ITALY. 



was onpo-ed iiy the Extreme Left, and was criti- 

 cised liy memi'ci -s di tin- Uight, who suggested a 

 further paring down of the military and naval 

 Signor Moiighi, of the Conservative 

 i imi, who liail been u inemlier of Minghet- 

 ."inet. tauntftl Signor Crispi with follow- 

 ;M.lic\ that \\a- disorgani/ing at homo and 

 humiliating abroad. Goaded l>\ lln-M- .strict nro. 

 tin- Premier declared that tin- financial policy of 

 tin- <Jo\crnment of the Kight had been no bet- 

 id that the Minghetti Cabinet, which was 

 k-d o\er the budget of 1H7<>, had pursued a 

 policy abroad. This provoked loud pro- 

 tests, and Signor Kinali. the Minister of Public 

 Works, left the ministerial bench. Signor Crispi 

 went on to say that the country demanded the 

 adoption of the bill, which would show that Italy 

 desired a strong Government, not one that was 

 "in a chronic state of doubt and uncertainty." 

 Amid the uproar that followed, the reporter of 

 the budget committee, Signor Luzatti, who had 

 made a speech in favor of the bill, announced 

 that he would give his vote against the Govern- 

 ment, and took a seat with the Opposition. A 

 motion to proceed to the order of the day was 

 proposed and accepted by th0 Government after 

 Signor Crispi had disclaimed any intention of 

 o trending his supporters on the Right, and the 

 (internment was defeated by 186 votes against 

 ". The Premier then gave notice of his resig- 

 ion. which he tendered to King Umberto the 

 e.day, Jan. 31, 1891. 

 The unlooked-for defeat of the Crispi Admin- 

 tion was erroneously supposed in France to 

 ify the reversal of Crispi's policy and the 

 of the triple alliance. The King found it 

 cult to find a successor to Crispi. The Lib- 

 s held a meeting with a view to the reconsti- 

 ion of the historical Left and the formation 

 a purely Liberal ministry that would have the 

 pport of the 45 members of the Extreme Left, 

 1 could count on a majority of 300 against 200. 

 is combination failed because Signor Zanar- 

 11 i and Signor Nicotera could not compose 

 ir differences, and Zanardelli, to whom the 

 ng first applied, advised the recall of Crispi. 

 could not return because there was no pros- 

 t of a change in the conditions that led to his 

 retirement. Signor Bertole Viale, and Signor 

 rin were consulted in succession, but neither was 

 e to form a ministry. The Right demanded 

 nomies in the budget amounting to 40,000,- 

 lire. The Marquis di Rudini was called up- 

 and he came to an understanding with Sign- 

 Nicotera and Signor Saracco. who joined 

 in an attempt to get together a Cabinet 

 ledged to the desired savings. Not being able 

 10 agree on the choice of their colleagues and 

 e division of the offices, the combination was 

 keiied by the withdrawal of Signor Saracco. 

 e new ministry, as constituted finally on Feb. 

 . was a coalition not only of Liberal and Con- 

 servative groups, but of both friends and oppo- 

 nents of Crispi's home and foreign policy. It 

 was composed of the following members : Presi- 

 dent of the Council and Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, the Marquis di Rudini ; Minister of the 

 Interior, Signor Nicotera; Minister of Public 

 Works,, Signor Branca; Minister of Finance, 

 Signor Colombo : Minister of War. Gen. Pelloux ; 

 Minister of Agriculture. Signor Chimirri : Min- 



ister of the Treasury, Signor Lnzntti; M;i 

 of Public [attraction, Signor Villari. 



The House of Deputies, which had adjourned 

 on the resignation of Signor Crispi, was called 

 together to hear the new Premier's statement on 

 Feb. 14. He said that the Cabinet would con- 

 quer or fall under the .standard of retrenchment. 

 It proposed to effect an equilibrium in the budg- 

 et by cutting down all estimates, including 

 those of war, the marine, and the African de- 

 partment, and would not impose fresh burdens 

 on the tax payers. A bill would lie introduced 

 dealing with banks of issue, but no 1 tills of a po- 

 litical character would be brought forward. The 

 foreign policy would be to maintain stanchly the 

 league of peace, and at the same time dispel 

 doubt and mistrust that had arisen in the rela- 

 tions with France. The change that the Mar- 

 i|iiis di Rudini had advocated from scrutin df. 

 lisle, to the single-district system was excluded 

 from the programme. The bills of the late Ad- 

 ministration, imposing duties on alcohol and 

 heavy oils, abolishing certain prefectures, and 

 reforming administrative districts, were with- 

 drawn. The Parliament was adjourned several 

 times to allow the new Government to make 

 their financial plans. Signor Zanardelli led the 

 Opposition; the Extreme Left, including Re- 

 publicans, Socialists, and Irredentists, by whose 

 votes the Crispi ministry had been overthrown," 

 gave a qualified support to the Government ; 

 and Signor Crispi maintained a neutral and ex- 

 pectant attitude, waiting for the development 

 of the financial scheme. Retrenchment in all 

 departments was found to be impracticable, be- 

 cause in some economy had already been car- 

 ried to the limit of efficiency. Legislation in- 

 stituted by the late Government for the purpose 

 of making certain taxes more productive was 

 gone on with, and was expected to yield an in- 

 crease of about 10,000,000 lire in the revenue. 

 In presenting the revised budget, on March 21, 

 Signor Luzatti stated that the deficit for 1890- 

 '91 would reach 70,000,000 lire, and that the 

 floating debt was 450,000,000 lire. For the com- 

 ing year the Government proposed to restrict the 

 area occupied in Africa to the triangle of Mas- 

 sowah, Keren, and Asmara, and to reduce the 

 expenditure for the maintenance of the Italian 

 colony in Africa from 18,000,000 to 6,000,000 or 

 7,000,000 lire. Salaries were cut down in the 

 consular service and other departments. In dis- 

 cussing the revenue estimates for 1891-'92, on 

 June 24, the Minister of the Treasury promised 

 that the expected deficit was only 5.424.000 lire, 

 which would be cleared away by increased re- 

 ceipts and fresh economies. In August the defi- 

 cit was reckoned by friends of the Government 

 at 20,000,000 lire, and by the Opposition at 

 thrice that figure. The Italian schools in the 

 East, in which 80,000 children were instructed, 

 were suppressed. Railroad building was stopped 

 for the future, except on lines which were con- 

 tracted for. which would require 30,000.000 lire. 

 The Marquis di Rudini, in November, expressed 

 the intention of covering railroad expenditure 

 by the ordinary revenue. He expected to in- 

 clude pensions in the ordinary budget. A pro- 

 spective deficit of 21,000,000 lire in 1H!' 

 would be avoided by means of fresh measures, 

 but the efficiency of the army and navy would 



