408 



ITALY. 



The aggregate length of railroads in opera- 

 tion was on December 81, 1878, 8,159 kilo- 

 metres ; of railroads in the course of construc- 

 tion, 566 ; of railroads projected, 480. The 

 Mount Vesuvius Railroad was formally opened 

 in June, 1880. 



The number of postal stations at the close 

 of 1878 was 3,200 ; of letters and postal cards, 

 152,145,110; the revenue, 26,117,374 lire; the 

 expenditure, 22,980,766 lire. 



The aggregate length of telegraph lines at 

 the close of 1879 was 25,533 kilometres; of 

 wires, 84,101 kilometres, exclusive of 175 ki- 

 lometres of submarine cable. The number of 

 offices was 1,462, exclusive of those belonging 

 to railroads and other companies. The total of 

 dispatches was 5,905,900 in 1878, and 5,502,- 

 581 in 1879. The receipts and expenditures 

 were as follows, in 1878 and 1879: 



The condition of the finances of the king- 

 dom, and particularly the abolition of the grist- 

 tax,* continued to engross the attention of the 

 Parliament until its dissolution in May. On 

 January 19th, Signor Saracco presented in the 

 Senate the following motion on behalf of the 

 Central Committee : " Awaiting the time when 

 effectual measures shall have been taken which 

 will permit of the gradual abolition of the grist- 

 tax, without imperiling the finances of the 

 country, the Senate suspends all discussion on 

 the subject and passes to the order of the day." 

 The debate concluded on January 31st, when 

 a resolution, recommending the postponement 

 of the discussion of the bill until the tax can 

 be abolished without prejudice to the finances, 

 was adopted by 125 against 83 votes. The Min- 

 istry considered this as equivalent to the re- 

 jection of the measure. On February 2d, the 

 "Official Gazette" published the royal decree 

 closing the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, 

 and fixing the reopening of the session for the 

 17th of February. On that day the Parlia- 

 ment was opened by the King in person. In 

 the speech from the throne the King announced 

 that two bills would be presented, one for the 

 gradual abolition of the grist-tax, and the other 

 for extending the suffrage. Referring to the 

 friendly relations of the Government with for- 

 eign powers, he said that the preservation of 

 peace was warmly desired by Italy, and was a 

 matter of great moment to her. It was but 



* See " Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1879, article ITALY. 



natural, therefore, that she should scrupulously 

 observe the Treaty of Berlin. It was also easy 

 for her to fulfill the promise she had made, 

 that when once her unity had been secured, 

 she would become an element of concord and 

 progress. His Majesty, in conclusion, expressed 

 a hope that the present session would not be 

 less active, but would be more fruitful in re- 

 sults, than the last. On the day before, Feb- 

 ruary 16th, the "Official Gazette" published a 

 list of twenty-six newly appointed senators. Sig- 

 nor Farini was reflected President by 213 votes 

 in a House numbering 280. The Vice-Presi- 

 dents, the two Questors, and six of the eight 

 Secretaries were also reflected by large ma- 

 jorities. On the 20th the Chamber voted the 

 budget of the Ministry of Justice for 1880. The 

 Chamber, on February 21st, pnssed the naval 

 estimates without amendment. During the 

 discussion Signor Brin said that the Duilio was 

 absolutely superior to any other ironclad as 

 regards the power of her machinery and arma- 

 ment. Only the British ironclad Alexandra 

 possessed a slight superiority over her in speed. 

 Admiral Acton, the Minister of Marine, con- 

 firmed Signor Brin's statement. The Chamber 

 passed a resolution expressing satisfaction at 

 the results of the Duilio's trial and the thanks 

 of the House to the persons connected with 

 her. The discussion of the foreign affairs es- 

 timates led on March llth to a debate on the 

 foreign policy of the Government which lasted 

 until March 20th. Siguor Visconti Venosta 

 fiercely attacked the Government on March 

 12th. Italy, he said, was isolated in the coun- 

 cils of Europe. She was not sufficiently con- 

 servative to reassure Turkey, nor sufficiently 

 liberal to satisfy Greece. Signor Visconti 

 Venosta also asked what the intentions of the 

 Government were with respect to the "Italia 

 Irredenta" movement, and said he was grieved 

 to see that the relations with Austria, formerly 

 so satisfactory, were now less friendly. He add- 

 ed: "We have lost the confidence of Europe, 

 and it is necessary to regain it by means of a pol- 

 icy having for its object the promotion of the 

 general interest, and not the furtherance of small 

 and party views." Signor Visconti Venosta con- 

 cluded by saying he would still hope that Italy 

 might be able to regain her old position, but 

 he deplored the ground which he feared had 

 been lost to her for ever. On March 15th, Sig- 

 nor Crispi, in a long speech, attacked the pol- 

 icy of the Government on account of its want 

 of energy. He added that the " Italia Irre- 

 denta" movement was a legacy of the badly ar- 

 ranged peace concluded in 1866, that it had no 



