412 



ITALY. 



53,900,000 lire. The values, in lire, of the prin- 

 cipal imports in 1892, compared with the values 

 in 1891, are given in the following table : 



The values of the principal exports for 1891 

 and 1892 were as follow : 



The following table shows the amount of trade 

 with the principal foreign countries in 1892, 

 compared with the trade in 1891, the values 

 being given in lire : 



Session of Parliament. The ministerial 

 programme for 1893 included the renewal of 

 subventions for the foreign and coasting steam 

 navigation lines, which expired on March 15 ; 

 a law for promotions in the army, which fixed 

 the age of retirement ; a law for consolidating 

 the banks of issue; a divorce law, and one re- 

 quiring civil marriage previous to a religious 

 ceremony; and a law for the payment of civil 

 and military pensions. The first of these bills 

 passed the Chamber on March 2. The second 

 was rejected by the Senate, and was withdrawn. 

 The Pension bill was intended to relieve the 

 budget of the charges for workingmen's pensions 

 by transferring the business to the Loan and 

 Deposit Bank. The bill for requiring civil mar- 

 riage had a useful object, because cases were fre- 

 quent of men deserting wives after marrying 

 them in church, but not completing the contract 

 by a civil marriage. The Minister of Justice, 

 Teodorico Bonacci. offended the Clericals by pre- 

 senting this and the Divorce bill, and the Lib- 

 erals because he did not press them. On May 19 

 the Chamber rejected the estimates of the Minis- 

 try of Justice as a rebuke to the Cabinet for its 

 financial policy, and to this minister in partic- 

 ular on other grounds. The Cabinet resigned as 

 a body, but the King declined to accept the 

 resignation of any except the Minister of Justice, 

 and requested the Premier to fill his place and 

 the Ministry of Finance, which was held pro- 

 visionally by Grimaldi, the Minister of the Treas- 

 ury. Two Senators were selected, on May 24, for 

 the vacant portfolios Judge Eula as Minister 

 of Justice, and Gagliardo as Minister of Finance. 

 The Pension bill passed the Senate on June 2. 

 On the resignation of Eula the portfolio of Jus- 

 tice was given to Santamaria. An important 

 reform contemplated by the ministry was the 

 suppression of several small universities, and 

 their consolidation with those that are well 

 equipped and prosperous. There are 17 state 

 universities and 4 free universities, supported 

 by provinces and communes, besides the Milan 

 Academy for Philological and Literary Studies, 

 and the Florentine Institute, which lacks only 

 the law department. All these institutes have 

 authority to grant diplomas, and some of them 

 create advocates and physicians on very easy 



