io S o ITALY 



When Parliament reassembled in the autumn Sig. Giolitti was forced to modify the 

 bill on the steamship conventions, but on a point: of procedure the Cabinet was defeated 

 and resigned (December 2nd). Sig. Sonnino was now called upon for the 

 second time to form a Ministry, and he succeeded in gathering some of the 



best talent in the country; Count Guicciardini took the Ministry for For- 

 eign Affairs, Sig. Luzzatti that of Agriculture and Trade, Sig. Salandra that of the 

 Treasury, Admiral Bettolo that of Marine, while General Spingardi remained at the 

 War Office. The new Cabinet, however, although it enjoyed the favour of the country 

 at large, could not count on the support of the majority in the Chamber which, if it 

 had temporarily seceded from the late : Premier, was his creation and still Giolittian at 

 heart, and when the debate on the shipping bill as modified by Sig. Sonnino was resumed 

 in March 1910 it was clear that his Government would be in a minority. On the 2ist, 

 after a hundred days of office, as in the case of his former Government, he resigned, and 

 Sig. Luzzatti formed a new Cabinet, which included the Marquis di San Giuliano, then 



Ambassador in Paris (and previously in London), as Minister for Foreign 

 Ministry. Affairs, Signori Tedesco, Facta, Sacchi, and Credaro, Admiral Leonardi 

 . Cattolica as Minister of Marine, and General Spingardi as Minister of War. 

 The new Premier, in spite of his financial genius and great self-confidence, proved unequal 

 to the task of leading an administration, and it was obvious that he held office on suffer- 

 ance under the tutelage of Sig- : Giolitti, who was waiting until the steamship bill and 

 one or two other troublesome questions were settled to return to power. Sig. Luzzatti's 

 weakness appeared in his dealings with the various labour agitations, especially in the 

 agrarian riots in Romagna. The 3% railway loan of 260,000,000 lire to build new lines 

 and double-track and improve existing ones, was quickly covered, although the net 

 profits of the system remained very low owing to extravagant management. In August 

 of that year a cholera epidemic broke put in Apulia and spread to Naples and other parts 

 of Southern Italy; .the sanitary officers dealt vigorously with the disease, but the igno- 

 rance and superstition of the peasantry in certain districts rendered their task by no means 

 easy. On December 2ist the Premier presented a bill for extending the franchise and 

 providing for compulsory voting, but on the question of the date when the measure was 

 to come up for discussion although the majority voted for the Government most of the 

 Radicals voted against it ; the two Radical Ministers, Signori Sacchi and Credaro, there- 

 fore felt bound to resign. The whole Cabinet followed suit on March 18, 1911, and the 

 King entrusted the now inevitable Sig. Giolitti with the formation .of a new Ministry; 



most of the former Ministers, including Sacchi and Credaro, retained their 

 Ministry. portfolios. A grotesque incident, of this crisis was created by Sig. Bissolati, 



the Socialist deputy; summoned to the Quirinal with a view to being offered 

 a seat in the Cabinet, he went, but refused office ostensibly because he could not make 

 up his mind to don a dress suit, in reality because he feared to lose caste with his 

 more uncompromising followers. 



The year 1911 being the 5Oth anniversary of the creation of the Italian kingdom, 

 great festivities were organised to celebrate the occasion. An international exhibition 



of fine arts, ah ethnographic exhibition of the Italian provinces, and 

 "liana* * archaeological and historical shows were held in Rome, an exhibition of 

 Unity. Italian portraits in Florence, and an international industrial exhibition in 



Turin. The two latter were successful in every way, but the Roman exhi- 

 bitions, although artistically very beautiful, owing to defective organisation, an unusually 

 hot summer and a second outbreak of cholera, resulted in a considerable deficit. 



The Cabinet's programme, presented to the Chamber on April 6th, included the 

 extension of the franchise to all illiterates over 30 years old, thus increasing the number 



of voters from three to eight millions, the payment of members, and the 

 and'fnsur- crea tion of a Government monopoly for life insurance. These bills, largely 

 ance Bills. the outcome of a desire to gain the support of the Extreme Left, found 



little favour in the country, and Sig. Sonnino not having succeeded in 

 retaining office, the more active conduct of parliamentary opposition was undertaken 



