ITALY. 



365 



tons, sailed under the Italian flag and 6.620. of 

 6.273. 5i;o tuns, under foreign Hairs. The nuinber 

 entered with cargoes in ocean commerce was 13.374. 

 of 7.721.951 tons, and the number cleared with car- 



A.-IS 1(1.4411. ..f 5.396.829 tons. The total num- 



:' strain vessel* entered was 37.1 70. of 24.797.- 

 f which 1.521 were Italian steamers en- 



: in derail commerce, of 1.444,381 tons. 5.292. 



ii?.!iso tons, were foreign steamers in the ocean 

 trade, and 2ii.426. of 13.444.179 tons, were Italian 

 and 3.940. of 3.801.296 tons, foreign coasting steam- 



Tlio Italian merchant fleet in 1895 numbered 

 6.231 sail: of 571,605 tons, and 328 steam- 



ers, of 207.530 tons. 



Communications. The Government leased its 

 railroads to companies in 1885 for sixty years, with 

 the privilege of terminating the lease at the end of 

 twenty or of forty years. The state lines constituted 

 two thirds of the total network at that time. The 

 length of lines open for traffic on Jan. 1, 1895, was 



lilea. 



The telegraph lines of the Government had a 

 total length on June 30, 1894. of 22.374 miles, with 

 71. 52 7 miles of wire. There were sent during the 

 year 7,080,943 paid internal and sent and received 

 1,761,440 international telegrams. The post office 

 in the year 1894 carried 2ni.77n.325 private letters 

 and postal card-. 42.775.128 official letters. 5.625.661 

 manuscripts, and 227.304.585 newspapers and circu- 

 lars. The money orders numbered 9.037.957. of the 

 total value of 671.561.934 lire. The net earnings of 

 the Government from posts and telegraphs in 1*94 

 were 13.362.770 lire, the gross receipts being 66.771.- 

 986 lire and expenses 53.409.216 lire. 



Currency. Italy as a member of the Latin 

 monetary league has coined no silver for several 

 years. A small amount of gold has been coined 

 recently, and in 1894 there were 3.790.978 lire of 

 bronze and 17.780.200 lire of new nickel coins 

 minted. From 1862 to the end of 1894 the total 

 coinage of the Italian kingdom has been 426.3:;2.- 

 990 lire in gold. S67.037.025 lire in silver. 17.78o.200 

 lire in nickel, and 83.636.121 lire in bronze pieces. 

 The only banks of issue are now the Banca d' 

 Italia, the Banco di Xapoli, and the Banco di Sici- 

 lia. The bank notes in circulation on June 30. l*'.<4. 

 amounted to 1.128.598.000 lire, inclusive of 2.445.000 

 lire of paper of the defunct Banca Romana. There 

 were also 492.149.000 lire of state notes out. 



Session of the Chambers. The Italian reverse 

 near Adowa (see ABYSSINIA) compelled Crispi and 

 his colleagues to retire. The decision was announced 

 when the Chamber met March 5. When the minis- 

 ters arrived at the Chamber they were hooted, and 

 in spite of the intervention of the" soldiers the crowd 

 refused to leave the neighborhood. Signor Crispi 

 stated that the resignation had been accepted by 

 the King, and the announcement was received with 

 passionate applause by the Chamber. The situation 

 in Rome was so critical that the troops were made 

 ready for prompt action and the university was 

 closed to prevent a riotous demonstration of the stu- 

 dents. The calling out of the reserves born in 1872 

 added to the popular dissatisfaction. Thousands of 

 Italians fled over the border to emigrate across the 



in order to escape military service in the fatal 

 African climate. Disturbances occurred in Naples, 

 Piivseia, Palermo. Catania. Florence, Venice, and 



i'i. At Milan there were collisions between 

 the citizens and the police. The members of the 

 Extreme Left gave notice in the Chamber of a mo- 

 tion demanding the impeachment of Premier Crispi 

 and the ministry. 



On March 6 riotous demonstrations were re- 

 newed. At Pavia a mob tore up the railroad track 

 to prevent the departure of troops. At Pisa stu- 

 dents marched to the station, threatening to stop the 



transport of recruits by force. Tin - and 



anarchists cheered for Menelek. In Rome 300 ar- 



Aere made. At Naples crowds filled the .-: 

 and showed a determination to oppose the embark- 

 ing of troops. At Pavia the mob held possession of 

 the town for several hours on March 7. 



.or Saracco was first summoned by King Um- 

 berto, but his efforts to form a ministry came to 

 naught, so Gen. Ricotti was commissioned to CC.D- 

 struct one. He yielded the premiership to Marquis 

 di Rudini, and on March 10 the list was aeeepied by 

 the King, as follows : Premier and Minister of the 

 Interior, the Marquis di Rudini: Minister of War, 

 Gen. Ricotti : Minister of Marine. Signor Brin ; 

 Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Duke of Sermo- 

 neta : Minister of Justice. Senator Costa : Minister 

 of Finance. Signor Branca : Minister of the Treas- 

 ury. Signor Colombo ; Minister of Public Works, 

 >r Perazzi : Minister of Public Instruction, 

 Prof. Gianturco : Minister of Agriculture, Count 

 Guicciardini ; Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, 

 Signor Carmine. The Marquis di Rudini. who had 

 before succeeded Sitrnor Crispi as Premier and had 

 held the office from Feb. 6. 1891. to May 5. 1M2. 

 was not invited to constitute the ministry because 

 he declined to adopt the African programme 

 demanded. 



The first decision of the new ministry was to par- 

 don all persons sentenced by the military courts for 

 participation in the risings in Sicily and Massa-Car- 

 rara in the winter of 1893. except those sentenced 

 for homicide. Consequently 120 political prisoners 

 were released from prison, including Deputy de 

 Felice-Giuffrida and Signori Bartato and l! 

 who had been elected to the Chamber after their 

 incarceration. In the ministerial statement made 

 on March 17 the Marquis di Rudini said that the 

 Government had stopped the dispatch of troops to 

 Africa because Gen. Baldissera had no need for the 

 second half of the re-enforcements. He announced 

 that negotiations for peace would be continued. 

 <>n April 6 a new form of government was insti- 

 tuted in Sicily for a year. A civilian royal commis- 

 sioner was appointed to preside at Palermo and ad- 

 minister the powers appertaining to the Ministers 

 of the Interior, Finance. Public Works. Education, 

 and Agriculture: to direct the prefects in all mat- 

 ters relating to public safety and local administra- 

 tion; and to undertake a revision of the municipal 

 and provincial budgets in order to keep them 

 within the limits of the local tax-paying capacity. 

 Count Codronchi. a member of the Senate, who 

 was appointed to this office, was at the same 

 time made a minister without a portfolio. On 

 April 27 the people of Paterno were incensed to 

 riot by the imposition of communal taxes. A new 

 Government loan of 4.000.000 lire was subscribed by 

 Italian financiers, being taken at 97 for 4i per cent. 

 Italian rente. The expected surplus of 8.870,000 

 lire for 1896 had been turned into a deficit ol 

 000.000 lire by the extraordinary credit of 20.000.- 

 000 lire demanded for Africa. " The new Cabinet 

 obtained a total credit for African operations -of 

 140.000,000 lire, of which 45.500.000 lire we: 

 down for 1896-'97. while 96.500,000 lire belonged in 

 the budget for 1896.' The Chamber approved the 

 determination of the Government to try Gen. Bara- 

 tieri by a vote of 278 to 133. Deputy Cavalotti and 

 his followers continued to demand the impeachment 

 of Signor Crispi. although the judges ruled that the 

 charges were insufficient to sustain a legal action. 

 On May 30 the ministry escaped defeat by a nar- 

 row majority of 3 on the question of investigating 

 charges of immorality brought against Crispi and 

 his colleagues. Premier di Rudini desired to dis- 

 solve the Chamber, but the King refused his sanc- 

 tion. The Duke of Sermoneta resigned his portfolio 



