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physiology and anatomy by the introductionof the comparative method. It may even be asserted that it is impossible to understand human physiology and anatomy unless comparison is made between man and other animals. An analogous method of studyingthe physiologyof the social organism leads to equally important results. It is by comparing civilized with savage society that modern sociologists, followingthe traditionsof inductivepolitics which have come down to us from Aristotle,have been able to lay the basis for a new science, whose progress during our century has been trulyremarkable. The same method of study applied to the details of the organization of society ought also to be productiveof great results. This is a truthof which M. Leon Donat shows thorough comprehensionin his book on experimental politics ; and perhaps the day is not far offwhen the inductive method will acquire the same absolute mastery in political science that it already holds in physical science. It is from this point of view that a study of the effects of rule in Italy appears to me worthyof considerparliamentary ation. If only the political phenomena which are due to specificand peculiar conditionsin Italy can be separated from those which are due to general causes that might operate equally elsewhere, such an investigation promises to yield results of general validityand value. Two facts chiefly strike the observer who studies the which manifests politico-social condition of Italy. The first, itself on the most superficialexamination,is the almost entire absence of political parties. The other,which to be thoroughly understood requires minute observation, is the enormous extension of the functionsof the state, which reduces almost to nullitythe private initiative and economic independence of the citizens.

MARKED

advance has been made in the study of

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I. thesecertainly As to parties, exist,in name; butthe names serve only to designate bodies of men united by certain strictlypersonal interests or by a certain community of temperament.It is impossibleto find any real difference as regards thesenominal their between attitude parties towards the politicaland social problemswith which the country is the this rule To confronted. constitute an extremists, indeed, exception; but theyare not at all numerous. Strictly speaking, thereare three extremeparties,of which, however, one the onlyis reallyactive,namely, Socialists. The Republican a proudreserve, and as to the ClericalParty, Partymaintains on thepolitical it effaces itself entirely stage. of In Italy thereare two kinds socialism,of whichone, while the other,indusagricultural socialism,is indigenous, of French and, even trial socialism,is only the reflection has its chiefstrength of Germanideas. This latter in more, the most important Milan,whichis industrially cityin Italy; in all the othercentres but it has some adherents of industry, such as Turin,Spezia and Genoa. The head of this party is a resident of Milan,whopublishes the lawyer Turati, theretwo
socialistic papers- a review entitled Critica Sociale (Social Criticism), and a small weekly paper called Lotta di Classe to show (Struggle of the Classes). This last name is sufficient

that this partytakes, in general,the pointof view of Karl Marx. Turatiis a manof muchtalent. He is well informed and active,and probablywill yet play an important r8le in Italy. He has been lucky enough to make one important - Sig. de Amicis,the well-known who lives convert novelist, in Turin. The socialismof de Amicis,to tell the truth, does thana vague desireforthe amelioration notgo further of the laws. He does not appear lot of the people by collectivistic to have a veryclearidea of the measuresto be desiredor of the effect which theywould produce. But the simple fact of the Socialistshas that de Amicis has become a follower and probably theirreputation increased at the last contributed,

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election, to the success of the Socialist candidate,Sig. Merlani. This election is very significant, as Merlani was opposed by General Pelloux, and Turin is a stronghold of the military party. In Milan the Socialist Party presented a very clear program- the contest of the masses against the bourgeoisie. Their candidates only registered a small numberof votes. Turati had 352 out of 2,569 votes, while his chief opponent had I,458. Another of their candidates, Sig. Gnocchi Viani, a clever man, obtained 620 out of 3,095 votes. Agricultural socialism is spreading in the provinces of Mantua and Parma, and in some southernprovinces,where it takes the formof a simple desire forthe partition of the land. In former times its centre was in Romagna, but it now seems to have lost ground there. It was in Romagna that Cipriani, who was unjustly condemned and imprisoned by the Italian courts, was returned as a Socialist deputy. Under Crispi's ministry,it was thought well that the king should make a tour in Romagna, and, to mark the happy event, he was induced to pardon Cipriani. The king was well received by the people of Romagna; and since then he has loaded popular societies with his favors,for which reason socialism is losing ground little by little. But in the southern provinces there is a real agrarian question. To understandit thoroughly we must retrace the course of their historya little. The revolution in Italy was chiefly the work of the bourgeois,who naturallysought to turn the new state of affairs to their own advantage whereverit was possible to do so. The northand centre of Italy were like other civilized countries in that the distinctionof classes was not very definite; and here it was not possible for one partyof the bourgeoisie to enrich itselfdirectlyat the expense either of the other partyor of the people. It was necessary to have recourse to the means which politicians employ in all countries,and which are based upon the interventionof the state. But in the southernprovinces the bourgeois-, withoutrenouncingthese means, adopted others more direct, which caused their yoke to weigh very heavily

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upon the lowerclasses. They took possession of the communal and drew fromit a profit visible to the eyes of administration all. In the ancient kingdom of Naples many large fortunes were formerlymade by the misappropriationof the property of the communes. The liberal r6gime has changed the form but not the substance of these usurpations. In certain places the propertyof the commune is leased to figure-heads, or to the friends of the communal councilors, at ridiculous rents; in others it is sold outright,and for next to nothing,to men of straw,all serious bidders being kept away fromthe auctions. The government does nothing to suppress these abuses, because the same persons who dominate the communal councils are the chief electors of the deputies, who, in their turn,employ their influencewith the governmentto screen the misdeeds of theirfriendsand partisans. The oppression of the people in the villages has led to frequent uprisings. Racioppi, in the tenth chapter of his Storia dei Moti della Basilicata net I86o, writes: has been occupied unjustly The publicland (ager publicus) by the newbourgeois patricians. And this is how it happens that a man tries to gain justice with his own hands, while theywhose duty and unmoved it is to administer justice are deaf to his complaints by his prayers.. . . Not findingthe municipalrepresentative, or verymuch elected by the bourgeoisie, eitherverydisinterested concernedabout social problems,the people endeavorto cut the insurrection. Gordianknotby frequent These seditions have continued up to the present time, and we have had some very recent examples of them at Forenza and at Caltavuturo.1
1 The outbreak at Forenza was attributed in by the Ministerof the Interior, an address in the Chamber,February22, I892, to the establishment of a household or familytax (tassa di fuocaticoo di famiglia), which is levied or not in a of the commune. The deputy district accordingto the pleasure of the authorities said: "The communewithwhichwe have to deal was one Giantureo,in replying, of the richestin the Basilicata. A few yearsago the council of the communewas dissolved,the royal commissionhavingfound thatthe serious chargesof corrupt administration which had been broughtagainst it were only too well grounded; but,notwithstanding this, the same memberswere re-elected." Caltavuturo is a small commune in Sicily. The disturbancehere, in which

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The same oppression was one of the causes of brigandage.' Brigands have disappeared,2but the oppression under which the people suffer has not much diminished. Here is what Sig. Leopoldo Franchettiwrote in I875 of the bourgeois class which rules the Neapolitan communes: withthe administration Suchpersons of thepublic beingentrusted it was to be expected that many among themwould patrimony, it merely a meansto the increaseof their consider private fortunes; and in fact so prevalentis this idea that no attempt is made to conceal it,and when any one's financial affairs are in a bad conto hear it openlyproposedthat he should ditionit is not infrequent be electedto some office "to recouphimself.". . . The peoplein whose hands our laws apparently intendto place the local governaregenerally ment dividedintotwoclasses: thosethathave followed the lucrative career of local employees, and those who, while too honestto takepartin theseabuses,nevertheless do notprevent their occurrence. . . . In this way councils and local boards, and the " and "pious works boardsof administration of charitable institutions are oftenfull of ruinedpeople who make an income out of the public patrimony. . . . The corruption of the chiefs naturally itselfto theirsubordinates. The surveillance communicates of the funds and otherinferior communal givestheguardians employees the of makinga quantity of littleperquisites opportunity of a lucrative all of which are a loss to thefund. Everyusurper kind, of communal property corrupts as muchas his opportunities allowhim-that is, up to a certaingradein thesocial scale, whenpowertakesthe place of of Avezzano,in his speechof money.. . . The crownprosecutor of justice(page 29), laments January 8, I872, on the administration of the treesin the district, and says that theforest the rapidfelling guards conniveat depredations;that theyare so manyArgusesin but are tracingthe fagotswhichthe poor man takes for himself,
of land which they claimed was communal propertyand had been usurped by privateindividuals. Signor Colajanni declaredin the Chamber,January 30, I893, that the peasants were right and that the legal proceedings showed that more than ioO hectareshad been usurped. 1 Cf the workof Rossi on The Basilicata,page 571,wherethe career of Coppa, is thus explained. a most ferociousbrigand, 2 The disappearance of brigandageis due mainly to the excellentroads which now traversethe country.

to assert many liveswere lost,aroseoutofan attempt bythepeasants possession

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blind and dumb to the devastationsthat the rich make in the woods.' In the rest of Italy many analogous facts occur; but the politician's art in stripping his fellow-citizensis there more refined,whereas in the Neapolitan communal administration it is brutallyoppressive,and is the cause of an intense hatred for the bourgeoisie on the part of the poor people Their resentment has been ferociouslymanifested as often as the restraints of public force have been relaxed, and under similar circumstances we are likely to witness similar outbreaks. The Republican Party is composed of the remains of Mazzini's party. It is not large, but it consists almost exclusively of men whose honesty and straightforwardness are above suspicion. As a rule, it refuses to take part in the political elections, allowing its adherents, at most, to assist in communal elections only. The Fratellanza Artigiana of Florence, which preserves the purest Mazzinian traditions,is in favor of absolute abstention from voting. At the last elections (I892) it declared: to abstain from voting, of the democratic party It is a sacredduty a war whichserves onlyto harden the hearts abandoningforever a systemagainstwhich of youngmen,by upholding and intellects the onlythingthat could succeed would be an open and loyalwar their rights. made by the people in the nameof the people,claiming what Giuseppe Mazzini said! Whoevertries electors, Remember, is trying whichhas had a death-blow an institution to perpetuate to do impossibilities. Galvanicactionmaysimulatelife fora brief but cannotgive it reality. moment,
I Franchetti, Conditionsof the Neapolitan The Economical and Administrative who almost always of the majority, pp. 28, 29. The authoris a member Provinces, than rather and is inclinedto exaggeratethe prosperity votes withthegovernment, the evil conditionof the country. In political and social questions,as in courtsof is that of personswho acknowledge of confidence most worthy law, the testimony or who acknowledgetheirfriends to theirgeneralmode of thinking, factscontrary of this nature that I have triedas much to be in the wrong. It is on testimony of personswho are speaking in favor as possible to rely,rejectingthe testimony and against theiradversaries, of theirfriends

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a circumstance occurredwhich sent the At Milan, however, Republicans to the ballot-box. Their candidate,Sig. de but he obtained1121 votes against was not elected, Andreis, whowas supported by the governI967 cast forhis opponent, were not all givenby the ment. These 1121 votes,however, Republicans; many othersvoted for Sig. de Andreis,as a and oppression. These corruption protest againstgovernmental of the null is the influence facts tend to show how utterly RepublicanPartyin Italian politicallife. of the Clerical Partyis scarcely greater. It The influence is said that the pope,when askedwhyhe wouldnotallowthe to vote,answered: "When one of our followers gets faithful we lose him." Whetherthese words were into Parliament said or not,theyarefulloftruth. Not onlythosewho get into but thosewho have employment underthe governParliament, - and nearly all have- become lukewarm ment partisans. with the familiesof the mostclerical Personswellacquainted that if theywere to vote maintain of the Roman aristocracy wouldgive Rome back to thepope, or no they whether secretly wouldbe more numerous than the affirmatives, the negatives wouldnotrisklosingtheenormous increase sincethesefamilies of value whichthe removalof the capital to Rome has given to theirhouses. It is oftensaid thatwhenthe ClericalParty does vote in Italy, a great change will take place in Italian politicallife. This is an error. In Rome the Clericalsvote at the communal elections,and yet they do not succeed in of the municipal offices. When the Syndic getting possession was removedfromoffice forhaving paid of Rome,Torlonia, - vicar, they had not the courage a visit to the cardinal even to protest. Nor do they protestnow when it is proin Rome,and to open it on the posed to hold an exhibition of the takingof the city by the Italian troops. aDniversary Owing to the fact that the Clerical electors in Rome are whomthe exhibition wouldbenefit, small trades-people mostly to the party councilors evenvotedin somemunicipal belonging in spite of the date selected for its favorof the exhibition, of which the pope -an evidenceof lukewarmness opening bitterly. complained

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This last illustrationbrings us close to the limitswhere the confusion of Italian parties begins. In order to realize the degree of confusion that prevails, a comparison between English and American political leaders on the one hand, and Italian public men on the other, will be found serviceable. In England and in the United States a certain connectionis established between the names of public men and the ideas for example, to learn they represent; so that it is sufficient, that Mr. Gladstone has obtained a majorityat the elections in order to know that he will propose to solve the Irish question; or to learn that the Democratic Party has triumphedin the United States under the leadership of Mr. Cleveland in order to infer that the country will not continue to increase its customs duties. With Italian politicians nothingof the sort is possible. For example, Sig. Minghetti fell from office because he proposed that the controlof the railways should be given over to the state. His attitude on this question was not dictated by political exigencies ; it was the result of a life-long inclinationon his part towards state socialism. He considered it absolutely indispensable forthe good of the countryto take away the railways from the plutocracywho owned them; and to attain this end he did not hesitate to separate fromhis old companions who remained faithful to the liberal policy of Count Cavour, and thus to cause the dissolution of the old party of the Right. It would hence have been natural to suppose that this project would become the chief object of as home rule has become that Sig. Minghetti'sfutureefforts, of Mr. Gladstone. Nothing of the sort. A very few years later, Sig. Minghetti was seen supporting a ministry,the chief point in whose program was the abandonment of the railways to private control. Further, Sig. Minghettivoted for of the railwaysin the hands a law which put the administration of a ring much worse than that which he had desired to but everywhere, destroy. Facts like these occur occasiona-lly what is remarkable in Italy is that they are the general rule and that they seem quite natural. To realize this state

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of things,the American or English reader must picture to himselfa conditionof feelingin England, for example, which would make it seem naturalthat the day afterMr. Lord Salisburyshould unite Gladstonehad obtainedoffice, with him in laying beforethe House some bill to establish to bear in mind home rule in Ireland. And it is necessary was a perfectly honorable that Sig. Minghetti man,and that it would not enter any one's mind that he had otherthan forhis changeof opinion. This, of course, motives honorable is not always the case as regardsthe changes of opinionof to deny thatin thecase of otherpoliticians. It is impossible manypublic men the desire for pecuniary advantageor for to their vanitycounts for a great deal in some satisfaction their frequent changes of attitude. But whatever maybe the the Italian electorsappearto regard motive forsuch changes, to hold theirturnand show no disposition themas natural, to a strictaccount. There were in the coat representatives last Chamber, for instance,a certainnumberof deputiesof the extremeLeft, who one fineday decided to supportthe government, and whotookthe nameof "LegitimateRadicals." had almostall obtainedtheirseats as violent These gentlemen opponentsof the Triple Alliance; but on becomingfriends of the government they became all at once partisansof the Triple Alliance and deliveredspeeches strongly contrasting with those which they had made beforeelection. Notwiththem. This fact standingthis, the same electorsre-elected alone would not sufficeto prove that the majority of the electors had becometurncoats like theirdeputies, forin Italy the government over the elections; exercises a great influence but a certain numberof the electors,at least, must have changedtheiropinions. One resultof thisstateof things, whichis at the same time a proofof its prevalence, is the care withwhichmanyItalian publicmen avoid committing themselves. In ordernot to be embarrassed by the expression of theirold opinions whenthe time may come to have new ones, they make a point of speakingin an ambiguousmannerwhichrecalls that of the

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ancient oracles.' One candidate, who was chosen at the last elections, said that he would support any governmentwhich had the welfareof the nation sincerelyat heart,- a declaration which certainlythrew little light upon the speaker's personal convictions. Not all candidates carry the method so far; but in nearly all electoral programs phrases occur whose object is to avoid all precise treatment of the problems which are agitating the country. A candidate states, for example, that he " will vote for such militaryand naval expenditures as are necessary for the good of the country." This statement satisfiesequally those people who believe that the good of the countryrequires an increase of these expenses, and those who to curtail them. believe that it is necessary,on the contrary, Another,following the program of Minister Giolitti,declares that he will not vote for new taxes unless they are absolutely necessary; which evidentlycommitshim in no way, since new taxes are invariablydeclared necessary by those who propose them. A similar vagueness characterizes many recent utterances on the tariffquestion. By the customs law of 1887 Italy entered upon a policy of protection; yet the authors of the tariff and their friends have never frankly called themselves protectionists,as M. Meline and his adherents have done in France. They represent the new system as an inevitable expedient under the conditions of the times, and they speak much of the natural law of free exchange, which is to guide economic policy when circumstances make it possible. The lack of positive principJe is illustrated by an incident during the discussion of the tarifflaw. Sig. Magliani, the Minister of Finance, at first declared himself opposed to a duty on foreign wheat (originally three francs on the i 00 kilos, and now five francs);
1 [American readers will find nothingpeculiarlyItalian in this phenomenon. recall the utterances of Lowell's "Candidate for Many of themwill involuntarily in the Biglozw the Presidency," Papers, e.g.: " I stan' upon the Constitution, Ez preudunt statesmensay, who've planned A way to get the most profusion - EDS.] O' chances ez to ware they'11stand."

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but when it became evident that the defectionof the so-called Agrarians, who desired such a duty,might destroythe protectionist majority,Magliani supported the proposal and made the House vote it. While the question was pending, Sig. Grimaldi, Minister of Commerce, who had not been advised of any change of view on the part of the ministry,made a speech at Colle Val d'Elsa, in which he said that " the ministrywould never accept a tax on foreign grain." Only a few weeks afterthis speech the duty on wheat was proposed by the ministry,and the bill bore the signature of Sig. Grimaldi. Another consequence of this state of things is that, as a submitted to them, rule, the Italian electors have no platforms as in England or America. They are called upon to pronounce upon men, seldom on facts or events. There was an occasion lately (I890) when it seemed that a clear and definitequestion was to be laid before the country. The premier,Sig. Crispi, at least, had a program. He wished to follow a policy which was characterized as "imperial." According to Crispi, and naval power,and was Italy was to become a great military to play a r6le of great importance in the European political world. To carry out this policy the nation must make the necessary sacrifices; it must not be niggardlyin bearing taxes and incurringdebts. Others - Sig. Jacini in the name of the Conservatives and Sig. Cavalloti for the extreme Left in importance. They regarded the economical question as first wished for no new taxes and no new debts, and preferred to sacrifice the importantr6le that Crispi proposed to play in foreign politics. Here, then, were two clear programs between which the country might decide. But, at this moment, Sig. di Rudini and his friends of the Old Right came to the frontand executed a manceuvrewhich afterwards broughtthem into power, but which has increased, if possible, the confusionof parties. Di Rudini and his friends declared that both aims could be attained and both programsexecuted; that, by economies in the budget, new taxes and new debts could be avoided and military expenditures continued on

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a scale whichwould enable Italy to take a leadingposition which affairs. This satisfied everybody- the court, in foreign of the Triple Alliance and the insistedon the maintenance whichsucha policynecessarily entailed, and the expenditures who protested against new taxes. Crispi allowed taxpayers, to be overreached by the Old Right and adoptedthe himself at least in its chieffeatures. The plan,howsame program, -a fact whichits originators might ever,was impracticable have suspectedbut agreed to ignore. Here is a list of the of Italy during the financialyear I889-90, in expenditures of francs: millions
Unavoidable expenses (intereston the permanent and redeemablepublic debt,pensions, etc.) Military expenses .422 All other expenses. Total
.1,637 700 515

The last item of 5 I 5 millions was the only place where di Rudini's economies could be exercised. But even here there were expenses which it was impossible to reduce expenses, for example, incidental to the collection of taxes; expenses for the maintenance of the police, etc. It could not to be seriously hoped to introduce here economies sufficient cover the large sums of which Italy stood in need. In di Rudini's program this difficultywas simply evaded. As premier,di Rudini was forced,in spite of his program,to contract new debts, and nevertheless he failed to reestablish the equilibriumof the budget. Impelled by necessity,he thought of lessening the military expenses. It was then that he encounteredthe resistance of the court. An intrigue, cleverly conducted by an employee of the royal household, brought Sig. Giolitti into power and permitted him to dissolve the Chamber and control the ensuing elections. Minister Giolitti is maintainingthe equilibriumof the budget by loans. He is openly borrowingthirtymillionfrancsa year forthe construction of railways. He is also borrowingindirectly, through an

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operation in annuities; and, probably, he will be obliged to borrowstill more on other pretexts. There is doubtless something to be said in favorof each of the three methods by which the balance of the budget can be maintained,viz., loans, increase of taxation and diminution of military expenditures; but the politicians steadily avoid committing themselvesto any one of these different methods, and the countryis never called upon to make a choice between them. Ministerial crises in Italy rarelylead to an entire change of the cabinet. It is generallya matterof reorganization; and the oppositionof yesterdaymay become a part of the ministry it had previously opposed. A newspaper inspired by Sig. Nicotera (minister of the interior in di Rudini's cabinet) states that when Giolitti, for a long time a partisan of di Rudini, attacked him, the members of di Rudini's cabinet agreed not to take part in any ministry which Giolitti might form. Two members- the ministerof war and the minister of marine-did not keep their word,and took officeunder the new ministry. Sig. Grimaldi was one of the warmest supporters of di Rudini's ministry; in fact it was understood that he was about to become a memberof it. On the 5th of May he made a speech in the House which was most favorable to di Rudini. He said, speaking of Giolitti and his friends, that their change of attitude was "illogical," and that it did not seem right to him that those who had accompanied the ministry in its brightestdays should abandon it when it seemed falling. He presented the order of the day in favor of the ministry, which was rejected. Consequently the ministry fell, and Giolittitook up the succession. But a short time elapsed before Grimaldibecame ministerof financein the new cabinet. A very interesting report has been published, giving the votes of the deputies duringthe last legislative period. From this report it appears that twenty-five deputies who, on the 3 Ist of January, I89I, voted that they had confidence in Crispi's ministry,voted on the 21st of March in favor of a resolution declaring that the House had entire confidence in

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memhis successor, di Rudini. There were only twenty-three bers out of fivehundredand eight who were constantin voting constant in supand were afterwards against Crispi's ministry portingthat of di Rudini. This is a small numberto constitute a real party. But what is more remarkableis to see how even the members of Crispi's cabinet voted when di Rudini had to which they belonged. To translate the ministry overturned theiraction into English values it must be imagined that the members of Lord Salisbury's cabinet, directly after having fallen frompower, should vote, all but one, in favorof a Gladand that theirelectorsshould thinkit perfectly stonianministry, natural for them to do this. The political condition of Italy to-day is in some degree analogous to its social conditionin the time of the Compagnie leader drew di Ventura. Then the cleverest or most fortunate round him the strongestbands; now the politician fromwhom the greatest advantages can be expected attractsthe greatest numberof deputies, who abandon him without scruple forany other leader who seems better able to serve their interests; and sometimes they abandon him from mere love of change. Matters have been at their worst, in this regard, since the Depretis destroyed of Depretis. Cynical and corrupt, ministry the last remaining vestiges of parties ; and it was then that the name "Transformists" was coined to designate the politicians of the new era. Politically, the Italian Transformistscorrespond to the French Opportunists; and it is of note that at nearlythe same timewhen Opportunism worthy appeared in France and Transformismin Italy, the old lines between Whigs and Tories began to disappear or to shift considerably in England. It would almost seem as if the same causes had been operative in the three countries- with degrees of intensity,indeed, and with results varying different in characterand institutions. by reason of differences this Several leading Italian politicians have tried to modify We miscarried. have completely their efforts but situation, must note, firstof all, the attemptswhich have been made to promote the organization of parties through changes in the

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electorallaw. The law of December 17, I 86o, was based upon a property qualification.The systemwas modified by the law of September 24, I882, which considerably augmented the number of electors.' It was hoped,by interesting a larger number of personsin the politicallifeof the country, to form largepolitical parties. With the same end in viewthe scrutin de liste,or election by general ticket,was introduced;the kingdom being dividedinto electoraldistricts or "colleges," in each of whichfrom threeto fivedeputies wereto be chosen. In the districts electingfivedeputiesprovision was made for minority representation throughthe system of the limited vote,each voterbeingallowedto writebut fournames on his ballot. This law was born underbad auspices. Its approval in the committee of the Senate was obtainedby a bargain, as a resultof whichthe state boughtthe Venetianrailways. As far as the constitution of parties was concerned,the null. It was not unusualto see three resultswere absolutely of nominally diversepartiesuniteand the electors candidates list withoutthe least scruple. wouldvoteforthisincongruous to return It was therefore to thescrutinuninominale, resolved or districtticket,whichwas reestablished by the electoral laws of March 5, I89I, and June i8, I892. The elections of November6, I892, were governedby these later laws, but the results were precisely the same as at the antecedent elections.
1 The firstgeneral election took place January27, i86i. The Kingdom of Italy did not theninclude Venice or Rome. The elections of October 22, 1865, were completedby the electionsof November25, i866, in the provinceof Venice. Finally the electionsof November20, I870, includedthe provinceof Rome. The followingtable shows the total numberof qualified electors under the law of i86o, and the extentto whichtheyparticipated in the elections:
ENTITLED TO

VOTE.

ACTUALLY

VOTING.

PERCENT-

AGE.

January 27, i86i October 22, I865 March io, I867 .

. . . . .
. . . .
.

48,696
504,263

239,583
271,923

57.22 53.92

. . . .

. .
.

. .
.

498,208
530,0I8

258,243
240,974

November 20, I870 November 8, I874 . November 5, I876 .

May i6, I88o

. . . . . .

. .

. .

. .

571,939 605,007

318,517 358,I58

5I.83 45-47 55.69


59.22

62I,896

369,627

59.44

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It has also been proposed to give greater authority to the Senate by changing the manner of selecting Senators.' The Marquis Alfieri,who representsthe liberal traditionsof Count Cavour, is one of the most active promotersof this reform; but for the moment it is impossible to foresee whether the proposal will be adopted, or what result it would produce. Of late years a certain number of eminent men have tried to draw up programs which might serve to rally and consolidate parties. Sig. Cavallotti,the recognized leader of the extreme Left, who undoubtedly represents the highest aims and clearest ideas of this group, drew up such a program It was complete under the name of Patto di Roma (i890). the Radical and practical,and mightwell have served to solidify Party; and, in fact, the candidates claiming to belong to this party went before the country in I890 with this program. But after the elections they soon ignored it, and left their leader alone with a few faithfuladherents. In I889 an excellent platformfor a Liberal-Conservative Party was drawn up by Senator Jacini,since deceased. Jacini had been ministerseveral times,and had a profoundknowledge of the political life of the country. In I89I he still thought the circumstances favorable for the establishment of such a party,but indicated that he had little hope of its formation. In a pamphletentitled The ConservativeStrengthof New Italy (Florence, I89i), he wrote: All the old parties have disappearedexcept the extremeLeft and no new parties (which up to the presenttime is not united), some partisans, have been formed. There are some groups, some who maybe in the government, at any cost,no matter ministerials a condition of things more. This is certainly favorable but nothing of a party such as we have spoken of. . . . But to theformation
1 Senators are appointed by the king and for life. They must be over forty and those yearsof age, and are selectedfromamong the ecclesiastical dignitaries political positions,appointiveor elective. Eligible also who have held important are members of the Academy, five years after nomination,men of scientific eminence,and persons who for three years have paid three thousand francs a form a part yearin directtaxes. Besides these the princes of the royal family of the Senate.

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is anything the character of the Conservatives but energetic, and one mustnot ask of themwhat theyhave not the strength to give. Leftto themselves, favorthem, althoughthe presentcircumstances a militant theywouldnot succeed in constituting party. The diffiis increasedby thefactthatno man capable of becoming culty their head is to be foundin their ranks. At the time of the last general elections Zanardelli, of the Old Left, made a speech in which he suggested a very logical basis for a division of parties. He thought that they should group themselves according to the greater or less extension which they were willing to give to the functions of government. But all such proposals have been treated as pure theory. Neither the politicians nor the electors have shown any interest in them. The politicians and their constituents have more direct,more practical and above all more personal ends in view. The electors ask the candidate what he will do for them ; and the deputy puts the same question to the ministry that solicits his support. Sig. Bonghi, a leading man of letters,attributes his defeat at the last elections, not to his hostilityto the Triple Alliance, as the semi-official papers explain it, but to the fact that he had not occupied himself enough with the pettyprivate affairsof his constituents. A certain Piedmontese deputy is absolutely the factotumof his electors. There is no little service that he will not perform, even to looking afterthe commissionsof his constituents'wives among Roman dressmakers and milliners. This memberholds his seat in permanence; nobodywould dare dispute it. Other membersget elected by paying liberally; but their position is always less secure than that of the deputies who can procure for their electors the favorof the government and of the financialcompanies that depend on the government. As for the opinions of a representative,these are generally regarded by his constituentsas immaterial,so long as they do not interfere with his keeping in the good graces of each and every ministry. When they do interferewith this supreme duty,they are felt to be detrimental.

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II. except England,wherean imThere is perhapsno country, of the citizensdo not interests portantpart of the economic thispartbearsto which dependon thestate; buttheproportion this in variouscountries; and it is especially the wholediffers thatwe must keep in viewwhenwe wish to study proportion functions. In the effectsof the extensionof governmental merchants, the protected whereprotection prevails, countries depend on evidently and those who aspire to be protected, the state. They can have onlyone aim-to take possession or to sell theirsupportto the political of the government, partyready to pay for it by the utmostpossible protection. of depriving especiallyhas the effect protection Agricultural the class of great landed proprietors, of their independence who would otherwise be in a positionto conductthemselves questions. in political freedom withentire Some states, besides protecting throughcustomsduties, whichputs mostof protection pursue a policyof a financial in theirpower, through mainly of the country the enterprises the mediumof charteredbanks, or state banks of issue. mustalso be considered; suchas steamprotection Accessory accordedto privateindividuals, the monopolies shipsubsidies, foncier,etc. All these formsof the privilegesof the credit interference are foundunitedin Italy; and if governmental evilsthanthoseactually existing, theydo not producegreater in the Italian it must be ascribed to a happy moderation from whichprevents the government takingas much character advantage of its power as it might or as much as other thisquestionmoredeeply,it is do. On studying governments impossiblenot to be struck with the absolute economic dependence of the citizens on the state. In England, and merchantshope to make agriculturists manufacturers, ownlaborand notthrough the favors of theirfortunes bytheir thatin the state. France,even,whichis one of the countries this respectresembleItaly, has several branchesof national which are satisfied with asking the state not to production

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the silkmanufacturers injurethem. The largewineproducers, ofarticles and dyersof Lyons,the manufacturers de Paris, etc., from the stateexceptthatit shouldnot prevent expectnothing them from selling their products abroad, by provoking retaliation absurdcustoms duties. Butin Italytheprothrough is farsmaller.Therearemany portion ofindependent producers silkweaversand wine producers, but that is all. The other producers either enjoyor seek stateprotection. In Italy, as in France, the railwaycompaniesare closely on the state. In Italythe railways dependent have reverted to the state, which has leased them to privatecompanies. These leases are markedby a greatdefect. A fixed share and one-half twenty-seven per cent1-of the net profits is taken by the state. Thus the railwaysare prevented from of all modernindustries, the method pursuing i. e., to produce withsmallprofits. The government largely and to be content is not inclinedto make reductions in the tariffs possible by reducing itspercentage of the earnings, because it instinctively feelsthat these reductions would notalwaysbe madein order to develop traffic, but that theywould soon be dependent on with a great resultant politicalinfluence, loss to the governmentrevenues. But what is more serious fromour present point of view is, that the railway companiesderiveverylittle profit fromthe workingof the old lines. Their principal earningscome fromthe new lines whichtheircontracts with the government have allowed them to construct. This puts them in strictdependence on the government, whichtheyare in order obligedto propitiate to be able to makecontracts that willbe advantageous in the future. The Bank of France is closelyconnected with the government, but it is neverseen usingits influence to aid enterprises protected by the government.Of the corresponding institutionsin Italythe same cannotbe said. For example, in the balancesheet of the banks of issue published monthly by the
1 Thisis theproportion paidbythechief lines. Thereis besides a set of lines called secondary, where thecompanies receive onlyhalfof the grossprofit, but receive a fixed besides of 3,000 francs subsidy perkilometre.

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governmentthere may be read a note explaining the surplus circulationofthe Ranca Nazionale. The balance sheet of March 3 I st contains the following: "Assets, 64,793, I 2 5 francs: represented by I I,043, I 25 in notes of the Bank of Rome; 3,750,000 sabsidy to the province of Cagliari; 50,ooo,ooo extraordinary issue to the banks of Turin." Each of these items calls for some words of explanation. Why did the Banca Nazionale keep in its coffersthe notes of the Bank of Rome, instead of paying them out as change? As has now been abundantlyproved,the knew fromthe reportof the inspectors,presented government in I889 by Senator Alvisi, that the Bank of Rome had a secret circulationof twenty-five millions. It was to aid in preventing the discovery of this fact that the Banca Nazionale was required to retain the notes of the Bank of Rome. As forthe subsidy to the province of Cagliari, that was given when the savings bank of this province,whose directorwas a memberof the majority,became bankrupt. The directorwas tried and convicted by the court of assizes of Genoa. In the course of his trial he said : "sI am convicted simplybecause fortune has not favored me. Many other banks do what mine has done, only success up to the present saves them." Recent revelationswith regard to the Bank of Rome show that these words were prophetic. The subsidy to the banks of Turin was given chieflyto the Tiberina Bank to prevent it from failing. It was on this occasion that the government permitted the banks to refuse redemptionof their notes, and this was the origin of the present financialcrisis in Italy. These are facts which cannot be denied. It may be objected that up to the present time proofs are wantingthat the banks of issue provided the government with funds for election expenses. It is certain that the government spends for the elections much more than its secret service fund can place at its disposal, but this does not prove that the banks provide the rest. Other enterprisesdependent on the government mayalso renderassistance. Companies whichreceive,or hope to receive, subsidies, privileges,monopolies,make good use of theirfunds in sustaininga government whichpromisesthemfavors. There

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are reports that in the last elections the gratitude of certain persons who were made Senators was manifestedin offersof fundsto the governmentfor election purposes. But here,too, proofs are wanting. It is probablyfrom fear of eliciting too much informationon the means employedby the government and its allies in obtaining money that the proposed parliamentary inquiryinto the Bank of Rome has been stifled. Many enterprises are supported only by continual renewals of their bills, discounted by the banks of issue; and naturally the discount is most freelygranted to those which enjoy the favor of the government. It should be noted that the legal tender quality of the bank notes is granted only for a very shorttime, generallysix monthsor a year. This has kept the banks in strictdependence on the governmentand the legislative power. To secure their good will the banks have been obliged to have what is called a political portfolio. This name is given to bills discounted to legislatorsor influential journalists, which are renewed indefinitely. As to the sort of protectionwhich I have called accessory, one example will suffice. On the 2 I st of last FebruaryDeputy Colajanni, speaking upon the subsidies to be granted to the General Navigation Company,said: The honorableSig. Bettolohas enumerated the causes whythe of the GeneralNavigation dividend amounted to onlyfive Company per cent,while otherprivatecompaniespaid twice and even three times as much. He said that the General NavigationCompany spent more for coal, and also that theirgeneralexpenditure was greater.. . . While othercompaniespay twenty francsa ton for their coal, the General Navigationpays thirty francs... Why does the General Navigationspend so muchin coal, whenit might spend some millions less? It seems that the contractorsand brokersof the companyare most fortunate people. Sig. Colajanni then proceeded to point out similar abuses in the repairs of the steamers belonging to the company. These details illustrate the very wide diffusion of gains resultingfromthe protectiongrantedby the state. Those who nominallyenjoy the profitare obliged to share it with a great

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number of auxiliaries. An immense governmentalpatronage has been developed, like that which existed in the later period of the Roman Republic. Every enterprise enjoying governmental protection has a great number of hangers-on. These share the gains, and it is their duty to defend with all their might the privileges from which the gains are derived. As in ancient Rome, therefore, the political elections are largely controlledby those who are indirectly interestedin government contracts. If now we leave the economic field and consider the other fieldsof social activity,we still findthe influenceof the state preponderant. One domain alone is free from it -- that of religion. The dissensions between the papacy and the monarchy have luckilyput the clergybeyond the influenceof the government. This is the real reason why the Italian politicians are so hostile to the papacy. Foreigners who attributethis hostilty to anti-religiousfeeling make a great mistake. It cannot be denied that such a sentimentexists among some adversariesof the papacy, but the great majority of the politicians have no strongfeeling either for or against religion. They simply feel regret at not having the influence of the clergyon their side to consolidate their authority. Many very honorable men have a similar feeling,which seems to them purelypatriotic; they wish to see the papacy use its influence in behalf of the Italian fatherland;I but they do not generallydistinguish the
by G. Toscanelli, 1 On this subject therehas appeared a verysingularpamphlet entitled: Religion and Countryattackedby the Pope. Should Italy Defend Herwas a good Signor Toscanelli, a memberof Parliament, self? (Florence, I890.) Catholic. He was deputed by Signor Depretis to negotiate an arrangement with the pope. Depretis, a great purchaser of consciences, wished to have those of the Catholic priests in his service. (Sig. Crispi also, accordingto what withthe pope.) The pope, for an arrangement Toscanelli tells us, was in treaty however,was not to be persuaded. The spiritin which Sig. Toscanelli writesis politics of the passages: "The present contemporary indicated by the following pope ought to be taught,analyzed and censured in the upper schools " (p. 104). " In order to wrestlewith the policyof the pope, the state has three methods. One consists in not grantinghim the temporalpower. This means is not at all to recognize any pope who is not . . . Another is that of refusing efficacious. and punishing him if he exercises any acts of proposed by the government, jurisdiction"(p. Iio).

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welfare of their country from the welfare of their own particular party. The laws which their Parliament makes give them full control of every one's body, and by means of the clergythey would like to reach the soul also. Many desire a concordatlike that concluded by Napoleon I. In default of the church there remain the schools. In America and England university professors are absolutely independent. In France they are beginning to be dependent upon the government; but a certain number of savants escape its control,thanks to a reputationwhich enables them to do without its favors. In Italy these exceptions are extremely rare: nearlyall the higherinstructors are completelydependent on the government. Even in the educational institutions which are supportedby the provinces the teaching staff is not free fromgovernmentalinterference. At Bari, for example, there is a highercommercialschool which is a local institution. Its untilrecently, was Sig. Pantaleoni,a verydistinguished director, economist,whose writingsare as well-knownabroad as in Italy. Sig. Pantaleoni had published a scientificstudy on the drawbacks on alcohol, in which he pointed out the inconveniences which the interference of the deputies had caused in this matter. This study, which appeared in the Giornale degli Economisti,passed unnoticed; but being quoted by a foreign magazine,' it aroused the attention and the resentmentof the government. The president of the council of the school at Bari wrote to Sig. Pantaleoni complaining that he had set the government against them,"while he knew the school had need of its help." Sig. Pantaleoni was subjected to an inquiry,and a vote of censure was passed on him. To this he naturally refusedto submit,and consequentlylost his place. Sig. Bonghi has been subjected to a similar inquiry on account of two newspaperarticles. Bonghi, it is true,is no longera professor; he is a councilor of state; and this, though it cannot justify, may at least serve as a more plausible pretext for the proceedings against him. Let me hasten to add that such cases
1

October I5, in the Revue des Deux Mondes, In an articleby the presentwriter,

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are rare. The governmentgenerally has no need to punish an independence which is quite exceptional; it only takes care to proportionits rewardsto the zeal shown in servingit. The influenceof the governmentextends also to the courts of justice. In Italy, as in England and France, there are no absolutely independentcourts,such as are found in the United States. But even where the courts are legallydependent upon the government(as in England, where they are the creatures of Parliament), complete judicial independence may in fact exist. In examiningthe conditionof the Italian judiciary,we must rigidlyreject all testimonywhich appears to be dictated by personal or party hostility. But unfavorable evidence to the existing regime, and proceeding from persons friendly above all, fromthe judges themselves,seems conclusive. An official journal has recentlytreated the question with unusual frankness. It begins by observing that for some time past public opinion has regarded the judiciaryas less impartialthan it ought to be, and it adds: The faultis to some extentgeneral. It is in theparliamentary the press; in short,it lies the deputies,the government, system, withall thosewho have mined out of the rock of justice a veinof personal benefit. Once upon a time the judges were obliged to only; nowtheyare subjectedto thewill bow to one strongtyrant of thousands,and in theirown interesttheymust submitto the among the influenceof great and small. Look at the struggle of the small provincesup to the judges, fromthe praetorships1 tribunalsand the courtsof appeal. Studythepsychology ordinary of their most legitimateambitions; rebuild the historyof their protected by the dreams, encouragedby the smiles of the syndics, or lightedby for the sake of their electoral influence, prefects from whosesmallgolden smilesof the legal deputies, the benevolent for of recommendation promotion medalsat audiencesshinepromises and changeof place. Let us turneven to the higheststep of the of the magistrate who,either ladder and read the inmostthoughts by tact or by open complaisanceand obedienceto thegovernment, becomes a politicalleader instead of a chiefdispenserof justice. and finish by surrendering.The best, They beginwithcompromise
1 [The Italian pretorcorresponds closelyto the Frenchjuge depaix. EDS.]

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seeing that the most pliable are so oftenpreferred to them,get disgustedand leave the profession. Thus the intellectual level of thejudiciary tendsto decline. In Italy the governmentcannot remove a judge from office or degrade him, but it may assign him to another tribunal of equal or higher rank. The governmentrewards its friendsby promotionand punishes its enemies by transferring them from courts situated in the principal towns to smaller and less desirable places. In France the judicial tenure is legally secure, both as to grade and as to residence. It has recently been proposed to change the rule as to residence and empower the government to transfer the judges. It was frankly admittedby the Opportunistpress that this proposal was made with a view of increasingthe influenceof the governmentover the judiciary. In Italy a ministerof the Right, Sig. Vigliani, tried to take the judiciary out of politics by protecting it against the government. He caused a royal decree to be issued, October 3, I873, establishing rules for the transferof judges to new residences. But in less than fiveyears (January 3, I878) anotherdecree was issued at the instance of a minister of the Left, abolishing these rules ; and since then the judges have been subject, in this matter,to the absolute power of the ministry. Attorney General La Francesca observes on this subject: The removalof a magistrate fromone place to anotherinjures him financially;destroys his ties of friendship, his habits and his disturbs and troubles the dignity; securityof his mind, and his liberty.The practical undermines resultof such things indicates whytheyare done. We have seen justice growtorpidunder the ofremovals." influence These words are especially significantbecause of the official position held by the writer. Still more significant is an utteranceof Sig. Eula, who holds one of the highest positions in the judiciary of the kingdom-that of president of the court of appeals at Turin. Sig. Eula said publicly to Sig.
1 Del Pubblico Ministero nell' Ordine Giustiziario(Naples, i88o).

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Zanardelli that he commended him for not having asked the those judges to renderhim, while on the road to the ministry, services that his predecessors had required. Sig. Minghetti,whose optimisticview of Italian politics has already been referredto, laid great stress on the growing dependence of the judiciary. He wrote: of the of the interference proofs to furnish It would be difficult of judges,but it is one of thosenotorious deputiesin the nomination thingsof which the public conscienceis a witness. Some facts, is not regardedas however, we can cite,whichshowthatthisthing or irregular. A deputy,with real but unusual candor, forbidden attacks of a newspaper against the troublesome defendedhimself to exile the judges of his the ministry thataccused himof begging by answering: " How could theymake provincefromthe tribunal, it,it is enoughto say such an unaccountable charge? To contradict is such as it is thanksto me. Manyof the judges thatthetribunal 1 byme to the ministry." suggested who composeitwereespecially of Sig. Minghettialso quotes an appeal sent to the ministry justice, bearing the signatures of several deputies, asking him to select a prot6g6 of theirs for the place of attorneygeneral. He adds : In the investigation of crimesand the search for theirauthors, judges have oftenpaused and drawnback whentheyfoundbefore to be corrupted and accomplices. The first criminals thempowerful it is notformoney, has been thegovernment; bythe local influence men expressthe true, but for votes. . . . Hence, old and worthy fear, and some venture the assertion,that under the Italian administered and from governments i815 to i86o justicewas better thanis the case to-day. the judges as a class weremorerespectable I do not agree withthis opinion. However,if one wishes to be that,wheretherewas no questionof he mustacknowledge impartial withsufficient sentenced the courtsof thatperiod generally politics, authority. A politician on the other side of the House, Sig. Boccarini, who was one of the leaders of the Left, in a speech delivered May i6, i886, alluded to "the discredit into which the courts
1 Minghetti, with Justiceand AdminisPolitical Parties and theirInterference tration(I88I).

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have fallen." On the26thof May,Sig. Cavallotti citeda letter in which Sig. Baggiarini, Attorney General in the Court of Appeals,tendered his resignation, and in whichhe statedas that he was notwilling to render his reason forresigning the government services which wereagainsthis conscience.1 The trialof Strigelli at Turinin I884 was a case in which serious pressurewas shown to have been exercisedby the government.Strigelli,who was accused of having forged of the prefectof Turin; was underthe protection bank-notes, who was an excellentelectoral agent of and this prefect, Depretis' ministry, obtained from the government almost that he wished. Sig. Noce, who had been attorney anything in court generalof the courtof appealsat Turin, gave evidence that his substitute, Sig. Torti,had been persecuted by the to prosecute government becausehe hadhad thecourage agents written was produced in ofthe police. A letter by the prefect the case against court, the purposeof whichwas to prevent from was sentenced Strigelli beingpushedthrough.2Strigelli to penal servitude. I mightcite othercases, but these seem sufficient.I will onlyadd the evidenceof a judge of high position, Sig. Carlo Lozzi, Presidentof the Court of Appeals. In a pamphlet
1 Here is part of the letter: " I hoped to die in this career to which I was bound by ties of love, habit and study. I was obliged to abandon it when I was of myrobe and the conscience of a magistrate expectedto give what the dignity forbademy giving." 2The letterof the prefect(Casalis), whichwas read in court on the 25th of January, containedthe followingsentence: " It is useless for me to point out how seriouslyI desire that Strigellishould not have the smallest annoyance." chargedwiththe prosecutioninsisted thatwe Sig. Noce deposed: " The officials should proceed, it not being possible to constructa case without implicating Strigelli. Then I wentto Rome and explainedthe situationto the keeper of the although he had no guarantees in his favor,had seals. I said that the prefect, in thatman." This time Sig. Noce accomplishednothing. But a greatinterest a second timeto Rome, and Sig. Zanardelli . . . told me he adds: " I returned and to go ahead." We mustbear in mind that the question was one of forgery, that the prefectknew the judicial antecedentsof the accused man, which were of the prefect, takingadvantage of the protection absolutelydeplorable. Strigelli, named Lacarini,and an accomplicein the robbery of a goldsmith was afterwards had some innocentpeople condemnedas guilty. When all was discovered,the the accusation. police offered 2,5oo francsto Lacarini if he would withdraw

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which was published at Bologna in i883,1 he observes that judges are not as independentas they ought to be, and alludes to the undue influenceexercised by deputies who are members of the bar.2 He speaks of which are attributed scandalous promotions, by public opinionto political protectors; and removalswhich are said to have been obtainedby legal deputiesbecause theywould have lost or feared to lose a case by the decision of a particular judge,so that it was needfulto send him away at any cost. Let the firstpresident, SenatorPaoli, tellwhat happened among the personsemployedin his knowledge, the courtof appeals in Florence,without and one mayalmostsay,in spiteof him. The men who govern the country have almost unlimited power to protect and enrich their friends and to ruin their enemies3 -parcere sublectiset debellaresuperbos -but theydo not oftentake full advantage of their authority. Apart from some exceptional cases (as when the Left came into power in I876), the men who alternatelyhold and lose authority respect each others' friendsand partisans. This is a consequence of that moderation which is a distinct feature in the Italian character. It is also a policy dictated by intelligent selfinterest. The minister of to-day spares the partisans of his predecessorthat his own partisans mayafterwards be spared by
I Carlo Lozzi, the Magistracybefore the new Parliament. Observations a propos. 2 In the Corriere di Napoli of March I3, I893, the followingcorrespondence fromPalermo appeared: " To-day a civil suit was to be argued before the court of appeals, in which Crispi was defending one of the parties.. . Some of Crispi's friendsmade a demonstrationin his favor- a demonstrationso that the lawyerforthe opposite side had to suspend his address because energetic of the courtof justice had not the of the cry: ' Let Crispi speak.' The president courage to clear the hall; he bowed to Crispi's power and the suit was brought I" to a conclusionwithout fartherargument 3 When it is desirableto get rid of commonpeople who displease the authoriof the police. It is ties, theyare usually condemnedforresistanceto the officers easy forthe latterto provoke this crime,and in case of necessity facts. theyfalsify of late yearsthat this device has been employed. The number It is particularly of thissort reportedto the courts in i88o was io; i88i, 7,904; of offences I882, 8,033; I883, 8,763; I884, 9,560; I885, 66i ; i886, 10,152; I887, I0,669; i888, Io,669; I889, 10,204; 1890, I1,437.

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his successor. But any attempt at organized opposition,not against this or that particularministry but against the present system of government,would be promptlyand unsparingly crushed. To wish for a part of the favors dispensed by the state is deemed a legitimateambition,which may be combated but cannot reasonablybe punished; but to wish to arrest the flowof its favors altogether,is considered an act of rebellion which deserves chastisement. In this mattereven indifference is culpable. There is no place in Italy for a citizen who, to preserve his independence, refuses to be a party to political patronage. He findshimself in about the same position as a Hindoo who has no caste. He is an outlaw, a man whom everyone can attack. If a lawyer,he has no clients ; if an engineer,nobody employs him; if a merchant or tradesman, he is ruined; if a land owner he is exposed to pettyannoyances from prefects and syndics. Every door is closed to him, everyonerepulses him, until the day comes when the government does him the honor to thinkhim dangerous,and then it findssome way to have him condemned by a court of justice foran imaginarycrime. The government justifies all this by saying that these people are generally factious. There is some truth in the statement. In countrieswhere legal resistance is impossible, popular discontent tends to faction and ends in sedition. Of all the numerous changes of ministryin Italy, none has been due to a spontaneous expression of public opinion. A movementlike that of the Cobden Club in England for free trade, or like that which forced the Reform Bill through Parliament,is absolutelyimpossible in Italy. The government has at its call friendspowerfulenough to crush any movement of this sort as soon as it seems to acquire any importance. There was never a more unpopulartax in Italy than the grist tax (macinato). The popular discontent aroused by this tax offered a unique occasion for a great political league, such as are formed in the United States and in England. Such a dissolved movement was at first attempted; but the government the society that had originated it and the movement was at

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once arrested. Some years after,when the people had grown accustomed to the tax and had ceased to protest,the government spontaneously abolished it. The people, never having seen such movements come to anything,look upon them as absolutely vain and fruitless,and are not disposed to occupy themselvesabout them. Men who, when their hardshipshave become absolutely insupportable, permit themselves to be implicatedin movements of a seditious character,will refuse to join a society that aims at the legal abolition of their grievances. They are sure that such a course would expose them uselessly to the vengeance of those who hold the reins of power and of theirpolitical dependents. In the eyes not only of the people but of a great part of the bourgeoisie, politics are a luxurywhich only the man who has a following,who has clientsin the old Latin sense of the term, can permit himself. A father may often be heard to praise his son by saying: "He has no vices, does not keep evil company, and does not occupy himself with politics." This feeling explains a singular phenomenon,observable from time to time- the unanimous abstentionof all the electors in a particularlocality by way of protestagainst the government. A law passed not long ago removed the justices of the peace (pretor) in a numberof small places. The electors of some of these places now abstain fromvoting at all elections. Considering that their rights have been ignored,they revenge themselves by sulking at their masters, not by attempting to select new ones. I once reproached a workman,who was a very honest man, forhaving taken ten francs to vote in favor of a deputy. I represented to him that if he joined with his companions they could elect some one who would undertake to get the heavy taxes lessened. He answered: "All that is useless ; the heads will always do what they desire. The only good we can get is some bank notes at election time." Election expenses, however, are not very large. As far as can be judged from rather incomplete information, thirty thousand francs seems to be the average for candidates who

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have local supportas well as that of the government. If this support is wanting, the expense is naturally much greater. The example given formerly by England shows that purchases of elections are not incompatiblewith the good workingof the parliamentary regime. The deputy who has bought his seat is sometimes fairly independent of the government and of electoral coteries. A person worthy of credence told me an anecdote that illustrates this point. Some friendswere endeavoringto make a deputy change his opinions. They told him that his electors would not be content if he did not follow the government in all its evolutions. The deputy argued with them for a time, and then, losing patience, said " Let them leave me in peace. I have paid them and we are quits, and I mean to vote according to my conscience." But such cases as this are exceptional. Generallythe candidates regard this outlay as an investment,1 and they wish to see their capital returnedwith a good profit. Laws, of course, exist against electoral corruption, but they are never put in force. A justice of the peace and a public prosecutor in Venice, who were foolish enough to take the provisionsof these laws seriously,were removedby di Rudini's ministry,and the suit was dropped. On this occasion the newspapers openly said that it was ridiculous to attempt to punish the buying of votes, which had become a general and ordinarycustom. The support of the government, however,is more effective
1I Corriere di Nato/i assertsthat the last electionshave broughtquantitiesof the notes of the Bank of Rome into circulationin Tuscany,where beforethey werehardly known. I cannot vouch forthe truthof thisstatement. But another assertionhas been made which is supported by strong circumstantial evidence. It is said that during the last elections several candidates gave their electors halves of bank-notes forfiveor ten francs, promising to furnish the other halves if theywere elected. It is certainthatshortlyafterthe elections the quantity of bank-notes in circulation, composed of odd halves stuck together, was so great thatthe financial agentsof the government were obliged to apply to the Treasury fora rulingon the matter. It seems that the electorswhose candidateswerenot successful, were obliged to stick together the odd halveswhichtheyhad received; and it seems thateven those whose candidateswereelected,and who receivedthe second halfof the notes of which theyalreadyheld the firsthalf,made frequent mistakesin matching theirhalf notes.

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than money; and the most effectiveform of governmental interferenceis, of course, the appointing and removing of officials. On the 2nd of July, i886, Sig. Nicotera, who has said in the Chamber that twice been ministerof the interior, he was ready to furnish a long list of governmentclerks in the province of Avellino who had been recalled or had lost their employments for electoral reasons, and he added in words " Certain things may be done, but they characteristic has done them, and done must be done well. The ministry them badly." Sig. Cavallotti, speaking in the Chamber on the 30th of June, i886, said: In the college of Pesaro at Cagli (of this I have documentary with the distributed, together messenger evidence) the communal thegovernmental listof candidates, and added electoral poll tickets, a franc foreach name. . . . At Arezzo rates were a littlehigher. for ministerial votes,as is shownby trustworthy The generaltariff was a franc centimes. fifty testimony, Depretis (Minister of the Interior) interjected: "No, it was a franc at Arezzo too." Cavallotti answered: was the average a francfifty Excuse me,thatis an error; exactly at a notary's of thisdeposited office. testimony price; I have written in a the Roman at district, Alatri, college At Modena, six francs ; eight,ten and even one hundred francs.. . . The asylum of Tutra [an asylum for the poor] receives a subsidyof 400 francs election the kindnessof the candidateN. . . . In thethird through on whichwas written: of Novara a paper was distributed district therewill be IO,OOO francs " If youvotefor these fourcandidates, at Milan a printed for the asylum." In the thirdelectiondistrict whichread: " Choice is easy. . . . We have paperwas distributed four tried men of honor,who have procuredfor us the railway and who a few days ago stations,the telegraphand post-offices, subsidies: 500 francsforthe Infant obtainedforus the following Asylum,5oo for the School of Design, I5oo for the Charity candidateobtainedfor Assembly". . . At Foligno the ministerial from the government. a loan of 450,000 francs ... the corporation a certain Ferri, originally In the second Roman election district wherehe exercised considerableinfluence, had fromVallinfreda,

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been condemned(for woundingthe syndic)to eighteenmonths' of his crimewhen the punishment He was suffering imprisonment. would be it was foundthat his presencein the electoral struggle candidate,and useful. Applicationwas made to the ministerial and returned he was pardoned, theelections threeor fourdays before just in timeto pay his debt of gratitude. community to the electoral Sig. Cavallotti's party is the Left. Sig. di Rudini, who belongs to the Right and who has recentlybeen president of the council, said on the i6th of May, i886: of the parliamentary It is necessary to check the degeneration the assemblies,the schools, system. The public administration, votes.' seemto have becomepartsof a greatmachineforgetting It is said that the evil is increasing. This is true if we go r6gimein Italy back to the earlier days of the parliamentary and compare the condition obtaining then with the condition obtainingnow; but thingsseem to be scarcelyworse at present than under the Depretis ministry. It is evident enough that the various facts that we have examined stand in close connection,each with the rest; but it is not easy to say whether the political disorganizationof Italy is
I Sig. Minghetti,speaking of the degenerationof the parliamentary rdgime in Italy, said: "When a deputy no longer representsprinciples,is no longer moved by national sentiments; when he is the patron, the solicitor, the agent of those who send him,thereexists everysign of corruption. . . On the thatis not able to bring togethera majorityrepresenting otherhand, a ministry some idea, is obliged to fillits place by securing the support of single deputies, cit.p. 8.) who receivefromit honors,favorsand power." (OQp. who is now presidentof the council, made certain remarksin a Sig. Giolitti, speech delivered February 24, I886, which he appears since to have entirely who have no pupils to professors forgotten: " And we go on creatinguniversity wherethereis no real work to be done, and all this in hear them,employments orderto findplaces for personswho belong in societyto the large class of the I thinkwe shall be able to apply to our budget idle and needy. Henceforward the definition that Bastiat proposed forthe state,namely,a great fictionin which everyone triesto live at the expense of others." regime Senator Jacini observes that for many politicians our parliamentary a real canonry, in constitutes indeed because of its flaws, "with all its rottenness, but with a little rhetoricand a few or culture, whichwithoutintellectualeffort and a fewdependentsamongst journalists, conventionalphrases,a littleintrigue any one can succeed in having greatinfluence."- Pensierisulla Politica Italiana (Florence, 1889), p. 40.

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the cause or the result of the existing corruption. Strongly organized political parties would exercise a certain controlover the the coteries thatare formedto divide the spoils wrungfrom taxpayers; but it is precisely these coteries that impede the of real parties. Neither religious feeling nor aristoformation cratic pride, two of the strongest sentimentswhich influence human action, have been able to preventItalians of the highest class fromasking forplaces, enrollingthemselvesamong those dependent on the governmentand taking service under politidespise. The absence of political cians whom theythoroughly parties favors the extension of the functions of government, because to obtain a majority the ministers are obliged to substitutemotives of personal interestformotives of political interest or passions which do not exist. But the extension of governmentalfunctionsis, in its turn,a serious obstacle to the of parties. As a royalist French paper, now allied formation to the republic,has said: "The people must end by understanding that it is not by resisting the governmentthat they will obtain its favors." I am inclined to thinkthat the want of political parties and the extension of governmentalactivityare the consequences of more general causes. Some of these causes are peculiar to the countriesof the Latin race, and some to Italy; 1 others are in operationin almost all civilized states. To disentanglethese causes and discoverthe modes in which theyact would be a very task, but it is one that cannot be attemptedin this interesting essay. III. For several years Italy's foreign policy has been uniform; it has adhered to the alliance with Germanyand Austria. The prime reason of this is the court's fear that the republican formof governmentmay pass fromFrance into Italy, and its belief that the alliance with the German Empire is favorable
1 Sig. Turiello, of Naples, has published a very remarkable study on the on the politicallifeof the of the Italian characterand theirinfluence peculiarities country. It would be well,however,to give more considerationthan he does to the economicside of the question.

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to the permanence of the dynasty in Italy. To become a minister you must accept the Triple Alliance. This is the reason that the Radicals who now aspire to power have been obliged to retract,to sing the praises of the Triple Alliance and declare themselves its partisans. of the court that maintains But it is not only the sympathy the Germanalliance; it is also the feelingof a part of the Italian bourgeoisie and the interest of the political coteries. The of the protectivesystem greatest obstacle to the establishment in Italy was the treaty of commerce with France. All who expected any advantage from higher duties were impelled to favoran economic rupturewith France; and with this aim they turned to Germany. Again, the great contractors for the ministriesof war and marine, among others the powerfulsteelworks company of Terni, found it to their interestto spread through the country the fear of war with France, in order that the military and naval expendituresmightbe increased. fromthe But in additionto those who expected a direct profit breach with France, the minds of a part of the bourgeoisie were haunted by sentiments which Senator Jacinihas admirably described as " megalomania." The Italian revolution was ratherthe work of the bourgeoisie than of the people. Many of those who had helped to establish the new r6gime profited by it and became much richer. They became rich enough to think they could affordthemselves luxuries; and, unhappily, the taste of the Italian middle class turnedto one of the most expensive luxuries- that of gloryand militaryconquests.' It
1 Sig. de Molinari has put the facts excellently. Speaking of the Italian bourgeoisie, he says: " The Italian middle class is more numerous and necessitousthan the class formerly predominant, and it needed a largeropening to satisfyits cravingfor dominion and enjoyment -a cravingwhich had been sharpenedby a long fast. Like all parvenus, its memberswishedbesides to make an ostentatiousdisplayof theirrecently acquired power and fortune.. . . They threw themselves into a path of ostentatious and expensive policy, which flattered their vanityand at the same time widened their opportunities. The army and navy were not put on a footing suitable to a great power without offering to the offspring of the governingclass additional aristocratic employments,which raised them to the level of the sons of the aristocracy and, at the same time,gave them secure incomes."- G. de Molinari,Les Lois Naturellesde l'Economie Politique (Paris, 1887), p. I69.

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was partlyto satisfythis desire that Depretis sent troops to forthe Italian middle Massowah. But this toywas not sufficient class, who dreamt of great militaryenterprises. The governments that succeeded each other in France erred in not taking this sentiment into account; and they gave particularoffense by the Tunis expedition. France might perfectlywell have taken possession of Tunis without quarreling with Italy, provided it had considered and sought to conciliate the amour propre of the governing class of Italians. But, on the contrary, the French governmentseemed bent on humiliating the Italians. The German governmentdid not commit this error. Prince Bismarck was too profound a connoisseur of human passions not to see how he could turn to account, in the interest of his country, the sentiment of the Italian governing class. By gratifyingits vanity, a thing that cost him nothing,he bought the alliance of Italy and incited this country to an expenditure quite out of proportion to its straightenedmeans. This expenditure has been defended as necessary to maintain the independence of the country. Such is the official theory,and many persons believe it to be true. But in reality the independence of Italy is not threatenedby France; and if by any chance the latter countryshould conceive the idea of conquering Italy, the other European powers would certainly intervene,whether formal alliances demanded such action or not. This even the most determined partisans of the Triple Alliance are oftenobliged to confess.'
1 Sig. Chiala, writingof Crispi's visit to Berlin in I876 to offerthe Italian alliance, says: " Who, until then,had ever doubted that Germanywould have considered it to her interestto help Italy if she were attacked by France, even withouta treaty? Had not the German chancellor declared this withoutcircumlocution to Count von Arnim in his letter of Januaryi8, I874, which had been pp. 279, 280. made public? "- Chiala, Pagine di Storia Contemporanea, Senator Jacini,who is far from feeling the same enthusiasmfor the Triple was the one of the allies that had Alliance as Sig. Chiala, observes: " Germany reason to be satisfied. Let us allow that there is precise equality the strongest, among the threeallies as to the obligation of mutual defence. But, coming to concretefacts,are all three on an equal footing in respect to their territorial of the Italian territory not. Who will dispute the integrity claims? Certainly position, ? Austriais in a less perfect if we do not quarrelwith our neighbors

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In I875 Italy spent only 2I6 millions a year for her army and navy. These expenses went on increasing until, in I888-89, they reached 554 millions. Since then they have But this diminution decreased to 359 millions (i891-92). has been obtained by expedients which cannot be persistently employed. Soldiers under arms have been dischargedbefore theirtime has expired,and companies have been reduced to an absurdly insufficient effectiveforce. The provisions of the militarymagazines, includingeven those on the frontiers, have been used up.' Military authorities say, with reason, that if Italy wishes to pursue a policy which may involve a war with France, its armament must be equal to this contingency, and to obtain this result much more must be spent than at present. But how the nation will meet increased expenditures is a problem still unsolved. Up to the present time the government has attempted to balance the budget by increasingthe taxes and continually making new debts. But can such a course be pursued indefinitely? The possibilities of taxation, both as to objects and rates,seem nearlyexhausted. There are many indications that an augmentation of imposts would not produce a sensible increase of revenue.2 As to the public debt, the examples of Greece, Portugal, Spain and the
because of the different races that live withinher confines. But Germany has in view,not a vague contingency, but the certainty of a struggleto defend the conquest it has made of Alsace and Lorraine." - Jacini, Pensieri sulla Politica Italiana, pp. 107, io8. 1 It is characteristic of the Italian political regime that it tends always to sacrifice realityto appearances. The government wishes to have an armywhich is strong, at least on paper. It therefore keeps up the framework whileit reduces the effective forceto a limitthat compromises the instruction and solidityof the army. 2 Sig. Mazzola has shown,in the Giornale degli Economisti, that of late years the consumption of wheat has diminished in Italy. In the Journal des Economistes, MaTch, I892, I have given an estimate which indicates that the consumptionof wool, which in I886 was 68 kilos foreveryioo inhabitants, was reducedin I889-9o to 6o kilos. The following table shows the quantityof coffeeimported into Italy in quintals (xoo kilos):
I887. I888. I889. I890. 1891.

142,650

140,267

135,484

139,824

138,166

The reduction in consumption is evident; and diminishing consumption of the country. generallyindicates an impoverishment

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[VOL. VIII.

Argentine RepublicshowthatItalyis still farfromthe limit no longerfinds loans; but she is verynear at which a country is inevitable. catastrophe the point wherea futurefinancial in i88o and the Afterthe abolitionof the forcedcurrency whichwas contracted for this loan of 644 millionsof francs debtwas closed. But purpose, the greatbook of the national underthe thisonlymeansthat Italyhas no longerborrowed to borrow formof fiveper cent consols. It has continued more than ever in otherways. Civil and military pensions have once alreadyserved to conceal a loan (by the sale of to makethemservethe same annuities);and nowit is planned a second time; and thereseemsto be no reasonwhy purpose indefinitely. These these methodsshould not be continued crookedcourses are among the consequencesof the parliaand ministers mentary r6gimein its Italianform. Chamber to live fromday to are notfar-sighted.They are contented thinking of the future. The policyof di Rudini's daywithout whichwas rathermore open than that of its predecabinet, the country to a pointwhereit was necessary cessors, brought to newtaxes or to reducethe army to submit either expenses. as we have seen,tried to avoid the Di Rudiniand his friends, in all expenses except those economy difficulty by proposing of the army; but this policyprovedimpracticable. At the with the same is struggling the government presentmoment and Sig. Giolitti is tryingto escape from the difficulty, new debts. It is probablethat this dilemmaby contracting will be continuedas long as possible, policyof expedients withit. seems satisfied since everybody in recent conditions A fewtableswillbest showthe financial of francs. millions represent years. All numbers
Fluctuationsof the National Debt.
FUNDIED DEBT. FLOATING DEBT. TOTAL.

I882
I889-90 i890o-i

.1 . . . . . . . . .

1,29

220 352 442

11,249 12,794 13,076

12,442 12,634

I891-92

12,768

458

13,226

No. 4.] PARLIAMENTARY

GOVERNMENT

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7I5

Expenditureon accountof National Debt.


PERMANENT. REDEEMABLE. FLOATING ANNUITIES. TOTAL

1882

. . .
.

401

70

47

64

58I

I889-9o I890-i
I89I1-92

*
.

438 442
449

107 io6
105

85 87
92

68 69
7I

698 704
717

Communaland Provincial Debts.


COMMUNAL. PROVINCIAL. TOTAL.

I882 I889

.764
.1,037

137 170

90I
I,207

Mortgage Debts.
BEARING INTEREST. WITHOUT INTERBST.

I871.

i88I

6,009

6,805
9,466

4,583 5,005 6,152

I89I.

State Revenue, showing increaseof Taxation. the railways) (including State property .89 . . Tax on houses and land etc.). mortgages, (successions, Tax on affairs Incometax ..193 Customsduties,local octrois(salt,tobacco). I . . . . . . . . . . .. Lottery .. . . . . . . Post and telegraph . tax on annuities) . Varioustaxes (including .1.,292 income. Total regular
COMMUNES. I882. I89I-I892.

77
I69 492

85

I9I 220 234

73 44 55

577 74
62 71I
I,5I4

Provincial and CommunalRevenue, in Totals.


PROVINCES.

I871.
I882 I889 .391 .523

292

75

TOTAL.

367
498 626

107 103

Provincial and CommunalRevenue, Classifted. taxes and similar Taxes on consumption, .127 Tax on land and buildings .36 the statedomain Incomefrom Loans, sales of publiclands,etc.
Total .367
1871 . 1882. I889.

1.00

149 19I

199 202

44

47

104

114

178 626

498

1 The cost of the lottery, in I891-92, was forty-seven millions; that of the millions. postal and telegraphservice was fifty

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POLITICAL

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[VOL. VIII.

if but theyare indispensable are a little dry, These figures an idea of the state of the country. The one wants to form of literasciencehas been too long a branch studyof political ture; it is timethatit should take as its patternpositiveand of reasoning. scienceand adoptthe same methods inductive Let us tryto forman idea of the increaseof the burden thetaxes on consumption; by examining borneby the country, the taxesof this sort let us add together and forthispurpose (these and the provinces collectedby the state,the communes of the totals(in millions last are insignificant).We shall find francs)to be: for I871, 437; for I882, 641; for I889, 8o6.1 increase shows us that taxeson consumption This enormous the in augmenting the pointof least resistance have furnished show that revenues. At the same timecarefulinvestigations from I882 increased the wealthof Italy has onlyveryslightly has to I889. In somecases (e.g., cornand wool) consumption the of the increase that be said it cannot that so decreased, is due to the prosperity proceedsof the taxeson consumption thatin on the contrary of the country;and we mustconclude has of the the condition people at a great measure, least, grownworse. account of the country partly circumstances The straitened serious of the most is one which of fortheincrease emigration,2 in the preceding pages. It is described of the r6gime results will growworseand worse. thatthe situation to be anticipated to be found continues to taxation The pointof least resistance
1 The budgets of the communesand of the provincesare made up by calendar The same was trueof thenationalbudgetuntil I to December 31). years(January In order I884, but since that year it has been computedfromJulyi to June30. taken the averages of the years to obtain the total for I889 I have accordingly I888-89 and I889-90. of but the distinction and permanent, 2 Emigrationis divided into temporary statisticsis very inaccurate. In order to avoid the two classes in the official abroad say theyare going temporarily manyemigrants troublewiththe authorities, to look for work, and then never return.
1878 Io. I882. i886. I888. 195,993 I89. 104,733 112,511 189!. 175,520

Permanent. 1. I8,535 37,934 65,748 85,355 Temporary. . 77,733 8I,967 95,814 82,474 Total . . 96,268
119,90i

94,743

ii8,iiI 293,63I

i6I,562

167,829

290,736

217,244

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717

in the taxes on consumption, which are rendered heavier by protectiveduties. The landed proprietors are powerfulenough to resist any increase of taxation upon their property; they have even been able to get the land-taxreduced two-tenths and this at the very time when the expenses of the state were increasing in an extraordinary degree and the taxes on consumption were being increased in consequence.' The of houses have consented to a slight increase in the proprietors taxation of their property -with the less reluctance because this increase is really paid by their tenants in the form of increased rents. Moreover, the rent of houses as stated by the owners is generally much lower than the real rent, and the public authorities connive at such undervaluations. Similar abuses exist with regard to the income tax. A few years ago the government published a list of the persons paying the heaviest income taxes; and some of the returns are absolutely scandalous. Some deputies of the legal profession, who,judging fromthe style in which theylive,certainlycannot spend less than sixtythousand francsa year, are put down as having incomes of twelve thousand francs or less. Those who belong to the political coteries of whom we have spoken, also fromthis tax, which accordenjoy a large degree of immunity inglyfalls back upon the plain people and on those who enjoy no power and no patronage. In the future, perhaps,under the pressure of constantlyincreasingfinancialnecessity,the people of importancein the governingclass may also be forcedto pay. This would probablybring about a change in the policy of the country. Up to the present time the governingclass has not opposed the increase of the national expenditures, because they have the means of enrichingthemselvesand at the same time theirvanity. If theyhad to pay for this indulgence, satisfying they would be inclined to renounce it. This contingency, however,seems far off. The example of Spain and Portugal shows that a Latin country may approach the verge of ruin
I871. * 884-85. I886-87. I887-8. I89I-92.

Land-tax (in millions) . . do. House-tax

. .

128 51

125

65

II6 67

Io6 68

107

84

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POLITICAL

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[VOL. VIII.

before the governing class renounces the policy which has brought it there. I think it much more probable that, if a change in Italian policy takes place, it will be partlythe result of an analogous change in France. It is not a mere chance coincidence that the malversations of the Bank of Rome in Italy find their counterpartin the malversationsof the Panama Canal ring in France. In both countries we have here similar effects due to similar causes. in Italy have their Opportunism in France and Transformism theyconferon theiradherents; sole raison dY/rein the benefits and in the long run this system of making use of the resources of the countrymust lead to scandals. The firstimpulse is to blame individuals,but it is the political system which is really thatTanlongo, responsible. Crispi has declared,in an interview, the directorof the Bank of Rome, had no perceptionof having done wrong. This is quite credible. In the long run, every sentimentof uprightnessand honestyis deadened by living in an atmospherewhich is morallycorrupt. To see every one do is perfectly wrongmakes manypeople believe thatwrong-doing the scandalous things that allowable. In France, as in Italy, were known to the government were being done with impunity long beforethe public was aware of them. Among the ministers stood above of both countrieswere men whose privateintegrity and all suspicion. Yet it never occurred to them that the first foremostreason for which a governmentexists is to prevent the commission of crimes. They thought of the interest of their party, of the success of the formof governmentwhich except that in civilized nations they defended- of everything there are laws for punishingfraudand spoliation,and judges to apply these laws. Even when the public had learned of the crimes that had instead of aiding the work been committed,the governments, under of justice, tried to impede it. It was only reluctantly, the pressure of public opinion,that it consented to allow the prosecution of the criminals; and then it placed everydifficultyin the application of the law and seemed to have onlyone intelligiblethat wish,that of hiding everything, It is perfectly

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a statesman should tryto avoid a scandal which would throw discrediton his partyand the entirecountry. Such a sentiment is most respectable. But it is hard to understand why this same sentiment does not manifest itself when there is still time to arrest the offences which are the cause of the scandal. As long ago as I879 the Italian government was aware of irregular practices on the part of the banks. In a report presentedto Parliament in that year, Ministers Magliani and Maiorana-Calatabiano said: "The difficulties which exist in some of the minor establishmentsmay lead to real disasters if a serious reformof the present state of things does not take place." But the government let ten years pass without providingforanythingexcept to obtain funds fromthe banks for its own political needs. Finally, in I889, an examination of the banks was made. That of the Bank of Rome was entrusted to Senator Alvisi and J. Biagini, a government employee. These gentlemen found a secret and illegal circulation of 25,976,358 francs in bank-notes,and Alvisi wrote in his report: The methods of accounting in the Bank of Rome are imperfect, its issues are abnormal, its circulation is excessiveand partly fictitious,thegeneralbalance-sheet is confused, the notesthatare to be issuedor reservedfor renewalare confounded withthose keptfor future illegalcirculation. With this reportunder their eyes, the ministerstook no steps, except to providethat nothingshould be made public.1 We can quite understandwhythe government did not deem it advisable to punish the offensealready committed; but whydid it not do somethingto preventfurther offenses? As a matterof fact its attitude was worse than passive : it facilitatedthese crimes
1On the 22d of February,I893, Sig. MaggiorinoFerraris(a deputyand sometime reporterof the parliamentary commission whichin I889, afterthe reportof Alvisi,examinedthe proposed laws regulating the circulation of the Roman banknotes) said in the Chamberof Deputies: "1 The president of the council [Giolitti] is not unawarethat,to mygreatgrief, the government of thattime,of whichhe was a memberand which he representedon the commission,being regularly present. . knowingly gave false documentsto the commission."

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[VOL. VIII.

the Bank of Rome from whichit couldnot ignoreby relieving its notes; and but for the couof redeeming the obligation rageous oppositionof Sig. Colajanni in the Chamber,the forsix years would have passed a law prolonging government those of the including qualityof bank-notes, thelegal-tender founditselfembarBank of Rome. In I89I this institution rassed by its clandestinecirculation. It did not know how the permitted already to redeemits notes. The government of theirnotesas faras the public banks to refuseredemption but theystill had to redeemthemin making was concerned, with each other; this in Italian is called risconsettlements to aid the Bank of Rome, issued trata. The government, a royal decree,August30, I89I, abolishingthisriscontrata; and so the bank was able to continueits clandestineissue. Another yearand a half passed and on the 6th of December, foranother a bill prolonging presented I892, the government and mainof the bank-notes quality six yearsthe legal-tender tainingthe abolitionof the riscontrata. At the same time of the Bank of Rome,was appointed Tanlongo,the director a memberof the Senate. On the 20th of December,I892, of the bank, when Sig. Colajanni spoke of the irregularities was abnormal that there anything denied MinisterGiolitti said, apropos of Alvisi's in its management. He further that I must report: "The thingseemedso little exceptional was not this But that report." confess I never even read his and confirmed the statement, true. Crispi contradicted in the Chamber, February22, I893, by reading contradiction dated June 14, I890: entry, the following his note-book from thatthe facts censured byGiolitti;he declared bankwas severely of assizes. forthecourt offer material in theinspection discovered Giolittidid not dispute Crispi's correction. He replied: the wordsI used,but sinceCrispi " I do not remember exactly them." Then as same it is the if I remembered affirms them, he excused himself by saying that he had been told that had been put in orderat the Roman Bank. But everything
comesto me; we speak of thebanks. . Giolitti
.

. The Roman

No. 4.] PARLIAMENTARY

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721

what he did not explain why he felt no necessityforverifying had been told him beforeproposinga bill for the extension of the legal tender and beforeappointingTanlongo senator. In many respects, as I have said, the Italian bank scandal and the French Panama scandal are comparable phenomena. with the same evils But if the French nation is oftenafflicted that trouble its brothers of the Latin race, it distinguishes itself by a great energy of reaction. It has a more vigorous constitution; and up to the present time, at least, it bears its illnesses like a youngman to whom they are a momentary crisis, not like an old man who can oppose no resistance to disease. It may be that the spectacle of the immorality of a certain class, which has been revealed by the Panama affair,may produce a considerable change, at least for the moment,in the proceedings of the French government ; but it cannot at present be foreseen what the change will be. the Germanalliance, the example of France Notwithstanding exercises a great influence in Italy. The greater number of persons who submit to this influencedo so unconsciously; but this does not make the influenceany the less real. In Italy more French books are read than Italian, while German books are scarcely read at all. France still preserves in great part an intellectualsupremacyover the Latin race by its literature, its theatres, its science, by personal contact, by the attraction of race and character. which Paris exercises, and by its affinity It is therefore probable that if the parliamentary regime of these nations is to be modified,the modification will begin in France and extend thence to the other Latin countries. But whether future modificationswill alleviate or augment the evils that springfromthe present r6gime,the future alone will disclose.
FLORENCE,

I 893.

VILFREDO

PARETO.

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