

ITALY. 



347 



were estimated at 1,627,033,526 lire, and the ex- 

 traordinary expenditures at 163,926,253 lire; total 



The capital of the consolidated and redeemable 

 debt on July 1, 1900, amounted to 12,645,289,334 



expenditures, 1,790,959,779 lire. The revenue from lire. The annual interest was 579,855,494 lire. 



The interest on all the debts, including the per- 

 manent annuity of 3,225,000 lire due to the Holy 

 See and 11,850,000 lire on treasury bonds and 

 other floating debt, amounted in 1901 to 588,634,- 

 644 lire and the sinking-fund of the redeemable debt 

 amounted to 2,506,905 lire. The 5-per-cent. per- 

 petual rentes amounted to 400,392,409 lire, 3-per- 

 cent, rentes to 4,803,262 lire, 4J-per-cent. rentes 

 to 60,384,131 lire, and the 4-per-cent. rentes to 

 7,741,256 lire, making the annual charge of the 

 consolidated debt 473,321,058 lire. The debts 

 separately inscribed called for 11,735,598 lire for 

 interest at 3 to 5 per cent, and sinking-funds of 

 443,099 lire extinguishing them between 1907 and 

 1961. Other redeemable debts required 88,502,988 

 lire for interest at 3 to 6 per cent, and 2,063,806 

 lire for their sinking-funds, which will extinguish 

 them between 1902 and 1985. For several years 

 the Government has aimed to create such con- 

 fidence in the stability of Italian finance that 

 it will be able to convert 9,000,000,000 lire of 

 consolidated debt into 3^-per-cent. stock at par. 

 Baron Sonnino restored the financial equilibri- 

 um, and for eight years there has been a constant 

 surplus, even with some remissions of taxation, 

 bringing the credit of the Italian Government up 

 to the level of that of the richest nations in Eu- 

 rope. Signer di Broglio, a Conservative, was 

 taken into the Zanardelli-Giolitti Cabinet as Min- 

 ister of the Treasury as a guarantee that a cau- 

 tious financial policy would be still pursued. His 

 resistance to the demands of his colleagues grew 

 so weak, however, that a deficit was escaped 

 by a narrow margin in 1902, when abnormal 

 wheat importations and some more solid improve- 

 ments brought an increase of 12,500,000 lire in the 

 revenue, but disbursements were increased nearly 

 25,000,000 lire. For 1903 he committed himself to 

 12,500,000 lire of additional expenditure. The 

 year ending June 30, 1901, showed a surplus of 

 nearly 50,000,000 lire, and one of 25,000,000 lire 

 was predicted for the next year, but half of this 

 disappeared in supplementary estimates and the 

 cost of militarizing railroad employees and mo- 

 bilizing one class of the reserves to avert a railroad 

 strike was 9,500,000 lire, reducing the surplus to 

 3,000,000 lire. In the summer the treasury issued 

 100,000,000 francs of 3* per cent, to take up float- 

 ing debt. It was sold at 96 to Italian banks and 

 brokers and rose almost to par in Paris where 

 Italian Government securities are marketable 

 again after many years. The condition of the 

 state banks in Italy has become satisfactory and 

 the premium on gold almost disappeared in 1902. 



railroads was reckoned at 88,832,200 lire; from real 

 property, 11,152,000 lire; from other state prop- 

 erty, 1,586,000 lire; from the land tax, 100,840,- 

 000 lire; from income tax, 290,715,000 lire; from 

 the tax on buildings, 89,400,000 lire; from succes- 

 sion duties, 37,500,000 lire; from registration, 

 59,000,000 lire; from stamps, 68,000,000 lire; 

 from various taxes on transactions, 58,640,000 

 lire; from excise duties, 103,000,000 lire; from 

 customs, 211,050,000 lire; from octrois, 52,325,000 

 lire; from the tobacco monopoly, 201,000,000 lire; 

 from the salt monopoly, 75,500,000 lire; from 

 lotteries, 67,500,000 lire; from quinin, 1,440,000 

 lire; from the post-office, 64,000,000 lire; from 

 telegraphs, 15,500,000 lire; from other public serv- 

 ices, 23,024,100 lire; repayments, 24,585,570 lire; 

 various receipts, 24,627,000 lire; total effective re- 

 ceipts, 1,669,217,470 lire; recettes d'ordre, 62,949,- 

 974 lire; total ordinary revenue, 1,732,167,444 

 lire. The effective extraordinary receipts were 

 5,584,237 lire ; receipts on account of railroad con- 

 struction, 232,537 lire; movement of capital, 

 5,378,840 lire from sales of land, etc., 43,497,000 

 lire from new loans, etc., and 25,064,451 lire from 

 compensation, etc.; total extraordinary revenue, 

 79,757,065 lire. The expenditure for the service 

 of the consolidated debt was 478,226,196 lire; 

 service of redeemable debt, 60,129,183 lire; service 

 of floating debt, 121,756,522 lire; railroad an- 

 nuities, 26,288,150 lire; fixed annuities, 5,759,000 

 lire; civil list and appanages, 16,050,000 lire; Sen- 

 ate and Chamber of Deputies, 2,177,000 lire; vari- 

 ous expenditures of the Treasury, 14,845,360 lire; 

 defenses d'ordre of the Treasury, 8,076,363 lire; 

 collection of taxes, 75,941,841 lire; monopolies, 

 89,524,220 lire; various expenditures of the Fi- 

 nance Ministry, 23,752,084 lire; depenses d'ordre 

 of the Finance Ministry, 30,231,864 lire; Ministry 

 of Justice, 41,327,301 lire; Ministry of Foreign 

 Affairs, 16,392,461 lire; Ministry of Public In- 

 struction, 48,476,268 lire; Ministry of the Inte- 

 rior, 67,936,582 lire; Ministry of Public Works, 

 38,338,841 lire; Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, 

 68,560,694 lire; Ministry of War, 264,877,132 lire; 

 Ministry of Marine, 118,318,016 lire; Ministry of 

 Agriculture, Industry, and Commerce, 10,047,548 

 lire; total ordinary expenditures, 1,627,033,526 

 lire. The extraordinary expenditure of the Min- 

 istry of the Treasury was 84,247,862 lire; of the 

 Ministry of Finance, 9,007,891 lire; of the Minis- 

 try of Justice, 19,600 lire; of the Ministry of For- 

 eign Affairs, 24,000 lire; of the Ministry of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, 635,431 lire; of the Ministry of 

 the Interior, 3,718,569 lire; of the Ministry of 



Public Works, 53,988,884 lire ; of the Ministry of The general prosperity of the country has helped 



Posts and Telegraphs, 551,516 lire; of the Minis- 

 try of War, 4,076,000 lire; of the Ministry of 

 Marine, 4,498,540 lire; of the Ministry of Agri- 

 culture, Industry, and Commerce, 3,157,960 lire; 

 total extraordinary expenditures, 163,926,253 lire. 

 In the category of effective revenue and expend- 

 iture receipts were calculated at a total of 1,674,- 

 801,707 lire and disbursements at 1,620,590,602 

 lire, showing a surplus of 53,211,105 lire; under 

 the head of construction of railroads receipts were 

 232,537 and expenditures 17,533,927 lire, leaving 

 a deficit of 17,533,927 lire, and under the head of 

 movement of capital 88,652,739 lire of expend- 

 itures to 73,940,291 lire of receipts left a deficit 

 of 14,712,448 lire. The ordinary revenue is 105,133,- 

 919 lire in excess of the ordinary expenditure as 



much to uplift the Government credit, in con- 

 junction with rigid economy enforced by Minis- 

 ters Sonnino, Luzzati, Boselli, and Rubini, and 

 expanding production and good crops are not the 

 only factors in this prosperity; other causes, 

 which have helped to promote industrial expan- 

 sion and agricultural betterment, are the enor- 

 mous amount of money remitted or brought home 

 by Italian emigrants and the increasing amount 

 spent by tourists in Italy. 



The Army. All able-bodied Italians are 

 bound to military service between the ages of 

 twenty and thirty-nine. The annual levy is di- 

 vided into 3 categories. Those who are drawn 

 by lot in the first category, or who volunteer, 

 serve two or three years with the colors and five 



estimated in the budget, while the extraordinary to seven years on leave in the permanent army, 

 revenue falls short of the extraordinary expend- then three or four years in the mobile militia, and 

 iture by 84,169,188 lire. seven years in the territorial militia; except cara- 



