ITALY. 



455 



in Italy, for the claim of the pauper to main- 

 tenance at the cost of the commune, or to relief 

 from the state, has not been recognized in the 

 Italian system of jurisprudence ; and, second, a 

 scheme of industrial insurance after the model 

 of the German social legislation. A bill estab- 

 lishing compulsory insurance against accidents 

 was introduced by the Government and consider- 

 ably modified by 'the committee of the Chamber. 

 The greatest stress was laid on regulations to 

 prevent accidents, and the obligation of em- 

 ployers to provide every means indicated by 

 science and experience to guard against injuries 

 to the health and lives of their employes, and 

 the duty 'of the state to enforce this principle 

 and to exercise a strict supervision were fully 

 recognized. The industrial conditions of Italy 

 seemed to the Government and to the committee 

 to be too backward for a thoroughgoing applica- 

 tion of compulsory insurance, and, therefore, at 

 was proposed to limit it to establishments using 

 steam machinery and employing more than 10 

 men. In the Government bill the quota of the 

 insurance premium to be paid by the men was 

 10 per cent., the employers providing the rest. 

 The majority of the committee favored restrict- 

 ing compulsory insurance to cases of accidents 

 due to remissness of an employer in taking pre- 

 ventive precautions required by law or otherwise 

 to his negligence, the whole charge being placed 

 upon the masters. 



A bill to charter a land-mortgage bank for fifty 

 years, with an authorized capital of 100,000,000 

 lire, and the right to operate in all parts of the 

 monarchy, encountered some opposition, which 

 was particularly directed against the long dura- 

 tion of the charter as savoring of monopoly ; 

 but the arguments of the minister that, in addi- 

 tion to the 300,000,000 or 400,000,000 lire of 

 home capital that was locked up in mortgages, 

 it was necessary to attract 500,000,000 or 600,- 

 000,000 lire from abroad in order to relieve land 

 owners from the pressure that hindered agricult- 

 ural progress, which could only be done by a 

 strong institution that should be authorized to 

 lend money on long terms, finally secured the 

 passage of the bill. 



Reform of Charitable Institutions. By 

 the new police law that went into operation at 

 the beginning of 1890 the right of citizens who 

 are incapable of earning their support by their 

 labor to exist without resorting to crime or beg- 

 ging was formally acknowledged, and the bodies 

 were designated whose care it shall be to succor 

 necessitous persons. In this category were in- 

 cluded religious confraternities, which were left 

 out in 1862 when a law regulating charitable 

 trusts was enacted. By the act of June 30, 1889, 

 religious foundations, charitable societies, and 

 pious brotherhoods whose revenues are not em- 

 ployed for specific benevolent or necessary relig- 

 ious purposes are required to contribute to the 

 maintenance of the helpless poor. This enact- 

 ment made it encumbent on the Government to 

 supervise the funds coming within the purview 

 of the law. On Jan. 12, 1890, a royal decree was 

 published, ordering prefects and sub-prefects to 

 investigate and report on all brotherhoods and 

 similar institutions. 



The confraternities alone, of which there are 

 8,487, have a capital endowment of 111,951,011 



lire, yielding a gross income of 8,858,943 lire, of 

 which only 1,188,773 lire continued to be devoted 

 to the purposes for which the funds were origi- 

 nally bequeathed. In 1890 there were 11,707 

 confraternities, disposing of an income of 9,000 - 

 000 lire, or 6,000.000 after deducting all charges, 

 of which 3,600,000 lire were devoted to religious 

 observances, often conducing to superstition. 

 The opere pie or charitable foundations em- 

 braced in the law of Aug. 3, 1863, numbered in 

 1880, when a thorough investigation into their 

 financial condition was undertaken, 21,766, not 

 counting institutions for lending to the poor or 

 for the encouragement of saving, like monti di 

 pieta, savings banks, agricultural loan institu- 

 tions, etc. Their gross capital in 1880 was about 

 2,000,000.000 lire, yielding an annual revenue of 

 88,250,067 lire, which was reduced by liabilities 

 to the amount of 8,299,676 lire, 14,798,067 lire of 

 taxes, etc., and 17,304,880 lire of expenses of ad- 

 ministration to 47,917,444 lire. Casual legacies, 

 subsidies from communes for the support of 

 hospitals, and private gifts increased the sum at 

 the disposal of the associations to 95,031,946 lire. 

 Between 1880 and 1888 new bequests added 99,- 

 691,046 lire to the endowment funds. Of 40,- 

 000,000 lire appropriated by the communes in 

 1886 for charitable relief 25 per cent., and of 

 20,000,000 lire similarly devoted by the provin- 

 cial authorities, 75 per cent., were confided to 

 the opere pie for disbursement. These institu- 

 tions were very unequally distributed in the 

 different sections, and their action was circum- 

 scribed as to the objects and manner of relief 

 and the territory of their operations by the deeds 

 of endowment or the statutes under which they 

 were established. 



A bill for reorganizing the opere pie and 

 placing them under state control passed the 

 Chamber before the end of 1889. The Senate, 

 in which Conservative rather than Clerical in- 

 fluences prevailed, gave its approval to nearly 

 80 clauses, and even accepted the part of the bill 

 that gave the greatest offense to the Church, 

 namely, the exclusion of parish priests from the 

 local commissions that were to be created for 

 the administration of the reformed charitable 

 trusts, not daring to antagonize the dominant 

 Radical and anti-Clerical sentiment of modern 

 Italy. Having thus conformed to popular opin- 

 ion on the main issue, the numerous enemies of 

 Crispi in the Senate thought that they could 

 strike a blow at him without incurring odium 

 by attacking a supplementary provision of the 

 bill diverting to charitable uses funds originally 

 given for the celebration of religious rites and 

 other purposes of no apparent public utility. In 

 the vote taken on an amendment striking out 

 this clause, on May 5, the Government was de- 

 feated by a majority of 93 to 76. The blow was 

 delivered in the dark, as the vote was by secret 

 ballot. Crispi declared the intention of dissolv- 

 ing the Chamber and appealing to the country, 

 and was doubtless eager to embrace an oppor- 

 tunity to go before the people on an issue that 

 would unite the Radical, Liberal, and Moderate 

 Liberal elements rather than run the risk of an 

 adverse vote on some financial question. The 

 majority of the Cabinet was in favor of giving 

 the Senate a chance to withdraw from its posi- 

 tion, although Signer Coppino had resigned from 



