensable. How much we have obtained or hope to obtain by [forced] repatriation of Italian funds abroad...
Since the vast sums spent on Italian public works during the 13 years of Fascism have nearly all been directed toward making Italy more self-sufficient, Guarneri noted that these will now reduce the effectiveness of sanctions. "I might paraphrase Marie Antoinette," said he with a wry smile. "The Queen's notion was that if the people could not have bread they might have to eat cake and Italians may have to wear natural silk, of which Italy produces plenty, instead of cotton, of which we produce little or none. Having electrified many of our railways, the coal saved...
...member of the Fascist Party and burning with no fanatical flame, Professor Guarneri, who reports three times a week to II Duce, closed with the calm estimate that even assuming successful military operations, which every Italian hopes will be swift and glorious, the development of Ethiopia would in any case require "fifty years of sacrifice before reaping the commensurate reward." Perfectly aware of this, Dictator Mussolini last week loosed the frenzy required to build empires, with sirens, church bells, battle planes thundering over every Italian city of importance and a nationwide hookup of loudspeakers in public squares which enabled...