important role in the Banca Romana scandal. A suppressed report about the sorry financial state of the bank was leaked to Colajanni, who divulged its contents to parliament. On December 20, 1892, Colajanni read out long extracts in Parliament and Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti was forced to appoint an expert commission to investigate the bank. The resulting inquiry caused the fall of the government of Giolitti in November 1893. Fasci Siciliani Though never a member of the Socialist Party, Colajanni was Sicily's leading political radical. He supported the Fasci Siciliani a popular movement of democratic and socialist inspiration, which arose in Sicily in the years between 1891 and 1893. The demands of the movement were fair land rents, higher wages, lower local taxes and distribution of misappropriated common land. He took the Fasci under his political protection, defending them in parliament and in the press. Francesco Crispi, who took over after the fall of Giolitti in December 1893, promised important measures of land reform for the near future. Crispi was not blind to the misery and the need for social reform. Before 1891 he had been the patron of the Sicilian working-class and many of their associations had been named after him. Crispi's good intentions were soon drowned in the clamour for strong measures. In the three weeks of uncertainty before the government was formed, the rapid spread of violence drove many local authorities to disregard Giolitti's ban on the use of firearms. In December 1893 many peasants lost their lives in clashes with the police and army. In order to stem the turmoil, Crispi offered Colajanni the Ministry of Agriculture, which he refused. When riots on the island got out of hand, Crispi asked Colajanni to undertake a mission of appeasement on Sicily. On January 3, 1894, only four days after Crispi had promised Colajanni there would be no state of siege, martial law was declared in the island. General Roberto Morra di Lavriano was dispatched with 40,000 troops to restore order. Colajanni condemned the Fasci leaders for lacking to keep the peace. After conferring with general Morra he issued a manifesto in which he urged the people to restore order. He argued that the government was engaged in bettering the working conditions and deserved their confidence, at least for a while. People breaking the peace he called fools and traitors. Within a few days of the declaration of