These facts are quite remarkable, but one i must not infer merely from the financial pros perity of the government and the sound state of the banking circulation that the condition of national economics is absolutely vigorous. Taxation in Italy is very heavy; its total per haps equals one-fifth of the annual production, and although the system of public revenue is complete in the sense that it reaches all the direct and indirect sources of individual eco nomics, it is defective as regards elasticity, co ordination and is too burdensome upon the most necessary articles of consumption. While the land and house taxes have the character of a real tax, that on the income (ricchezza mobile) is personal, and many relate to profits, interest, honorariums, stipends, salaries; but the fact that this has the character of a partial tax hardly serves as an offset to the severity of the first two taxes. Permanent incomes are taxed at a higher rate than temporary or un certain incomes; the exemptions are few and the minimum of exemption is low. Another $40,000,000 is obtained from a class of imposts called taxes on business, but the general opinion at present is that they should be reformed as to their acceptation, as annoyances are caused by their collection. Modern progress was only evidenced in 1902 in the taxes on succession, and this is the laudable initiative to a better distribution of the taxation. But it is to be de plored that the food and home of the working man should be so heavily burdened with im posts. A diminution of the rate of taxation would probably lead to a rapid increase of fiical revenue, through the expansion of. consumption, as occurred recently after the reduction of the duty on Brazilian coffee.. But although it would be a benefit to finance and economics, it is not given any consideration on account of commercial policy. The duty on grain is 7.50 the quintal, and if it yields the state a variabl4 though always a considerable. revenue, it -places on the taxpayers the heavy burden of about V0,000,000. Added to this pernicious distri-' bution of wealth, owing to the duty, there hat been no advance in the cultivation of cereals; and now the average yield of 10 or 11 hecto4, liters per acre is still small. In this connection it is proper to take into account the number of the agricultural population, which, considering the inhabitants employed in other occupations, amounts 'to 40 per tent of the whale; while 19 per cent are employed in manufacturing tries, and 434 per cent in commerce.' Although the agricultural protectionism was counterbalanced by the industrial protectionism which developed after 1887 and was followed by a period of depression, there may 'be: seem a noteworthy progress in the principal lines- of production. The value of fuel for industrial use has increased, the -power of .steam engines and other motors, among which hydraulic and electric motors take the lead, increases in pro. portion to the increasing requirements of labor. The production of silk has grown remarkably, especially in the last 10 years, so has the cotton crop, especially the inferior grades; great per fection has been attained in the tanning of leather; and there has been a great, increase in the chemical industries.
The bulk of international commerce which, in the two years of 1890 and 1891, was repro. seated by an average value of $420,000,000 •a year, increased in the two years 1904-05 to an average of $729,800,000 -a year. A small portion of this' -increase may be attributed to variations in price, and since then we cannot say that there has been any diminution in internal commerce. The indications are .sig nificant, and besides agree with so many others that we may draw conclusions, for example, as to the increase in railroads, postal business, telegraphs, deposits in banks and savings banks, etc. But it is certain that the bulk of Italian foreign commerce is small compared with the foreign commerce of England, France or Ger many. ' An industrial increase may be noticed; but the greater part of these factories are of small production. The average number of employees or operatives in each factory rose to 25 in 1876 and 38 in 1903, allowing naturally for differ ences in the different branches according to the relative technical requirements.
There are few large fortunes in Italy, Nitti made a 'calculation that there are from 1,500 to 1,600 millionaires; while in Germany there are about 11,000; in France, 15,000;- and more than 30,000 in England. Every year manor
inheritances of about $400 compose more than three-fourths of the total' number; and those not exceeding $10,000, 98 per cent; The general wealth of $10,800,000,000 in 1885-90 rose to $13,000,000,000 in 1902-03.
In regard to the conditions of the laboring classes, the Bureau of Statistics has shown that in 1871 the wage per hour on an average Might be estimated at 0.171 lire and in 1903 at 0265 (respectively about 3Vj cents and Rs cents). Taking into accouht the price of grain it would have taken a laborer 183 hours of toil during the first period to enable him to buy a quintal of grain; and during the second period, only 91 hours. According to the researches of Sig nori Geisser e Magrini, the average increase in actual wages in the usual industries was from 86 per cent in 1862, to 192 in 1903, an increase, therefore, of 123 per cent. The variations, however, are many; and if we maintain that to day the expert operative commands wages as high as $1.40 to $1.60 a day, the conditions of the inferior workmen is a sad one, especially those that are not organized and who belong to domestic service. According to a census of workmen taken by the Umanitaria at Milan, out of more than 122,397 persons who on 1 July 1903, complained of their wages, 62,201 or 71.45 per cent of the operatives received a wage of 20 to 60 cents a day, and out of these 41,389 operatives, equal to 91.31 per cent less • than 20 to 30 cents. In agricultural labor the wages were ascertained in 1901; the average wages, except for temporary increases, are even less than in the industries mentioned, and are re duced whenever there is a lack of work, which so often happens in Italy particularly with agricultural labor.
The increasing emigration in its whole being of 143,946 or 394 per 100,000 inhabitants, during the year 1916), which comprises for the most part agricultural laborers, must not be looked upon as an indication of absolute poverty, but is rather a symptom of the differ ence between Italian and foreign wages. It has to a certain extent aided in eliminating the enormous excess of births over deaths, and has promoted savings which go to augment the na tional capitalization, as the remittances to Italy of the emigrants to United States figured at $22,632,989.98 in 1916, can proportionally show. It has also helped to establish certain forms of agricultural contracts, but it certainly has de prived Italian industry of valuable energy and changed the special demographic constitution of some of the southern countries.
The social legislation makes provision al most exclusively for disabled workmen (pen sions for the old and infirm; and for extraor dinary emergencies, obligatory insurance against the accidents incident to labor), and by apposite Law of 4 April 1912, a National Institution of Insurances was created with contracts amount ing already in December, 1916, to $231,120,000, More extensive provisions have been made to prevent the employment of young children and to shorten the hours of labor. A course of in structive studies was instituted by the Labor Bureau (1904) and there began to be a more rigorous application of the protective laws, which is always more readily brought about *by the solid organization of the labor federations. If strikes are still of frequent occurrence, there are not lacking instances of a peaceful settle ment of the disputes between employers and em ployees and the arrangement of mutual con tracts.
Independent woman labor is a new economic factor to which the European War gave promi nence, so that it will survive in Italy's economic conditions. The secular tradition of the woman being supported in her life by the man, has now completely disappeared, together with any mate rial depreciation of female labor through an antiquated moralprejudice.
It is certain that the progress in industrial civilization and •the production of wealth is greater in Northern Italy than in the central and southern provinces, which is probably owing to intellectual and moral causes. There is less illiteracy in the northern provinces than in the general average of the kingdom or in the south ern provinces. While in the province of Turin 89 per cent of the population above six years of age knows how to read, in the province of Cosenza— which represents the highest degree of illiteracy— only 30.4 per cent can read (see