JAPAN. 



had little i>r no effect. 'I'hc Government ordered 

 (he << linage of IG.(HXMMM) lire of bronze pieces 

 and tin- isMic of :!0,00(),(toi) lira notes, and mean- 

 while cut CHM 1 into negotiation with tlic member- 

 of tin* Latin Union for the nationalization of 

 small silver money. The French Government 

 onlered an estimate of the amount of Italian 

 fractional currency in France, and requested 

 bankers and others to separate them and pay 

 them in at the treasury, by which means a large 

 quantity was obtained and remitted to the 

 Italian Government.. The French Government 

 also convened a conference of representatives of 

 the Latin Union at Paris for the purpose of de- 

 ciding the question of nationalizing small silver 

 coins, Belgium, Greece, and Switzerland having 

 expressed a willingness to consider the matter. 

 The conference decided to release the Italian 

 fractional currency from the conditions of the 

 convention, and to return the small coins to 

 Italy on condition that no more fractional paper 

 should be issued than the amount of the coin 

 received, and that the silver coinage should not 

 exceed 6 lire per capita as provided in the 

 treaty. 



Sicilian Disturbances. The popular dis- 

 content and lawlessness in the island of Sicily 

 was a reason even more imperative than the 

 financial dilemma for calling back the Sicilian 

 statesmen to the head of the Government. The 

 south of Italy, especially Sicily, suffered keenly 

 from the general economical distress that fol- 

 lowed upon the tariff war with France. Social- 

 istic leaders sprang up who taught the people 

 there that they had specific grounds for desiring 

 a social revolution and formulated demands 

 that were caught up by the whole laboring and 

 farming population. The land of the island be- 

 longs to absentee landlords who deal with the 

 people mostly through agents, and the exactions 

 have been felt as an oppression for ages. The 

 taxes too are not willingly paid, and neither the 

 authority nor the cost of the Central Govern- 

 ment is as easily borne in this part of Italy as 

 in other provinces. The vexatious octroi duties 

 bear with exceptional severity on the Sicilians, 

 though much of the money collected is diverted 

 from its legitimate destination. The working 

 people of the island who imbibed labor, anti- 

 rent, and antitax ideas formed themselves into a 

 socialistic society composed of little groups called 

 Fasci dei Lavoratori, which first clamored for 

 higher wages and improved conditions for labor. 

 Brigandage and lawlessness reappeared as a con- 

 sequence of privation and discontent. The 

 symptoms of disorder began to manifest them- 

 selves when Giolitti became Premier. Before 

 the beginning of 1893 some of the peasantry 

 who had squatted on uncultivated land refused to 

 be evicted and defied the officers of the law. A 

 collision with the military was the consequence 

 and several countrymen were shot. The agita- 



tion against taxation and in favor of local au- 

 tonomy and a reform in the land laws hi. 

 sinned portentous dimensions when Crispi took 

 charge of the interior. On I)ec. 18 antitax 

 rioter* sei/ed the m'unicipal buildings of Mi.n- 

 reale. a town near Palermo, overcoming the 

 police. The troops charged the mob on the 



>te|.s of the tax olliee. and eventuallv find a 

 volley. Wounding 80, The mavor of this town, 

 having expressed sympathy with the Socialistic 

 demands, was suspended before the outbreak 

 and threatened with prosecution for inciting to 

 revolt. In Bioppo and other towns similar dis- 

 turbances took place. The Government took 

 vigorous measures to check insurrection. The 

 Fasci dci Lavoratori were found to have pre- 

 pared for a general uprising. They had secretly 

 collected thousands of rifles and a large quantity 

 of ammunition, and were well supplied with 

 money, some of which was supposed to have 

 been contributed by French Sociali.-ts. Troops 

 were called out amf quartered in the disturbed 

 section, until by the end of the vear there were 

 nearly 40,000 garrisoned in Sicily. Gen. Morra 

 di Lavriano was placed in command, and under 

 martial law was clothed with arbitrary military 

 and civil powers. In Pietraperzia the peasants 

 tried to disarm the soldiers, who fired and killed 

 8 persons. In the village of Gibellina rioters 

 burned houses, and the military, after two futile 

 charges, fired on the mob, killing 5 and wound- 

 ing 10. In Terrasini. near Palermo, the villagers 

 set fire to the octroi offices. In Trapani the 

 doors and windows of the town hall were 

 smashed and bombs were exploded. In the 

 large town of Marineo the mob of several thou- 

 sand attacked the municipal buildings, and when 

 the troops appeared there was a sharp fight in 

 which 30 citizens were killed and 50 wounded 

 and a number of soldiers were injured. At Calata 

 Fimi several hundred peasants attempted to 

 wreck the octroi offices and were dispersed 

 by the troops. Similar conflicts occurred at 

 Caltinesetta, Kagusa, Leonforte, Naro, and 

 other places. While the central committee of 

 the Socialist party, led bv Napoleone C'olajanni, 

 issued a manifesto appealing to the people to re- 

 nounce violence, which would be fatal alike to 

 Sicily and to the party, the committee of the 

 Fasci dei Lavoratori, the leading spirit of which 

 was Giuseppe de Felice Giuffrida, Deputy for 

 Catania, published one declaring the disturb- 

 ances to be a painful necessity and a conse- 

 quence of unbearable conditions which could 

 only be remedied by force. A state of siege 

 was" proclaimed over the whole of Sicily. Pre- 

 mier Crispi would not have been able to arrest 

 the insurrectionary movement so quickly, even 

 with the overwhelming forces that were thrown 

 into Sicily, if the people were not confident that 

 he sympathized with them and would insist on 

 legislation reforming the tax and land laws. 



TAP AN, a constitutional monarchy occupy- 

 ing islands east of Asia. The Emperor, Mutsu- 

 liito. born Nov. 3, 1852, is the one hundred and 

 twenty-third of the line of mikados. The heir 



apparent. Yoshihito. was born Aug. 81, 1877. 

 By the Constitution of 1889, inheritance to the 

 imperial title is restricted to the male line. The 

 imperial houses from which heirs to the throne 



