458 



ITALY. 



The principal theme of discussion was the so- 

 cialist question, raised by the attempted as- 

 sassination of the King. On December 3d the 

 debute on this question was opened. Accord- 

 in"- to the opposition, complete order reigned 

 in Italy until the Left came into power. Ac- 

 cording to those who spoke in favor of the 

 Government, the throwing of bombs, the Bar- 

 panti clubs, the Italian communists, and other 

 evils with which they were credited, were in- 

 heritances they had received from past admin- 

 istrations. On the following day, the 4th, Si- 

 gnor Minghetti made a speech, which was lis- 

 tened to with the closest attention. He had 

 heard, he said, that some of the Barsanti clubs 

 had been closed, but he wished to know if the 

 action taken respecting them would also be 

 put in force against the Republican associa- 

 tions. He knew well that a great difference 

 exists between Internationals and Republicans, 

 but he would ask the Ministers if associations, 

 whether to divide Italy once again into frag- 

 ments, to place dispossessed princes on their 

 thrones, or to establish a republic, were permit- 

 ted by law ? Were Ministers disposed to pro- 

 ceed against them as they had done against 

 Barsanti clubs? The theme of his speech was, 

 in short, that it was the duty of the Ministers 

 to repress all manifestations not in accord 

 with the established form of government. 

 The debate on the policy of the Government 

 was brought to a close on December 10th. 

 The vote of confidence was defeated by 263 to 

 189. Of the opposition, 106 belonged to the 

 Right, the remainder to various groups of the 

 Left. The Cabinet immediately tendered its 

 resignation, which was accepted by the King. 

 After consultation with various political lead- 

 ers, the King intrusted Signor Depretis with 

 the formation of a new Cabinet. As proposed 

 it consisted entirely of members of the Left, 

 and was composed as follows : Depretis, Pres- 

 ident of the Council, Minister of the Interior 

 and temporarily for Foreign Affairs ; Magliani, 

 Finance ; Mezzanotte, Public Works ; Coppino, 

 Instruction ; Majorana, Agriculture ; Maze de 

 la Roche, War; Ferraccini, Navy; and Tajani, 

 Justice. 



On November 17th, as King Humbert was 

 entering the city of Naples, a man who was 

 among the trade associations which were 

 drawn up with their banners, and who also 

 carried a flag, suddenly lowered it, and made 

 a thrust at the King, wounding him slightly in 

 the arm with a dagger with which he had 

 armed the head of the staff. The King instant- 

 ly drew his sword and struck the assassin on 



e head, and Signor Cairoli, who accompanied 



the King, sprang to the ground and caught the 



lan, receiving at the same time a wound in 



the thigh. The assassin was then secured. 



9 name is Giovanni Passanante, a cook by 



This attempted assassination was fol- 



*1 Opmig the next day by the throwing of 



sini bombs among the crowds in Florence 

 and Pisa, on the occasion of loyal demonstra- 



IYORY, ARTIFICIAL. 



tions in those cities. Numerous arrests were 

 made, and as many of the persons were found 

 to belong to the International Society, all the 

 Barsanti clubs in Italy, about thirty in nnm- 

 ber, were closed. Signor Depretis, in present- 

 ing the members of the new Cabinet to the 

 Chamber of Deputies, December 20th, said 

 that the Ministry would maintain public order 

 with the aid of existing laws, without display- 

 ing weakness or having recourse to arbitrary 

 measures. The seizure at about the same 

 time in Venice of a banner inscribed with the 

 words "Italia Irredenta," was interpreted as 

 an indication of the Government's intention to 

 act \vith more decision toward the agitations 

 of the aggressive party. 



The action of the Berlin Congress gave rise 

 to considerable popular agitation in Italy. A 

 large meeting was held in Rome on July 28th, 

 which passed resolutions condemning the vio- 

 lation by the Berlin Congress of the principle 

 of nationalities and popular sovereignty, and 

 reminding Italy that there still exist Italian 

 countries subject to foreign domination. The 

 Government showed a tolerant spirit toward 

 such demonstrations, carrying out a policy 

 which it seemed to have decided upon some 

 time before, as if in anticipation of public ex- 

 citement. On the 6th of May the Minister of 

 the Interior, in reply to an interpellation in 

 the Chamber of Deputies respecting a repub- 

 lican congress which had recently been held 

 at Rome, had said that no importance attached 

 to the meeting, and that a little improper lan- 

 guage here and there could not disturb public 

 order or affect Italy's relations with foreign 

 powers. It was the duty of the Ministry not 

 to infringe the right of public meeting, and 

 Italy was in such a position that it could allow 

 the greatest liberty to reign without fear of 

 any dangerous disturbance. When, on the 

 29th of June, a number of young men in Yen- 

 ice, under the cry of " Viva Trieste Italiana," 

 had made an offensive demonstration against 

 the residence of the Austrian consul, the Min- 

 ister, clearing the Venetian people from com- 

 plicity with the offense, said that " it was the 

 work of a few foolish persons, who, never 

 having done anything for their country, 

 thought to show their patriotism in this rep- 

 rehensible manner." The Government, how- 

 ever, made reparation to Austria for the out- 

 rage. The policy of the Government after the 

 close of the Congress of Berlin was understood 

 to be to permit the meetings which were 

 called for the purpose of censuring the silence 

 of the Italian representatives in the Congress 

 on the cession of Cyprus to England, without 

 compensation to Italy on the side of Trent or 

 Trieste. The Ministry, it was said, regarded 

 these gatherings as safety-valves for the outlet 

 of the general irritation which existed on the 

 subject. Under this policy the excitement sub- 

 sided. 



IVORY, ARTIFICIAL. Numerous patents 

 have been granted in the United States within 



