443 ITALY qualification, without regard to their property. The kingdom is divided into 508 electoral colleges, each of which elects a deputy for the term of five years. No election is valid unless at least one third of the inscribed voters appear at the polls. The average number of inhabi- tants for every electoral college was 52,955. The aggregate number of electors enrolled on the roll list of 1870 was 528,932, being 1-97 per cent, of the total population. The number who took part in the election was 238,448, or 45-8 per cent, of those enrolled. All voters 30 years old or over are eligible as deputies. The chambers are convoked annually, and their sit- tings are public. All citizens are equal before the law, and have equal rights and duties. The constitution of the provinces and communes is based upon the law of March 20, 1865. For local administration, each province has a pro- vincial council elected by the communes for a term of five years, and a provincial deputa- tion which is convoked by the provincial coun- cils. The affairs of a commune are adminis- tered by a communal council elected for five years, and by a municipal giunta elected by the municipal council. The chief of the communal administration is the sindaco, who is appointed by the king for a term of three years from among the members of the communal council. The ministry, which is responsible to the chambers, consists of nine sections: foreign affairs, interior, justice and public worship, finances, war, navy, public instruction, public works, and agriculture and commerce. At the head of each of the provinces is a prefect, who is assisted by a prefecture! council. At the head of each circle, except the one in which the prefect resides, there is a sub-prefect (or district commissioner in the divisions excep- tionally termed districts) ; the prefect attends to the duties of the sub-prefect in his own cir- cle. For the administration of justice there are 4 courts of cassation (in Turin, Florence, Naples, and Palermo), 24 courts of appeal, 97 courts of assize, 162 civil and correctional tri- bunals, and 1,908 pretorships. By the new law on the reorganization of the army which was presented to the chambers on Dec. 20, 1872, the liability to military service is made universal, the exceptions formerly allowed being reduced to an insignificant number. The annual con- tingent is to be 100,000 men, of whom from 75,000 to 80,000 are to be taken for the first class, whose term of service is three years (for the cavalry five years); the remainder enter the second class, to which the former belong after the expiration of their active service. The time of service in the second class is 19 years ; in the second and first classes together, 22 years. The actual strength of the army in March, 1873, was as follows: standing army, on the peace footing (men actually under arms), 183,205 ; men on unlimited furlough, 358,370 ; total on war footing, 541,575 ; to which must be added provincial troops 202,081, making the total armed forces in time of war 743,656. The national guard (corresponding to the Ger- man landsturm), which was first organized in 1848, may be called upon for the defence of the monarchy, and for the preservation of peace and order at home. To it all citizens belong from their 21st to their 55th year, except those who are in the army. The standing army is divided into six corps d'armee, each corps con- sisting of three divisions and each division of two brigades, four or six battalions of lersa- glieri or riflemen, two regiments of cavalry, and from six to nine companies of artillery. The provincial militia is divided into battal- ions and companies, and when fully organized is to comprise 960 companies of infantry, 16 of riflemen, and 10 of sappers. The national guard consists exclusively of infantry divided into battalions, of which there were 343 organ- ized in 1873. The navy in 1872 consisted of 59 steamers, 22 of which were ironclads, and 17 transports; total, 76 vessels, carrying 653 guns. It is manned by 11,200 sailors and 660 engineers and working men, with 1,271 officers, including 1 admiral, 5 vice admirals, 12 rear admirals, and 102 captains. The finances of the kingdom have from its first year been in an unsatisfactory condition. In every year the expenditures have considerably exceeded the revenue, as this table of budgets shows : Revenue. Expenditure. Deficit. 1861 194,700,000 $155,800,000 160.600,000 1862 102 400 000 162 100 000 59 700 000 1868 118,700,000 180,40(1,000 61,700,000 1664 124,700 000 174 100 000 49.400 000 1865 129,100,000 168,400.000 89.800.000 1866 158,200 000 175,800,000 22.600 000 1667 153,000,000 196,900,000 43,900,000 1868 . 152,700,000 169,700,000 87,000,000 1869 155400000 190 100 000 84.700,000 1870 188,600,000 214,600,000 81,100,000 1871 280,400 000 246,700,000 16,800,000 1872 250,800,000 268.800,000 18,500,000 1878 252,800,000 297,800,000 45,000,000 The alarming deficits were but slightly covered by augmented revenue ; the larger portion of them had to be met partly by loans and partly by the sale of state property and monopolies. Thus in 1867 the sum of $116,000,000 was levied on church property; in 1868 the state monopoly on tobacco was made over to a French company in consideration of a loan of $34,- 700,000; and in 1864 the state railways had been sold for $38,600,000. As a result of these deficits a very heavy public debt has rapidly accumulated, amounting at the end of 1872 to a nominal capital of $1,741,900,000. The total charges on account of the public debt, compri- sing interest, management, and sinking fund, were estimated at $146,000,000, an amount representing more than one half of the total ordinary revenue of the kingdom. The early history of Italy is closely connected with that of the Roman state. Among the earliest in- habitants of the country we find the Etruscans or Tuscans, Umbrians, Oscans, Siculi, Latins, Volsci, JJqui, Sabines, Peligni, Marsi, Marru-
