Freemasonry And Political Corruption In Italy.

FREEMASONRY AND POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN ITALY .

E EPRINTED FROM THE " TABLET " OF 31 ST OF MAY . THE scandal caused in Italy by the affair of tbo tobacco contract bestowed by the Government on tho Masonio Grand Master , Si < mor Lemmi , and his partners , at a loss to tho National Exchequer of two million and a-half of francs , attains greater dimensions from day to day . The Radical Opposition has ventilated it iu tho Chamber ,

where , despite the traotability of the majority , p . irty spirit runs so hii'h on this and kindred topics , that the last vssligos of political or Parliamentary decorum have beon thrown to tho wind ? . The sitting of 21 st May degenerated into a scene of such indescribable tumult that the President , Signor Bianoheri , is praised for his discretion in not having suspended it , aa the meeting of tho enraged Deputies and

Ministers in the corridors ( must inevitably have been the signal for a free fiVht . Tho motion under discussion was oue by Signor Cavalotti , proposing to render the acceptance of paid office a disqualification for Parliament , and the immediate occasion of the stormy scene was his reading an article by a Deputy in tho Lombanlia in wh'ch Signor Grispi ia roundly accused , of subsidising , out

of the public funds , 300 members of the Chamber . Hence , it is averred , tho unquestioning obedience with whioh the Govern , ment whip is invariably responded to by tho dooilo majority These accusations , however , may or may cot bo well-founded , aud are interesting merely as symptoms of the political decadence of a country in whioh they are freely interchanged between contending

factious . The facts as regards the tobacco contract are , on the contrary , patent and notorious . They consist , as our readers are aware , of the assignment of the contract , without competition , to the firm in whioh Signor Lemmi was interested , aud tho subsequent manipulation by them of the American markets so as to enhance artificially the price some 30 per cent , during tbe days on whioh the prico was

to be struck for the simple-minded Italian Government . The extreme transparency of the device sufficed to impose on the ingenuous trustfulness of the latter , and the £ 100 , 000 was contentedly transferred to the pockets of the Grand Master and his associates . These facts , first categorically stated by tbe Popolo Romano , havo never been controverted or denied , aud even in Italy , whero public

opinion is comparatively sluggish , thoy havo caused a considerable seusation . Signor Imbriani moved in the Chamber of Deputies for a Committee of Inquiry , which was accepted in a moment of rashness by Signor Seismit Doda , the Finance Minister . No one indeed expected any great results from its procodnro , as the Government would have had ample means of limiting it to tbe most perfunctory

show of investigation . Such even as it would have been , it was , however , doomed not to take place , as tho Government , in the interim between the first aud second readingof the measure , effected a complete change of front , and by thoir opposition secured its rejection by a large majority of the Chamber . Thoso curious in tho records of political inconsistency find plenty of material io contrasting Signor

Cnspi s action in reference to the samo snbject in 18 G 9 , when in opposition , witb his attitude and declarations as Minister . Ou tho lirst occasion , tho allocation of tho tobacco contracts boing , as now , the matter in dispute , he not only demanded tho fullest iuquiry and publicity , but declared the question oue of " justice and morality . " More interesting , however , than the political somersaults of an

iudividual , a spectacle to which we ore , moreover , blunted by nse , is tho light this corrupt intrigue throws upon the inner workings of Freemasonry , and the part it has hid iu the tergiversations of the Italian Government . So largely is tbe sect represented in tho ranks of the latter , that the Cabinet has been nicknamed by Signor Imbriani , " the Conclave of the Thirty-three ?" , " that figure being

symbolical of one of the high grades in Masonry . The Fanf . dla , on the authority of a Masonio informant , states that , en 30 th Ap .-il , the actual members in the Ministry were four Ministers—Grispi , Doda , Zanardelli , Lacava ; and four Under-Secretaries—Ama'Jei , Fortis , Damiani , and Mariotti . Two other Ministers , Signori Brio and Boselli , have recently denied beiug members of the sect , bat as to

the latter , at least , there ia probably some mental reservation . In the Chamber the preponderance of Freemasonry is even larger , as it commands a solid majority represented by 300 members out of 501 . The action of the Goverrmeut in the recent crisis , when the interests of the Order were so directly at stake , was obviously dictated by the Lodges . The latter , at first dismayed by the publicity given to the

scandal , were disposed to make a scapegoat of Siguor Lemmi . botne of the Neapolitan Lodgea passed public votes of censure on j"m , aud his resi gnation was announced and considered inevitable , . u i ? at tbia juncture , when tho sect had abandoned tho defence of |< he Grand Orient , that tho Government , iu the person of tho iM'iauoo Minister , accepted tho inqui'V proposed bv Siqnor Imbriani , the

motion for which consequently passed the lirst reading unopposed , nut meantime the discipline or ( . sprit tU corps of tho Masonic bod v "ogati to reassert itself , and tho policy of what is popularly defined as brazening it out , " presented itself as a nossiblo alternative to tust of disavowing their disgraced chitf . Ou Sunday , 11 th May , at a meeting of the Grand Orient , in tho Palazzo Poli , this fueling ultimately

prevailed . Masonry , it was argued , must bo subject to no influence rom the outer " profane , " aud Signor- Lemmi ' d resignation must conaejuantl y bo refused . He thereupon consented to withdraw it , bnt on wnriition that the tobacco inquiry shoal ! not ri . ke place . It wannabeshn M p ' t 0 thedi ' 4 l % of the Graud Mister , that his name noma for mouths be mixed up in a political intrigue , and dragged ni fche

jjh mire by innumerable journals . Some of his supporters are 'in-l " t' t 0 2 cl ? olarecl tha occasion opportune for parading to Italy trim \ f ^ io power of their myslerioi . seon :: reg *( , iu a . Tb . ocvji . uuJ aitr" ? " i chl 3 P " rty was n ° t pecured wittioun opposition ao sirom / t ' -a Jt •1 V , ' f body iQf ' two Losti ' e factions , whiae enmity has ha I dU : « !•? . mak , u S thoir prcsoedinga known ro the wor . ld , aud their - "ous tbe common ta'k of tho corridors of Mou ^ citorio . These

Freemasonry And Political Corruption In Italy.

differences are manifested by tho fact that Signor Imbriani , as well as tho editors of several pipers who snpport his action , is himself a Mason , aud that oue , at least , of the Lodges in the south is in open rebellion . Tho majority was , howovor , sufficiently strong to mould to its wishes the Government and tho Chamber , whioh consequently , in the sitting of 19 th May , reversed its vote on tho first

reading of Signor Imbriani a motion . This visible preponderance of the secret society haa created uneasiness and indignation iu m : iny quarters , and the Oasetia di Parma , a liberal organ , goes so far as to surest that membership should be a disqualification for Parliament . " Tho foul business ( it saya ) of the tobacoo tender , whero tho Graud Orient of Masonry had its

finger in tlio pie , the fact that the highly-placed Grispi , Zauardelli , Miceli , Doda , Fortis , Boselli , aud oven tha' shallow nonentity Mariotti , are Masons , ought to open the eyes of the public to the danger oaiwd to the interests of the State , aa well aa to justice and uioi . di y , by leaving iu iho Governmetit tho herds of a secret society , which from tho moro fact of remaining s > in a

r & giir . e of tho amplest liberty , can only have nnavowable , not to say criminal objects . " Even tho Lombanlia of Milan , hitherto notoriously Masonic in its leaiicigs , vehemently denounces tho o . 'ils of tl . o present po * i : ion , and ks oumb-r of 15 h May declares it to be the general conviction " that Italian Masonry hua become au instrument of the Government , or , vice-vcrsA , the Government an instrument of

Masonry , " and that thoso now in power "have looked on and continue to look on Masonry as tho fulcrum of their political strength and influence . " The writer adds tbat both in Rome and tho provinces it is common to hear said , without disguise or circumlocution by any one wanting a recommendation to the Ministers , whether deputy , official , journalist , or private citizen , not ,

" I want an introduction to Grispi , to Doda , to Fortis , but , I want an introduction to Lemmi ; through him everything can be done . " Senators , deputies , and men of tho highest social or political dignity , complain that in tho Ministerial aute-chambers they have to yield precedence to the humblest member of the sect , while the Grand Master is , as a matter of course , treated with almost regal honours .

Meanwhile the secret ways of administrative corruption have resulted in a catastrophe even more striking than the tobacco scandal , the fall , namely , of over two hundred metres of the new fortified enceinte of Home , and the declaration by an official commission of the unsound state of all the works from the insufficiency of the foundations , and the use in the Masonry of tufa , rapidly pulverised by exposure to the air . The new forts , ench constructed at a cost of several

million francs , are found to be utterly useless for defensive purposes , and one has been utilised as a convict prison . The authorities immediately responsible shelter themselves behind the approral of the Technical Commission , the latter throw the blame on the Inspectors , and so the official game of huut tho ring is played . Meanwhile the public will naturally ask whether the contractor in thia instance was awofofg *? of the Gi'and Orient .

Royal Arch.

ROYAL ARCH .

FIDELITY CHAPTER , No . 230 . fJIHE annual meeting was held at tho Ebrington Maaonic Hall , -L Granby Street , Devonport , on the 23 rd ult .,-to instal Comps . R . Cawsey as Z ., F . Orchard H ., A . Maddox J . The installing Officera wero Comps . 11 . Pike P . Z . 230 , W . Allsf > rd P . Z . 202 , aud E . J . Knight P . Z . 202 . The Officers wero invested , as follow : —Comps . VV . G . Swiss I . P . Z ., E . H . Littleton Treasurer , J . R . H . Harris S . E ., YT

U . Butt S . N ., VV . Routledge P . Soj ., A . Voss 1 st Assist . Soj ., G . Dubatty 2 nd Assist . Soj ., G . T . Veale Organist , VV . Henderson Janitor . At tho close of tho Obapter , the Companions adjourned to an adjoining room , where an excellent fupper was laid by Comp . Bosworthick . The usual Loyal aud Masonic toasts were duly honoured and responded to .

St. John's Chapter, No. 328.

ST . JOHN'S CHAPTER , No . 328 .

f | 1 HE installation of the Principals took place ou the 21 st ult ., afc -L the Masonic Hall , Torquay . Comp . John Lane M . E . Z . presided , and ably installed the Principals for the ensuing year , as follow : — J . Chapman Z ., T . W . Morgan IL , and T . Prust J . Other Officera invested wero Comps . J . Taylor S . E ., A . VV . Searley S . N ., T . J .

Grossman Treasnrer , R . L . Mugford P . Soj ., T . Beckett and VV . Horsey Assistant Sojourners , S . Wills D . C ., J . VV . MeKeilur Steward , and G . Burt Janitor . The Companions afterwards dined together , under tho presidency of the M . E . Z ., when the usual loyal aud frat"rnal toasts wore duly honoured .

Iho first meeting of tho Provincial Grand Chapter of lloyal Arch Masuns of North Wales was hold on Tuesday , tho : i 7 th ult ., at Carnarvon , under thc presidency of

Colonel tho Hon . W .- E . Sackville West , Grand Superintendent . Tho business merely consisted of tho framing of bye-laws . After tho meeting the brethren sat down to a banquet , at tho Royal Sportsman Hotel .

p OLE MAN' 3 LTEBIG'S EXTRACT OF MEAT and MALT V . ' WINE . —A 2 * yd bottlu of this celebrated wine sent , freo by Parcels IXhl fur ' . i ' l slumps . Over 2 , 003 testimonials received from medical u . en COLEMAN & CO ., LIUITJIP , NOUWUJU , Sold everywhere .