iTALT
228
ITALY
into the manufacture of conglomerates, was nearly
6,000,000 tons. The total sum of the various motor
forces available on 1 January, 1904, according to the
statistics of the " Ispettorato generale dell' Industria e
Commercio", published in 1906, was as follows: steam
engines, 2,472,133 horse power; gas motors, 45,855
horse power; hydraulic forces, 490,000 horse power;
motors of other kinds, exclusive of windmills, 446
horse power — total, 3,008,452. As regards textile
industries, in which Italy is making an effort to regain
the primacy that it enjoyed in the glorious Middle
Ages, we give in round numbers the following ap-
proximate data : —
Industry
Fac-
tories
H. P.
Spindles
IN Oper-
I^OMS
WORK-
Silk
2,200
800
800
320
13,000
21,000
91,000
14,000
2,000,000
330,000
2,100,000
110,000
20,000
12,000
42,000
8,000 300,000
Wool
Cotton
Linen, Hemp,
Jute
Home Weaving
390,000
140.000
27,000
The mechanical industries, in the working of iron, are
also growing, as in the manufacture of arms, foundries,
and naval construction. Coal has been used until
now almost exclusively in the industries, and con-
sequently Italy is yearly a tributary to foreign coun-
tries in the sum of nearly .$50,000,000; but now it
can substitute electrical power, derived from its nu-
merous watercourses, an inexhaustible wealth that
Raddi estimates to be equal to 10,000,000 horse power.
This is the wliite coal, according to the happy expres-
sion of Berges, which will be capable of supplying
both the great and the small industries ; and the
Italian mind must have presaged this new force, in
which the future prosperity of Italy lies, seeing that in
this country, where, nearly a century ago, Volta dis-
covered the electric pile, have appeared also the two
greatest transformers of electrical energy, Pacinotti
and Galileo Ferraris; while Marconi, utilizing the
Hertzian waves, has opened up a new horizon.
The principal centres of the silk industry are Milan, Como, Genoa, Turin, and Florence; those of the cotton industry are Milan, Bergamo, Como, Turin, Novara, Genoa, Salerno, Udine, and Pisa; the principal centres for the wool industry are the Biellese, Vicenza (Schio), and Tuscany; the principal centres for the manufac- ture of linen textures and for the hemp industry are in Lombardy, Emilia, Venice, and Campania ; the metal- lurgical industries are centred atFollonica (Grosseto), Cecina, Piombino, Portoferraio, Terni, Iglesias, and Pertusola in Sardinia. Pozzuoli, Terni, and Brescia enjoy a high reputation for their metallurgical indus- tries in general, and for the manufacture of arms in particular, while the products of important shops in Lombardy, Piedmont, Venice, Tuscany, Liguria, and Naples, in marine engines, railroad supplies, automo- biles, and kindred productions enjoy high favour. Naples, Leghorn, Spezia, Genoa, and Sestri Ponente have considerable dock yards, while the largest ar- senals are at Spezia, Venice, Naples, Castellammare di Stabia, and Taranto. Italy occupies an important position with regard to the industrial trades, the de- velopment of which is being promoted through the establishment of the museums of Turin, of Rome and of Naples, and by the opening of industrial schools. Florence, Venice, and Rome are famous for their mo- saic productions; Venice, the Romagna, the Milanese, and Tuscany, for their terra-cotta, majolica, and por- celain arts; Venice and Murano for their mirrors, for glass, and for gla.ss beads ; Naples, Genoa, Leghorn, and Trapani are famous for their coral works, and Turin, Naples,.Venice, Rome, and Florence, for their bronzes, statues, pictures, tapestry, etc. Tuscany, -and es- pecially Florence, enjoys a good reputation for the manufacture of straw liats, as do the establisliments of
Piedmont, Lombardy, anr! Liguria for the manufacture
of paper, and especially so Fabriano, in the Marches,
for its hand-made paper, one of the oldest establish-
ments of its kind in Europe. Milan is the principal
centre of Europe for the printing of music and is the
chief centre of Italy for the polygraphic industries.
In alimentary products Liguria and Naples lead for
pastry, and Bologna and Modena for their sausages;
Liguria for salt fish; Lombardy for its cheeses; Tus-
cany and Liguria lead in the production of oil. The
best-known wines, enjoying high esteem in foreign
coimtries, are Barolo, Barbera, Grignolino, and Ver-
mouth of Piedmont; Sangiovese and Canino, of the
Romagna; Chianti, Pomino, and Rufina, of Tuscany;
Orvieto and Aleatico, of Umbria; the wines of the
Roman Castelli; Tauraso, Capri, and Falerno, from the
southern provinces.
(5) Commerce. — More intimate relations with the principal powers, with which Italy has commercial treaties, and the increase of ways of commimication liy land and sea, especially the tunnelling of Fn'jus, the St. Gottliard, and the Simplon, and tlie opening of the Suez Canal, have facilitated commercial relations and have increased the intercourse of Italy with other countries. This is sufficiently shown by the fact that, while the sum total of Italian commerce in 1861 was of a value of .$3,200,000, it was of a value of .$922,000,000 in 1907, exclusive of precious metals, of which amount $552,000,000 represent the imports, and $370,000,000 the exports. The most important commercial centres are Lombardy, Piedmont. Liguria, and Venice, which is due not only to the greater activity of the inhabi- tants of those regions and to their contact with the neighbouring foreign peoples, but also to the many good highways of those provinces, and to their navi- gable canals and railroad development. In the second rank are Emilia, Tuscany, the Marches, Umbria, and Lazio. The commerce of Southern Italy and of Sicily is yet at a low standard, although it is slowly awaken- ing. The greater portion of foreign commerce is done by maritime transportation, the most active ports being those of Genoa, Leghorn, Naples, Palermo, Catania, Brindisi, and Venice. The economical condi- tions of Italy, on the whole, are not unfavourable, but the nation is far from enjoying the prosperous condi- tions to which other countries have attained in this regard. The weak points are in the backward vm- scientific conditions of agriculture and of the raising of cattle, wavering on the verge of excessive cultiva- tion ; while there is a considerable danger in the exag- gerated protectionism that gradually is fixing its roots in the sentiment of the people and in that of nations.
The merchant marine is not at the height that it at- tained in the Middle .\ges uiidrr the glorious maritime repubhcs, and a ctimjilication of historical and of geo- graphical causes, adtletl to the inertia of Governments and to the lack of judicial protection, have obstructed its favourable progress. Nevertheless private enter- prise has not been abated in the development of the merchant marine, although it be true that it has not attained the favourable results that liave crowned like efforts in other countries. In the last four years, how- ever, the Societil di Navigazione Generale Italiana, the Veloce Company, the Italia Company, the Italian- Lloyd, the Sabaudo-Lloyd, and the Societa Siculo- Americana have added thirty-five large, twin-screw, transatlantic steamships to the emigrant service, with a capacity of 240,000 tons burden, and accommoda- tion for nearly 70,000 passengers. «liich was done at an expense of not less than .$2s,0(l(l.(l(Hl. 'I'lio Italian merchant marine occupies the .seventh position among those of the large countries. The State, to assist the merchant marine, grants navigation prizes and com- pensation for the construction of ships anti for repairs that are carried out in Italian yards, amounting in all to a yearly maximum of $l,()6o,000. Tliis sy.stem, however, which has been in force since 1880, and in-
