361 



ITALY. 



lire for extraordinary purposes ; Ministry of the 

 Interior, 50.416,572 lire for ordinary and 2.088.701 

 lire for extraordinary purposes ; Ministry of Public 

 Works, 26,437.523 lire for ordinary and 55,012.130 

 lire for extraordinary purposes ; Ministry of Posts 

 and Telegraphs, 5(5,271,179 lire for ordinary and 

 56,515 lire for extraordinary purposes ; Ministry of 

 War. 267,252,843 lire for ordinary and 2.22:U)00 

 lire for exl raordinary purposes ; Minist ry of Marine, 

 94.9(il,646 lire for ordinary and 4,375,000 lire for 

 extraordinary purposes ; Ministry of Agriculture, 

 Commerce, and Industry, 8,362,901 lire for ordinary 

 and 2,615,350 lire for extraordinary purposes. The 

 total expenditure on account of the debt in 1895-'96 

 was 595.377.9S7 lire for interest and 7,515,287 lire 

 for amortization. 



The Army. The Italian conscripts are required 

 to serve two, three, or four years with the colors 

 after the completion of their twentieth year. The 

 present peace effective was fixed for the year 1895- 

 '96 at 205,000 men. Men who escape conscription 

 by lot may receive from two to six months of train- 

 ing, but those who are the support of their families 

 are only called out for thirty days of drill and in 

 time of war are assigned to garrison duty. Conscripts 

 possessing a superior education, who submit to a 

 special examination, and pay a sum fixed annually 

 and varying from 1,200 to 2.000 lire, can obtain 

 their discharge after one year with the colors. By 

 the law of July 12, 1896, fixing the contingent at 

 98,000, all the men born in 1876 who are not drawn 

 and who are not exempt on account of family du- 

 ties or of disabilities are inscribed in the second 

 category and required to drill, and those born in 

 1874 and 1875 who were drawn but received leave 

 of absence are summoned to the colors to serve two 

 or three years. The peace effective for 1896, not 

 counting the African troops, was 14,238 officers and 

 220,460 men, with 46,744 horses and mules. There 

 were 3,558 officers and 4,250 noncommissioned offi- 

 cers and men in the general staff and military es- 

 tablishments ; 340 battalions and 98 district com- 

 panies of infantry, numbering 7,148 officers and 

 127,670 men ; 144 squadrons and 24 cavalry depots, 

 numbering 865 officers and 28,289 men ; '207 bat- 

 teries and 76 companies of artillery and 40 com- 

 panies of train, numbering 1,307 officers and 30,016 

 men ; 64 companies of engineers and 10 companies 

 of train, numbering 285 officers and 7,376 men; 12 

 sanitary companies, numbering 191 officers and 2,375 

 men ; 12 commissary companies, numbering 126 

 officers and 1,865 men ; 12 legions of carbineers, 

 numbering 562 officers and 23,639 men: and 196 

 officers in the veterinary corps. The total war 

 effective is 1,494,843 officers and men. 



The Navy. The Italian navy comprises 12 first- 

 class battle ships having an aggregate displacement 

 of 148,710 tons, 152,977 horse power, 204 guns of 

 over 10 centimetres caliber, 344 smaller ones, and 

 63 torpedo tubes ; 4 second-class, 6 third-class, 5 

 fourth-class, 8 fifth-class, 13 sixth-class, and 2 sev- 

 enth-class vessels of the line of battle ; 5 first-class, 

 94 second-class, 38 third-class, and 21 fourth-class 

 torpedo boats; 2 first-class, 8 second-class, 11 third- 

 class, and 18 fourth-class auxiliary vessels; 8 auxil- 

 iary cruisers; 16 torpedo launches: 1 submarine 

 boat; 6 river gunboats; and 54 vessels for port 

 service. The aggregate armament is 555 large guns, 

 1,187 small ones, and 591 torpedo boats. There are 

 building 2 armored cruisers of 6.500 tons and 1 of 

 2,540 tons. The personnel consists of 1.540 officers 

 and 18,822 men, besides 4,189 men in the coast-de- 

 fense service. 



The scheme of naval construction decided upon 

 in 1887 was to be completed at the end of 1897, but 

 since 1891 no extraordinary credits have been voted, 

 the naval budget has been gradually cut down from 



214,000.000 lire to 93,000,000 lire, and the sum of 

 27.000.000 lire fixed upon for the annual cost of re- 

 newal has been reduced to 22,000,000 lire. The fleet 

 falls short of the strength fixed by the law of 1887 

 by 28 armor clads and 61 seagoing torpedo vessels. 

 The Minister of Marine asked for an extraordinary 

 credit of 7,000,000 lire for 1898 to be devoted il> 

 building torpedo boats and destroyers of high speed 

 and for maintaining the efficiency of the existing 

 ships and armaments. 



Commerce. In the special commerce for 1895 

 the imports and merchandise figured for 1,187,300,- 

 000 lire; imports of precious metals, 7,300,000; ex- 

 ports of merchandise, 1,037,700,000 lire ; exports of 

 precious metals, 21,300,000 lire; transit trade, 80,- 

 000,000 lire. The principal articles of import and 

 their values were: Cereals, 131.200,000 lire; silk, 

 120,800.000 lire ; cotton, 96,800,000 lire ; coal, 86,- 

 100,000 lire; hides and skins, 47.300,000 lire: iron 

 45.300.000 lire: machinery, 43,200.000 lire; woolen 

 cloth, 35.600,000 lire; timber. 33.400.000 lire; fish, 

 31,600,000 lire: coffee, 28,800,000 lire; colors and 

 dyes, 28,600,000 lire ; wool, 28,000,000 lire ; chemical 

 products, 26,300.000 lire; animals. 25,800.000 lire; 

 tobacco, 25,200,000 lire: cotton cloth, 23,000,000; 

 silk fabrics, 22,400,000 lire; sugar, 19,800,000 lire ; 

 jewelry and precious stones, 19,200,000 lire : seeds, 

 18,500,000 lire: gums and resins, 17,700,000 lire; 

 petroleum, 12,000,000 lire; linen yarns, 11,700,000 

 lire. The principal exports in 1895 were: Silk, 

 325.000.000 lire ; wine, 49,300,000 lire ; olive oil, 46.- 

 400,000 lire ; hemp, 40,500,000 lire ; lemons, 33,000,- 

 000; eggs, 32,100.000 lire; wood manufactures, 31,- 

 400,000 lire; silk tissues, 29,600,000 lire; skins, 

 25,500,000 lire: animals, 25,500,000 lire; coral 

 goods, 21.900,000 lire; fruits, 21,900,000 lire ; cotton 

 cloth, 20,400,000 lire ; sulphur, 20,000,000 lire ; tartar, 

 15,600,000 lire ; almonds, 15,400,000 lire; colors. 13,- 

 500,000 lire ; marble and alabaster, 13,500,000 lire ; 

 cheese, 12.900,000 lire; poultry, 12,900,000 lire; 

 rice, 12.400,000 lire; butter, 10,700.000 lire. The 

 commercial intercourse with the different nations 

 in 1895 is shown in the following table, giving the 

 values of the imports from and the exports to each 

 in lire : 



Navigation. There were 107,251 vessels, of 27.- 

 857,794 tons, entered at Italian ports during 1895, 

 including 91,510 coasting vessels, of 19,598,534 tons. 

 and cleared 106,735 vessels, of 27.832,025 tons, of 

 which 90,959, of 19,261,817 tons, were engaged in 

 the coasting trade. Of 15.741 vessels, of 8,259.260 

 tons, entered from distant ports, 9,121, of 1,985,720 



