, 1876-07-01

tails which neither could nor ought to
become matters Of history, and which con-
%otituted q far greater offence against the
dignity ofthe entire country than against
the persons to whom the inquiries refer
red Was it to be permitted that in
the archives of a Ministry papers should
be preserved which without containing
political information were filled with de-
tails relating to the private lives of MEM
bers of one side of the House7 Was ID
permissible to keep such papers in the ar
Chives of the Government and send them
down to posterity to be brought to light
when the men to whom they referred were
no longer 10 a position to make q legiti
mate d~efence7 In future years O stran-
ger might come to Italy, obtain permits
sion to examine the State archives, read
these infamies charged to this or that
DEPUTY and publish them. What kind
Of service would they who had made this
possible have rendered to the c|ountry9
If the Inquiries had been instituted regard
ing PERSONS upon whom Just suspicion
had fallen, the matter would be different,
but such. was not the case. He had no
intention whatever of making these pa
pers public but he should refer the mat
ter to the Council of Ministers and the
Council Of State, not only as to what was
to be done with the documents, but as
to whether q Minister Of the Interior had
the right to avail himself Of his position
to obtain details, regarding not only the
political, but the private life of members
OF Parliament, and, having obtained the
Information, had the right to place it for
preservation in the archives Of the Min
istry without having proved its exactness
and truth. As regarded himself the day
would come when the Minister Of the
Interior, Invested OF his Office, would be.
come again a simple citizen, and r~e-2cquire
the right to. ask for an explanation of GER
tain Things.
How little reliance could be placed
Upon these records, the contents Of which
have certainly been received, and, accord
ing to the exact meaning Of Signor Nico.
tera's words, required from the undorlings,
spies, and lntormers Of a so-called Liberal
Government, may be Judged from what was
said by Signor Lanza himself. DiscIaim-
ing any responsibility which might seem
to attach to him, he said -
81 an far from lustiEying everything
which may by chance be found gathered
together in certain archives, and who
could assume the responsibility But
at the same time / cannot the less consider
that even if some 0 fthese papers contain
things which are inexact and even false
for as a matter Of course, Signori, in the
immense congeries of informations which
are gathered. many may have either one
or other Of these charactors-upon no one
can the blame be laid, for no one can
guarantee the v%eracity Of these informa-
tons"
A more vicious state OF things can
scarcely be imagined than this, which
creates an army of informers by bringing
to the front oil that class Of public func-
tionaries who ore ready to earn the praise
of their superiors by making themselves
the instruments of accusation and calum-
ny against those in opposition to the
Government, from whichever side of the
House that Government is oompo sed.
How any Minister could consent to place
himself, or to remain, in so equivocal o
position as the receiver of such information
constitutes it is difficult to understand.
It is said that when Signor Ricotera heard
of the existence of the Blackjack he had
it brought before him. Referring to the
Index. he found his own name and those