312 



ITALY. 



knots, they now rank as second-class ships. The 

 later Ammiraglib di Saint Bon and Emmanuele 

 Filiberto, launched in 1897, displace 9,800 tons, 

 have 10-inch armor, cany 4 10-inch, 8 6-inch 

 quick-firing, and 8 4.7-inch quick-firing guns, and 

 make 18 knots with 18,000 horse power. Three of 

 the first class are being built the Regina Mar- 

 gherita, Benedetto Brin, and Principessa Elena 

 of 13,500 tons, to have an armament of 4 12-inch 

 guns in revolving turrets, and 4 8-inch, 12 G-inch, 

 and 8 3-inch quick firers. Italy possesses power- 

 ful deck-protected cruisers, most of them having 

 side armor of good thickness. The oldest and 

 the largest are the Italia and Lepanto, launched in 

 1SSO and 1883, displacing 15.054 and 15,900 tons, 

 capable of steaming 18 knots, and carrying 4 of the 

 17-inch or 100-ton guns, with 8 6-inch and 4 4.7- 

 inch quick firers. The Carlo Alberto and Vettor 

 I'i-ani. launched in 1892 and 1895, of 6,500 tons, 

 carrv 12 6-inch and 6 4.7 inch; the Marco Polo, 

 launched in 1892, of 4,583 tons, 6 6-inch and 10 

 4.7-inch quick-firing guns. The Re Umberto, Sar- 

 dcgiia. and Sicilia, launched in 1888, 1890, and 

 1891, of 13,298 to 14,860 tons, capable of mak- 

 ing from 18J to 20 knots, are armed with 4 

 13.5-inch guns, and 8 6-inch and 16 4.7 inch quick 

 firers, the 67-ton bow and stern chasers being 

 mounted in pairs in inclined armored barbettes. 

 The new battle ships will have their 12-inch guns 

 mounted in turrets fore and aft, their 8-inch quick 

 firers in 4 turrets amidships, and their 6-inch 

 battery on the main deck, and their armor belt 

 will extend the full length of the ship and protect 

 the base of the turrets, being of 6-inch Ternii steel, 

 impervious to shell. A new Garibaldi and Varese 

 have been launched to replace the cruisers sold 

 to the Argentine Government, larger than they 

 and better armed. 



Commerce and Production. Land is much 

 subdivided in Italy. In Piedmont and Liguria 

 peasant proprietors predominate, and in many 

 other sections some of the cultivators own their 

 farms. In Tuscany, the Marches, and Umbria 

 the system of partnership prevails which was 

 once in common, and is still practiced in different 

 forms in other provinces also. The owner and 

 the cultivator usually share the produce or profits 

 equally, and frequently the same small farm is 

 thus made to support two families. In Venetia 

 and Lombardy the farmers commonly rent their 

 land. Large farms are found in some departments 

 of Lombardy, Emilia, and Tuscany, in Roma and 

 ( a -erta', in Apulia, Basilicata, and Calabria, and 

 in Girgenti and Trapani in Sicily. The yield 

 of wheat in 1898 was 48,400,000, and in 1899 it 

 was 48,600,000 hectolitres; the yield of maize 

 in 1898 was 26,850,000 hectolitres; of rice, 

 6.180,000 hectolitres; of wine, 31,500,000 hecto- 

 litres; of olive oil, 2,300,000 hectolitres. The num- 

 ber of citrus fruits picked and marketed was 

 8,930,000,000. The total value of the special im- 

 ports in 1898 was 1,413,339,346 lire, excluding 

 gold coin and bullion, silver coin, and goods in 

 transit; the value of the special exports was 

 1.203,569,304 lire. The imports of gold and of 

 coined silver were 3,443,800 lire; exports, 19,612,- 

 600 lire. The chief import* of merchandise were 

 wheat of the value of 201. 994.050 lire; coal, 137,- 

 377.244 lire; cotton. 111,601.392 lire; raw and 

 twisted silk. 61.996.500 lire; machinery. 37.343,770 

 lire; raw hides, 36.219.252 lire: timber, 35.201.- 

 938 lire; wool, 30.631.405 lire: fish, 30.409. 1!M) 

 lire: raw sugar. 19.966.744 lire; leaf tobacco, 15,- 

 39(1.675 lire: coffee. 14,062,055 lire; linen and hemp 

 yarn. 11.163.285 lire; iron and steel bars. 10.079,- 

 900 lire; cheese, 5.160,350 lire; printed cottons, 

 1.092.122 lire: colored and dyed cottons, 1,400,770 



lire: bleached cottons, 1.039,880 lire; unbleached 

 cottons, 474,745 lire; refined sugar, 230,399 lire; 

 horses, 21,173,600 lire: refined petroleum, 12,011,- 

 265 lire; olive oil, 15,431,895 lire; indigo, 4,768,500 

 lire; cotton yarn, 2,295,825 lire; railroad mate- 

 rials, 2,038,554 lire; silkworm eggs, 1,480,250 lire. 

 The chief exports in 1898 were raw and thrown 

 silk of the value of 316,025,400 lire; waste silk, 

 27,059,860 lire; cocoons, 2,776,200 lire; wine in 

 casks, 66,609,356 lire; sulphur, 41.799;810 lire; 

 olive oil, 40,353,122 lire; eggs. 37.786.920 lire: raw 

 hemp and flax, 33,516,754 lire; manufactured 

 coral, 24,045,180 lire; raw hides and skins, 17,141,- 

 802 lire; marble, 16,134,109 lire; fresh and salted 

 meat, 15,690.120 lire: rice, 13.713.665 lire; zinc 

 ore, 13,006,400 lire; cattle, 12,505,490 lire; horses. 

 862,000 lire; hogs, 3,671,457 lire; cereals, 6,351,335 

 lire; dyes and tans, 9,260,786 lire: raw cotton, 

 1,869,516 lire; straw braid, 7,461,960 lire; lead ore. 

 786,100 lire. The value of foreign exports in 1S9S 

 was 23,433,000 lire; of the transit trade, 127,889.- 

 000 lire. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. Of a total length 

 of 9,592 miles of railroad, 5,608 miles belong to 

 the Government and 92 miles are partly owned 

 by the Government; but the state lines in 1885 

 were leased to companies for sixty years, though 

 the contracts may be terminated and the Gov- 

 ernment may resume possession at the end of 

 twenty years or of forty years. The lines built 

 by companies have a length of 3,892 miles. The 

 telegraphs are owned and operated by the Gov- 

 ernment, except 2,017 miles of line, with 23.311 

 miles of wire, belonging to railroad companies. 

 The Government lines have a length of 23,698 

 miles, with 76,510 miles of wire. 



Change of Ministry. The Minister of War. 

 Gen. Mirri, who took an active interest in bring- 

 ing to the light the secrets of the Sicilian Mafia, 

 was himself implicated by the revelations of the 

 Notarbartolo trial in electoral irregularities, such 

 as are indispensable in Sicilian politics. Partly on 

 this account and partly because of differences of 

 opinion between him and the Treasury Minister 

 in regard to war estimates, he resigned his port- 

 folio on Jan. 4, 1900. On Jan. 7 the Premier. (Jen. 

 Pelloux, was appointed by the King to administer 

 the War Office until a new minister could be 

 selected. The question of providing funds for re- 

 newing the field artillery stood in the way of the 

 acceptance of the office by any of the generals. 

 In February the Court of Cassation, by a decision 

 quashing a sentence passed upon an anarchist un- 

 der the provisions of the public safety bill pro- 

 mulgated by royal decree on June 22, 1S99. pre- 

 cipitated the discussion of this bill, which the 

 Chamber had decided to postpone, and thus 

 brought on a political and ministerial crisis. The 

 judges took the view that the bill became a nm-e 

 project of law when the Chamber reassembled 

 after its temporary prorogation at the end of, 

 June, 1899; that when the session closed without 

 its receiving parliamentary sanction it lapsed en- 

 tirely: and that when it was introduced again at 

 the beginning of the winter session it was a draft 

 bill again, not binding upon magistrates un'il 

 ratified by Parliament. Magistrates were accord 

 ingly instructed to suspend the application of its 

 provisions, and debate on the bill was begun on 

 Feb. 24. Its provisions empowered the Govern- 

 ment to suppress public meetings, destroy sedi- 

 tious emblems, dissolve subversive societies, pun- 

 ish public servants for striking, and proceed 

 au:iin>t writers, printers, or publishers of inflam- 

 matory articles. It was read twice in the Chamber 

 in the spring session of 1899, but its final pas- 

 sage was blocked by Socialist and Radical ob- 



