31. ITALIAN FINANCE. The public debt of Italy, its origin and development, reflects the difficulties Italy experienced in becoming a great nation. The new nation took upon itself the obligations of the various territories out of which it grew and respected all the engagements made by them.
When Italy was united in one great nation and when the province of Venice and the province of Rome were united to the Italian nation, the interest charges on the public debts of the were formed as follows (bonds bearing 5 per cent, 4 and 3 per cent interest) : Therefore the inheritedpublic debts amounted nearly to the sum of 2,516,000,000 • lire ($503,200,000 approximately), there re mained only the obligatioris at 5 per cent and 3 per cent.
At this time the public debt of Italy was divided into three groups: Public Debts — ad ministered by the general direction of public debts; Public Debts—administered by the gen eral direction of foreign countries; and the dif ferent passivites. The essential part of these passivites is formed by those which are admin istered by the Director of Public Debt. When the Organic Law of 1861, No. 94, was passed, it was aimed to give a solid form' to the public debt; and accordingly the public administrators ordered and formed the Big Book, in which they could inscribe the parts written in an authentic form and the guarantees and privi leges of the law. A new series of public laws was formed, in order to recognize sufficiently the debts of the different states, by which the main portion of those debts were recognized. Italian obligations were inscribed in the Big Book.
, In enrolling the formation of Italian public obligations we find that the forms of public duties handled by the general administration are classified in the three following categories: (1) Consolidated obligations; (2) obligations entered separately in the Big Book; (3) obli gations not entered •in the Big Book, or special bookkeeping accounts.
The . perpetual debt especially found its origin in the debts of the former state Modena to private persons, and from the in-, conic promised for the support of the Vatican.
These passivites bear 5 and 3 per cent interest. The redeemable debts were caused by obliges, Lions of railroads assumed by the states of Tuscany and Parma and by obligations estalco fished by the Italian state to supply the expense of special railroads in Piedmont. Some parts of the redeemable obligations have been greatly reduced. The following amounts represent the duties entered separately • in the Big Book: According to the above figures we have a total sum of 13,644,763.34 lire of interest de rived from bonds, and bonds redeemable sepa rately inscribed.
Duties not named and not inscribed sepa rately handled by the general direction of the public debts, are more interesting.
Their origin was found in the laws for re deeminkethe precedent debts, or from the "law of new relating to various works, erally for economical purposes, i.e., develop ment of means of communication, for hygienic purposes or for the coast defenses or public utilities of the big cities. These are divided into the five following classes: . • 1. Obligations to redeem the railroad lines and canals, already built. Similar obligations, 3 and 5 per cent, for the Society of Roman Lines. (Lines of Livorno, Luca, Pistoia, Cen tral Tuscany, Apiano, Grosseto and Rome) and those for redeeming the Cavour Canal.
2. Obligations regarding the new building of specified lines.
3. Obligations for completing the principal lines, and for supplying the capital necessary to increase the patrimonial property (for in creasing the stations, etc.). Similar obligations of 3 per cent of the societies for renting the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Sicula 4. Obligations to protect Rome from the waters of the River Tiber, and for parts of waterworks systems in Rome and Naples.
5. Various outlays, not immediately profit able.