ITALY 1045 



ooo in exports, there was a rapid recovery from the world-wide depression of 1908, and 

 most trades participated in the general increase. Motor cars, however, showed a slight 

 decrease, owing to the growth of competition in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. Great 

 Britain purchased no less than 813 out of 2,130 cars exported. On the other hand there 

 has been a large increase both in the importation and the exportation of indiarubber tires. 



Imports of live cattle in 1910 reached a very high figure (about 170,000 head), while 

 the exportation dropped to 5,000 head, half the amount of the previous year, owing to the 

 prevalence of foot and mouth disease: but there was an even greater fall in value (over 

 800,000) in the importation of salt and preserved fish, and in preserved meat, cheese, fats, 

 etc. The importation of frozen meat has not hitherto been as successful as expected. 



From January 1st to September 30, 1912, the imports were valued at 103,535,000 and 

 the exports at 67,607,000 being increases of 2,385,000 and 4,685,000 respectively over 

 the corfesponding period of 1911. It was calculated that between 1898 and 1910 Italian 

 imports had risen 143 per cent, and her exports 124 per cent increases which surpass those 

 of all other countries, except the exportation figures of the United States. 



As regards trade with the United Kingdom, which is second to Germany on the list of 

 imports, imports fell by about 573,000, to just over 19 millions, the decrease in coal alone 

 amounting to nearly 800,000 owing to the fall in price, and increased importation from 

 Germany. During the war with Turkey, however, 1 1 million tons, valued at about 12,- 

 000,000, were imported in the year 1911-12. Power to the amount of nearly 2,000,000 

 h.p. is now derived from hydro-electric plant, and Italian electrical engineers have under- 

 taken a number of bold schemes of long distance transmission. Machinery therefore showed 

 a heavy decline (1,286,654 as against 1,851,690 in 1909 as in the case of all other countries 

 exporting it to Italy), but scientific instruments, copper, brass and bronze wares and tools, 

 all showed large increases. Exports to the United Kingdom, which is now fifth among 

 Italy's customers, have increased rapidly (8,416,000 in 1910). The increase is mainly 

 in silk tissues, eggs, fruit and preserves, raw hemp, and olive oil. 



Shipping. In 1910 the number of ships that entered and cleared Italian ports was 312,- 

 689, with a tonnage of 102,390,908. The Italian mercantile marine included at the end 

 of 1909, 680 steamers, with a tonnage of about 630,000, and 4,723 sailing ships, with a 

 tonnage of about 440,000. Of the steamers 49 were over 3,000 tons (more than double 

 the figure for 1906). The Navigazione Generale Italiana now undertakes only Trans- 

 atlantic services, the subsidized services in the Mediterranean having been taken up by the 

 new Societa Nazionale da Servizi Marittimi. 



Ports. The trade of Genoa amounted to just over 6 million tons of imports (including 

 over 3 million tons of coal), and just under a million tons of exports in 1910; while the total 

 of shipping entered was 5,970, with a tonnage of 7,475,583, of which 139 were in ballast, 

 and of that cleared 5,979, with a tonnage of 7,485,717, of which no less than 2,257 (mostly 

 colliers) were in ballast: 170,000 passengers were landed, and nearly 190,000 embarked. 

 Of the total shipping 37 per cent were foreign ships. From the figures available there has 

 been a slight decrease in 1911. The increase is therefore not rapid, as in some other ports, 

 owing to the difficulty of expansion and of providing increased railway facilities, though 

 during the eight years 1903-1911 1,600,000 have been spent in railway improvements by 

 the Harbour Board. The new Vittorio Emanuele dock should be ready by 1915. A new 

 trade has been established between the River Plate and Italy in live cattle and frozen meat. 

 The harbour works and railway communications of Messina were not seriously damaged by 

 the earthquake of December 28, 1908. The population was 167,824 on December 31, 1907, 

 and was estimated at 60,000 in 1909; by the census of 1911 it had already recovered to 126,- 

 172. Messina, owing to precautionary measures, was not affected by the cholera outbreaks 

 of 1910 and 1911. Extensive villages of temporary structures of timber, corrugated iron, 

 and concrete have sprung up. The port of Messina has naturally not yet recovered from 

 the effects of the earthquake, but there has been a steady increase in trade ever since. Owing 

 to the increase in the Transatlantic passenger service, Naples in 1910 obtained the first 

 place among Italian ports for the number and tonnage of ships entered (7,344 of 7,542,076 

 tons a rise of nearly 3 million tons since 1906), and cleared (7,330 of 7,513,596 tons). 

 During the war with Turkey, Naples became the principal shipping port for Tripoli. Con- 

 siderable further expenditure on the harbour has been authorized, and new cranes, etc., 

 are being added. In 1910 Palermo was third among Italian ports as a passenger harbour. 

 The Palermo ship-building yard is of considerable importance. New ironworks have also 

 been erected. In 1910 Venice stood third among Italian ports for mercantile trade and 

 fourth in passenger traffic. New cotton docks have been erected here, and a patent fuel 

 and other factories. Taranto is mainly a naval harbour, but in 1909 was adopted as a port 

 of call by the Orient Line for the outward Australian mail. 



Finance. The war with Turkey interfered very little with the national life and prosper- 

 ity. Foreign capital was not deterred by it, for in the first six months of 1912, which was a 

 period of war, just over 5,000,000 of new capital were paid up, while in the corresponding 

 period of 1911, which was a period of peace, only a little over 3,000,000 were paid up. 

 A good impression was no doubt produced by the fact that it was not necessary to have 

 recourse to a loan to meet the expenses of the war. The actual amounts placed at the 



