IOWA. 



ITALY. 



389 



During the year 1861, the prospective scarcity 

 of cotton led to the increased culture of flax, 

 and the introduction of machinery for the pro- 

 duction of flax cotton. Extensive establish- 

 ments supplied with the patent brakes for pre- 

 paring the flax cotton were erected at various 

 points in the State. The soil of Iowa is admi- 

 rably adapted to the culture of flax, and it is very 

 probable that it may become one of its most 

 important crops. 



At the commencement of the war, Gov. 

 Kirkwood exerted himself to the utmost of his 

 ability to raise troops for the defence of the 

 State, and for the purpose of complying with 

 the calls of the U. S. Government a task of 

 considerable difficulty, for Missouri, on the 

 southern border of the State, was not tl.en 

 loyal, and Nebraska, at the West, though loyal, 

 had too few inhabitants to be able to oppose 

 much resistance to an armed invasion. He 

 summoned the Legislature of the State to 

 meet in extra session on the loth of May, and 

 on the 16th of that month delivered his Mes- 

 sage, in which, he made use of the following 

 language : 



" In this emergency, Iowa must not and does 

 not occupy a doubtful position. For the Union, 

 as our fathers formed it, and for the Govern- 

 ment they formed so wisely and so well, the 

 people of Iowa are ready to pledge every fight- 

 ing man in the State, and every dollar of her 

 money and credit ; and I have called you to- 

 gether in extraordinary session for the purpose 

 of making that pledge formal and effective. 



" The procuring of a liberal supply of arms 

 for the use of the State is a matter that I ear- 

 nestly recommend to your early and serious 

 consideration. The last four weeks have taught 

 us a lesson which I trust we may never forget 

 that peace is the proper time in which to pre- 

 pare for war. 



" I feel assured the State can readily raise 

 the means necessary to place her in a position 

 consistent alike with her honor and her safety. 

 Her territory, of great extent and unsurpassed 

 fertility, inviting and constantly receiving a de- 

 sirable emigration ; her population of nearly 

 three-quarters of a million of intelligent, indus- 

 trious, energetic, and liberty-loving people ; her 

 very rapid past and prospective growth ; her 

 present financial condition, having a debt of 

 only about one-quarter of a million of dollars, 

 unite to make her bonds among the most de- 

 sirable investments that our country affords." 



In June the Legislature voted a war loan of 

 $600,000. The State of Iowa made a small debt^ 

 but its constitution provides that " the credit 

 of the State shall not be given in any manner 

 for any purpose. To meet casual deficits in the 

 revenue, the State may borrow not exceeding 

 $250,000, at any one time, and the State may con- 

 tract debt to repel invasion or suppress insur- 

 rection." Under the latter clause, a debt was 

 contracted of about $800,000, 7 per cent, interest, 

 making the present State debt about $1,000, 000. 



The progress of secession was watched with 



much solicitude in Iowa, and upon the call of 

 the President for a military force, the troops of 

 the State were among the earliest in the field. 

 The full number furnished during the year ex- 

 ceeded twenty thousand men, who were gen- 

 erally among the bravest in the field. 



ITALY, a kingdom of southern Europe, com- 

 prising the whole of the Italian peninsula 

 except Venetia and a portion of the former 

 " States of the Church," and including also the 

 islands of Sicily and Sardinia, and the Cisalp- 

 ine provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy. It 

 is bounded N. ty Switzerland, N. E. by Tyrol, 

 Venetia, and the Adriatic, S. E. by the Ionian 

 Sea, S. W. by the Mediterranean, and N. "W. by 

 France. Population in 1861, 21,728,452. 



At the commencement of the year 1861, 

 Italy was in a transition state. Tuscany. Mo- 

 dena, Parma, Umbria, and the Marches, which, 

 after the war of 1859, had sought to annex 

 themselves to Sardinia, had, by solemn vote, in 

 popular suffrage, resolved on their annexation, 

 and, in accordance with the royal order of Jan. 

 3, 1861, elected deputies to the Sardinian parlia- 

 ment at Turin, which was to assemble on the 

 18th of February. The kingdom of the Two 

 Sicilies had, under the energetic management 

 of Garibaldi, been completely revolutionized, 

 and on the 26th of Nov. I860, that chief had 

 delivered it into the hands of Victor Emanuel, 

 king of Sardinia. Three cities only, Gaeta, Mes- 

 sina, and Civitella, remained to their former 

 king, Francis II., and these were besieged by the 

 Sardinian forces. A popular suffrage had rati- 

 fied the union of this kingdom to that of Sardi- 

 nia, and delegates were elected from it to the 

 parliament of Turin, in January, 1861. 



On the 1st of January, the King of Sardinia 

 issued an address to the people of Italy, recom- 

 mending prudence, patience, and, above all, 

 harmony. The election of deputies ordered re- 

 sulted in a triumph of the Liberal party, in op- 

 position to the clergy, who, except in the old 

 kingdom of Sardinia, had reviled and resisted 

 the annexation, and the measures which would 

 be likely to follow it. 



The speech of the King at the opening of the 

 session, on the 18th of February, was well adapt- 

 ed to promote harmony and judicious action. 

 " To yoiir wisdom," he said to the deputies, ' I 

 commit the concerns of a free and almost 

 wholly Tinited Italy." After enumerating the 

 claims of England and France to their grateful 

 remembrance, he added, " In the consciousness 

 of its power, the kingdom of Italy can follow 

 the counsels of prudence. I have hitherto 

 raised my voice for acts of daring, and even 

 rashness ; but it is as wise to wait at the prop- 

 er moment, as to dare at the proper moment. 

 Devoted to Italy, I have risked for her my life 

 and my crown, but no one has a right to put at 

 hazard the existence and the destinies of a na- 

 tion." Count Cavour, the prime minister, (see 

 CAVOT-R,) sustained the pacific policy of the 

 King in the parliament, and asked that the title 

 of "King of Italy " should be conferred on Vic- 



