PM's Daily Picture Magazine

AUGUST 9, 1943 PM'S DAILY PICTURE MAGAZINE 11 Treasury Dept's Phony Buildup for G. Pope Former Crusader for Fascism Is a However, the Treasury Dept. did not tell the public the facts on the per- "Liberal," Publicity Release Hints sonnel of which it boasts, and was silent about Il Progresso's top editors, and their membership in Italian Fascist newspaper organizations. Here is some of Il Progresso's personnel: By ARNOLD BEICHMAN PIII U. S. Treasury Dept. press agents are fronting for Grande Ufficiale Italo Carlo Falbo, editor-in-chief, former New York correspondent for the Generoso Pope, millionaire publisher of Il Progresso Italo-Americano, official Italian news agency, Stefani; past president of the Fascist propaganda agency, Dante Alighieri Society New York branch. in building him up as a "liberal." Here is the official release sent out to American newspapers by Corrado Altavilla, city editor, former New York correspondent of the Milan press agents of Secretary Morgenthau's Treasury Dept. in which they tried to daily Corriere della Serra and the Mattino Illustrato of Naples. transform Gr. Ufficiale (Grand Officer of the Crown of Italy) Pope, who for Carmelo Amoruso, social and labor editor, former director of the Circolo years was a Mussolini mouthpiece, into a "liberal": Italiani All' Estero. This organization watched all Italians outside the homeland and was under the direct supervision of the Italian Foreign Ministry. TREASURY DEPARTMENT Francesco Cantelmo, managing editor, member of the Italian Journalists WAR FINANCE COMMITTEE FOR NEW YORK STATE Assn. of Rome. Membership is limited to Fascists. 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Vittorio Martinez, former employe of the Italian consulate in New York NEW YORK 20, N.Y. City. He was a director of the Italian War Veterans Assn. of New York and (FOR RELEASE AUGUST 3) headed a committee organized in Rome to maintain "rigid discipline" among Fascists in the A. The appointment of Generese Pope as chairman of the War Finance Armando Romano, member of the Italian Journalist Assn. of Rome. Committee's Italian American Committee, in charge of war bond subscriptions by Filippo Giordano, advertising manager, another member of the Association. Americans of Italian origin during the forthcoming Third War Loan, was Carmelo Tomas, staff member, Knight of the Order of The Crown of Italy, listed in The Italian American Who's Who, 1940 edition, as "Fascist." announced yesterday (August 2) by Nevil Ford, executive manager of the War The Treasury Dept. release quotes Gr. Ufficiale Pope as saying: Finance Committee. Mr. Pope, publisher of I1 Progresso, I know that each one of the Italian Americane will buy to the limit to help end this war as quickly The release ignores the fact that this Gr. Ufficiale Pope is the same Generoso Pope who on June 14, 1936 was quoted in his own newspaper as say- as possible, for Americans of Italian origin know that the victory of the Allies means freedom for Italy and the Italian people. ing at a Madison Square Garden meeting: 1122 But the Treasury handout did not reveal that previously Gr. Ufficiale Pope laust Parlail Ufficiale Generoso Pope civilts told his readers that Mussolini and his Fascist regime meant freedom for Italy. Le sanzioni invece e plu unito, sotto la guida del più For example, during the Ethiopian invasion, Il Progresso ran a signed editorial di soffocare 11 grande popolo d'Ita- grande uomo del mondo: Benito by Gr. Ufficiale Pope: lla 10 hanno reso ancora p'u forte Mussolini. (La folla grida: Duce! Here's the translation: Duce! Duce!) Always Forward Italy! Translated (Pope was speaking of League of Nations sanctions against the For the first time, the American press, even that portion of it which usually Fascist conquest of Ethiopia), it reads: shows no sympathy for our Fatherland of origin or its government, today recog- "These sanctions, instead of suffocating the great people of Italy, made it nizes the sublime example of solidarity and discipline of which Italy gives proof, stronger and more united under the leadership of the greatest man in the world, under the brilliant leadership of its powerful Chief. Benito Mussolini. (The crowd yells Duce, Duce, Duce.)" It is this unity and this discipline and this open-hearted enthusiasm which After identifying Gr. Ufficiale Pope as the owner of Il Progresso the Treas- prevails among the youth and the aged which makes of this New Italy one of the ury Dept. press release went on to say: strongest and most feared nations, which moves forward without hesitation or fear towards its finer destiny. The readers of the newspaper, which Mr. Pope calls The spiritual unity of 44 millions of Italians in Italy is matched by the growth of unity among the 10 million Italians spread throughout the world. This liberal American paper in the Italian language" spectacle of stupendous harmony, of irrepressible determination, is a solemn warning to those who still seek to stop Italy on its path to certain and necessary This quotation, which the Treasury is purveying at face value as a fact, is conquest false. Il Progresso is not a liberal American paper despite the statement the The Italians in America, animated by the same fervor which dominates the Treasury Dept.'s press agents passed out for publication in American news- hearts of their brothers in Italy cry out with conscious faith and renewed enthu- papers. The only thing that is true about the quotation is that it is published siasm: Always Forward, Italy! And they await with quiet firmness to see all the in Italian with occasional columns in English. snares and threats of the enemies of Italy, of traitors of Italian friendship, give But it is not liberal and has never been liberal. way in the face of the luminous reality of accomplished facts. In fact, for years it was a staunch crusader for Italian Fascism and GENEROSO POPE. Mussolini. Only a few months before Pearl Harbor did Il Progresso change its line on The Treasury release also forgot this gem from a speech by Gr. Ufficiale Italian Fascism. But it is not by any standard a liberal newspaper as stated in the Pope reported in Il Progresso: handout passed out by the Treasury Dept. press agents. "We are proud to be sons of that Italy, which, through the medium of The release on Gr. Ufficiale Pope prepared by Jane Franklin, ex-reporter Il Duce, Benito Mussolini (applause) will record in the history of the world on Hearst's Daily Mirror, now a Treasury Dept. press agent, was approved by one of the most dazzling pages with the victory of Italy in Africa, which is a her superiors. Miss Franklin said that the release was based on information ob- victory of civilization over barbarism." tained entirely from Gr. Ufficiale Pope. "Do you think Il Progresso is a liberal newspaper?" she was asked. The Treasury release also contains a biographical sketch of Gr. Ufficiale "I don't know. I've never read Il Progresso," she replied. Pope, based on facts submitted by the man who holds two decorations from "Did you investigate the statement in the release in which Generoso Pope Mussolini. It is a success story written in the Horatio Alger style, about how he says it is a liberal paper?" came to America at 12, started life as a waterboy, worked himself into the owner-. "I did not. I merely quoted Mr. Pope." ship of a sand and gravel company, and in 1929 purchased Il Progresso. It lists The Treasury Dept. handout said: his philanthropic activities and club memberships. But the Treasury Dept. press agents did not tell the fact that during Musso- The personnel of I1 Pregresso is enrolled 100 per cent under the for the Italian Red Cross and Italian relief activities. Accompanying this fund- raising drive was a propaganda campaign against League of Nations sanctions, Payroll Savings Plan, fulsome praise for Mussolini's aggression. This is Pope's check which he reproduced in Il Progresso: MORE Preservation Copy