224 



DEPRETIS. 



DISASTEES IN 188T. 



ment had taken definite form. In 1859 he 

 was appointed Civil Governor of Brescia, and 

 in 1860 lie went to Sicily as commissary-gen- 

 eral and pro- dictator to carry into effect the 

 union with Italy by proclamation of the stat- 

 ute. Garibaldi had requested his appointment 

 to this post, but Cavour trusted him to check 

 any dangerous revolutionary developments, 

 and for that purpose provided him with a royal 

 commission as governor-general. Although a 

 member of the Radical party, and at various 

 times the leader of the parliamentary Opposi- 

 tion against Cavour, he always maintained 

 cordial personal relations with that statesman. 

 In 1862 he entered theRatazzi Cabinet as Min- 

 ister of Public Works. In 1866 he was Minis- 

 ter of Marine in the Cabinet presided over by 

 Ricasoli, and in 1867 Minister of Finance 

 when that statesman was again at the head 

 of the Cabinet. After the death of Ratazzi 

 he became chief of the Opposition, and when 

 the Minghetti Cabinet fell under the as- 

 saults of the Left, he was called, in March, 

 1876, to the head of the Government. He 

 abolished the grist-tax, and carried through a 

 bill prohibiting religious processions outside of 

 churches, because such processions took the 

 character of political manifestations. In March, 

 1878, his ministry was overthrown by a com- 

 bination led by Cairoli, but that minister, who 

 was singularly deficient in parliamentary man- 

 agement, soon succumbed to the tactics of De- 

 pretis, who returned to power in the following 

 December. The new Cabinet was a surprise 

 to Parliament, and its composition indicated 

 his desire to cut loose from the Radicals, and 

 attach to himself the moderate members of 

 both parties. He left out all the able and am- 

 bitious men of his party, and chose for his col- 

 leagues persons of no ministerial experience, 

 and not identified with the aims of the Left. 

 This was the beginning of the " transformism " 

 with which his name was thereafter coupled, 

 and which his enemies among the Radicals de- 

 scribed as going in as Minister of the Left and 

 governing as Minister of the Right. His Cabi- 

 net lasted only six months, but not long after 

 its defeat he was again called to the helm, and 

 after that he remained the " indispensable " 

 prime minister. While alienating the extreme 

 Radicals, and being as often opposed as he 

 was supported by the various groups of the 

 Left and their leaders, he preserved a shifting 

 parliamentary majority, usually a large one, 

 by his political sagacity and parliamentary tact. 

 He was virulently abused by the extremists of 

 both parties, but won the confidence of a great 

 section of the voters, was supported by Min- 

 ghetti and others of the old Conservatives, and 

 by making concessions that did not involve the 

 sacrifice of his patriotic aims, he governed al- 

 most as a dictator, shaping the foreign and do- 

 mestic policy of the kingdom during a long 

 and critical period. His political manifestoes, 

 which he was accustomed to date from Stra- 

 della, were effective electioneering documents. 



The legislation that he originated was not such 

 as to gain him the reputation of a creative 

 statesman, but he carried through reforms at a 

 rate sufficient to satisfy the progressive spirit 

 of the bulk of the nation. In 1882 he extended 

 the franchise, established scrutin de liste, and 

 secured the passage of a bill confirming the 

 use of the parliamentary oath. In 1883, by a 

 coalition with the Right, he carried through a 

 repressive law against socialism. He differed 

 with the other members of the Cabinet on the 

 question of an education bill, and resigned, but 

 formed a new ministry. Jn the early part ot 

 1887 the disaster at Massowah led to the most 

 violent recriminations in the Chamber, and the 

 reconstruction of the Cabinet, into which 

 Crispi, long an assailant and rival of Depretis, 

 was taken, possibly with a view to the succes- 

 sion, for the health of the " old man of Stra- 

 della," always vigorous up to this year, was 

 now broken, and he wished to retire, but was 

 persuaded by the King to remain in office. 

 Depretis was not a great orator, but was skill- 

 ful in debate, and possessed the art of disarm- 

 ing his enemies by ready explanations, and 

 warding off savage attacks with smooth and 

 conciliatory phrases. He was often accused 

 of political trickery and insincerity, but never 

 of selfish or unpatriotic motives. The policy 

 of turning from Republican France to form an 

 alliance with the conservative monarchies of 

 central Europe, which was the chief political 

 act of his life, offended the democratic instincts 

 of Italian Liberals, and disappointed the am- 

 bitious hopes that were entertained of terri- 

 torial aggrandizement ; yet the country has 

 since accepted the league with Germany and 

 Austria as a safeguard for the security, dignity, 

 and best interests of Italy. 



DISASTERS IN 188T. The year's record of 

 disasters is notable for the variety of ways in 

 which life has been cut short and property de- 

 stroyed. This is due in part to the more rapid 

 means of transit by land and sea, and in part 

 to the increase of telegraphic facilities all over 

 the world. The following list, while far from 

 complete, presents a startling record of the 

 perils that surround every dweller in a civil- 

 ized land. It is to be observed that the terrible 

 possibilities which seem to threaten mankind 

 from the common use and manufacture of high 

 explosives are not as yet realized; gunpowder 

 is still more destructive than dynamite, and to- 

 gether they fall far short of the railroad and 

 the steamboat. 



January 4. Railway: broken axle near West Spring- 

 field, Mass., 1 killed, 19 injured ; collision near Re- 

 public, Ohio, wreck took fire, 13 killed. Explosion in 

 a coal-mine at Mons, Belgium, 37 killed. 



8. Shipwreck : German ship Elizabeth, near Cape 

 Henry, 27 lives lost, including 5 of the life-saving 

 crew. 



9. Fire : the Alcazar palace at Toledo, Spain, total- 

 ly destroyed, loss $1,000,000. 



11. Railway : train derailed near Dunbar, Nebras- 

 ka, probably 'the result of malice, 1 killed, 19 injured. 



17. Car-load of cotton burned near Paducah, Ky., 

 bodies of 4 supposed tramps found. 



