415. Electoral Reform.—Notwithstanding these facts, there has been, in recent years, a somewhat insistent demand for electoral reform. The Luzzatti ministry fell, in March, 1911, primarily because a plan of suffrage extension which it had proposed was not to be put in operation before 1913. June 10, 1911, the Giolitti ministry which succeeded laid before the Chamber the text of a measure which, if adopted, would go far toward the establishment of universal male suffrage. The proposal was that practically all male citizens over thirty years of age, and all over twenty-one who have performed the military service required by the state, should be given the privilege of voting, irrespective of their ability to read and write. This project, after being debated at length, was adopted in the Chamber of Deputies early in 1912 by the enormous majority of 392 to 61. In the event of its final enactment the existing electorate will be increased from three millions to two and a half times that number and a general overhauling of electoral methods and machinery will be rendered necessary. The groundsupon which the change is urged are, first, the example of other nations and, second, the political and economic progress which Italy has achieved within the past generation. Serious students doubt whether the time is ripe for so radical a step. One half of the proposed electorate would be wholly illiterate.[553]
416. Electoral Procedure.—Save during the years 1882-91, when thescrutinio di listawas in operation, deputies have been chosen uniformly from single-member districts. There are to-day 508 such districts. No candidate is returned unless he not only polls a number of votes in excess of one-sixth of the total number of enrolled electors within the district, but has also an absolute majority of all the votes cast. If, after balloting, it is found that no candidate meets this requirement, a second ballot (ballottaggio) takes place one week subsequently.[554]At each polling place the presiding officer and "scrutineers" are chosen by the voters present. The method of voting is simple. In the polling-booth stands a table, on which are placed two square glass boxes, one empty, the other containing the voting papers. As the list of enrolled electors is read alphabetically, each man steps forward, receives a ballot paper, takes it to an adjoining table and writes on it the name of the candidate for whom he wishes to vote, folds the paper, and deposits it in the box reserved for the purpose. After the list has been read through it is the right of any voter who was not present to respond when his name was called to cast his ballot in a similar manner. The polling hours extend, as a rule, from 9A.M.to 4P.M.[555]
417. Qualifications and Privileges of Members.—A deputy is not required to be a resident of the district from which he is chosen. He must, however, be a citizen; must be at least thirty years of age; must be in possession of full civil and political rights; and must not belong toany of the classes or professions whose members are debarred by law. All salaried government officials, all persons receiving stipends from the state, and all persons ordained for the priesthood or filling clerical office are disqualified outright. Furthermore, while officers in the army and navy, ministers, under-secretaries, and various other higher functionaries may be elected, their number must never exceed forty, not including the ministers and under-secretaries. Neither senators nor deputies receive a salary or other compensation, a fact that undoubtedly accounts in some measure for the uniformly slender attendance in the chambers. Members are permitted, however, to travel free throughout Italy by rail, or on steamers belonging to lines that have a government contract containing a stipulation upon the subject. Measures providing for the payment of members have been proposed from time to time, but none have received the approval of the two chambers. A measure of the sort introduced in 1882 by Francesco Crispi, when a deputy, was rejected by the lower house. More recently, in the electoral bill voted by the Chamber of Deputies in 1912 provision is made for the payment of deputies; but at the time of writing final action upon this project has not been taken. Deputies are elected nominally for a five-year period, which is the maximum duration of a parliament. In point of fact, a dissolution is practically certain to intervene before the expiration of the full term, and the average interval between elections is nearer three years than five. If for any reason a deputy ceases to perform his duties, the electoral district that chose him is called upon forthwith to elect a new representative.
418. The Chambers: Organization.—The constitution does not prescribe definitely that the parliament shall be assembled annually. It stipulates merely that the sessions of the two houses shall begin and end at the same time, that a meeting of one house at a time when the other is not in session is illegal, and that measures enacted under such circumstances are void.[556]Custom and the necessities of administration, however, render it incumbent upon the crown to convoke the chambers in at least one session each year, unless, indeed, as has sometimes happened, a session is so prolonged as to extend, with occasional recesses, over an entire year, or even two years.
The president and vice-president of the Senate are designated by the crown, but the president, vice-presidents, and secretaries of the lower chamber are chosen by the chamber itself from among its own members at the beginning of each session, for the entire session. The president of the Deputies, although empowered to appoint certain committees,such as those on rules and contested elections, is not infrequently re-elected again and again without regard to party affiliations, after the manner of the Speaker of the British House of Commons. The membership of the Chamber of Deputies is divided into nineuffici, or sections, and that of the Senate into five. A fresh division, by lot, takes place every two months. The principal function of theufficiis the election of those committees for whose constitution no other provision is made. In each chamber the most important of all committees, that on the budget, is elected directly by the chamber. In the Deputies certain other committees are elected in the same way, while, as has been said, those on elections and on rules are appointed by the president. But committees specially constituted for the consideration of particular measures are made up of members chosen from the variousuffici, unless the chamber prefers to designate some other method.
419. The Chambers: Procedure.—Each house frames its own rules of procedure. By the constitution it is stipulated that the sessions shall be public (with the provision that upon the written request of ten members secret sessions may be held); that Italian shall be the official language; that no session or vote of either house shall be valid unless an absolute majority of the members is present; and that neither house shall receive any deputation, or give hearings to persons other than the legislative members, ministers, and commissioners of the Government.[557]Except such as relate to finance, bills on any subject may originate in either house, and at the initiative of the Government or of private members, though in practice all proposals of importance emanate from the Quirinal. The ministers appear regularly on the floor of the two chambers, to advocate the measures of the Government and to reply to inquiries. The right of interpellation is not infrequently exercised, though the debate and vote following a challenge of the ministry fall regularly after an interval of some days, instead of at once, as in the French system, thus guarding somewhat against precipitancy of action. A measure which is passed in one house is transmitted to the other for consideration. After enactment in both houses, it is presented to the king for approval, which, in practice, is never withheld. A bill rejected by the crown, or by either house, may not be reintroduced during the same session. Votes are taken by rising and sitting, by division, or by secret ballot. The third of these methods is obligatory in all final votes on enactments, and on measures of a personalcharacter. It is specifically enjoined that deputies shall represent the nation as a whole, and not the districts from which they are chosen, and to this end no binding instructions may be imposed upon them by the electors.[558]Except when taken in the actual commission of an offense, deputies are exempt from arrest during the continuance of a session, and they may not be proceeded against in criminal matters without the previous consent of the Chamber. Neither senators nor representatives may be called to account for opinions expressed, or for votes cast, in the performance of their official functions.
420. General Aspects.—The provisions of theStatutorespecting the administration of justice are brief and general. Justice, it is declared, emanates from the king and is administered in his name by the judges whom he appoints. These judges, after three years of service, are irremovable. Proceedings of courts in civil cases and hearings in criminal cases are required to be public. No one may be withdrawn from his ordinary legal jurisdiction; and no modification may be introduced in respect to courts, tribunals, or judges, save by law.[559]On the basis of these principles there has been built up a system of tribunals which differs in but few important respects from the systems in operation in the other Latin countries of Europe. It consists, in part, of courts which have been carried over from the period preceding Italian unification and, in part, of courts which owe their existence to legislation subsequent to 1861. The model upon which the system has been developed is the judicial hierarchy of France, and it differs from this system in little save the existence, as will appear, of five largely independent courts of cassation instead of one.
421. The Ordinary Courts.—For purposes of justice the kingdom is divided into 1,535mandamenti,[560]162 tribunal districts, and 20 appellate court districts. Within eachmandamentois apretura, or magistracy, which exercises jurisdiction in civil cases and in cases of misdemeanors (contravvenzioni) and offenses (delitte) punishable by imprisonment not exceeding three months, or banishment not exceeding one year, ora fine not exceeding 1,000 lire. In minor civil cases, involving sums not in excess of 100 lire, jurisdiction is vested in justices of the peace (giudici conciliatori) who likewise, upon request, act as arbitrators in cases involving any amount. In each of thirteen of the largest towns there is apreturawhich exercises penal jurisdiction exclusively. Next above thepretoristand the penal courts, one in each of the 162 tribunal districts. These exercise jurisdiction in the first instance in offenses involving a maximum imprisonment of ten years or a fine of more than 1,000 lire. To them appeal may be carried from the decisions of thepretori. Closely associated are the courts of assize, which possess original jurisdiction in cases involving a penalty of imprisonment for life, or for a period longer than a minimum of five, and a maximum of ten, years. Save when the Senate is constituted a high court of justice, these tribunals have exclusive jurisdiction of all press offenses and of all cases involving attacks upon the security of the state. As a rule, the courts of assize make use of the jury. From their decisions there is no appeal, save upon a point of form, and appeal lies solely to the court of cassation at Rome. From the penal tribunals appeal lies, in cases not dealt with by the assize courts, to the twenty courts of appeal.
At the top of the system stand five largely independent courts of cassation, located at the old capitals of Turin, Florence, Naples, Palermo, and Rome. Each of these exercises, within its own territory, final jurisdiction in all cases involving the ordinary civil law. The court of cassation at Rome, it is true, has been given exclusive jurisdiction in conflicts of competence between different courts, conflicts between the courts and the administrative authorities, the transfer of suits from one tribunal to another, writs of error in criminal cases, and a variety of other special matters. But, aside from this, the five tribunals are absolutely equal in function; there is no appeal from one to another, and the decisions arrived at by one do not constitute precedents which the others are obligated to recognize. One of the most striking aspects, indeed, of the Italian judicial system is its lack of centralization; though it should be added that the centralizing principle which, since 1870, has dominated so notably all other departments of the government has been gradually winning its way in the judiciary.
422. The Administrative Courts.—In Italy, as in continental countries generally, there is preserved a sharp distinction between public and private law; but the separation of functions of the ordinary and the administrative courts is much less clear-cut than in France and elsewhere. In 1865, indeed, the surviving administrative courts ofthe states which had been drawn into the kingdom, were abolished and it was arranged that the ordinary courts should exercise unrestricted jurisdiction in all criminal cases and in all civil cases in which, by the decision of the Council of State, a civil or political right was involved. The system worked poorly and by laws of June 2, 1889, and May 1, 1890, a special section of the Council of State (composed of a president and eight councillors named by the king) was set off to serve as an administrative court, while at the same time an inferior administrative jurisdiction was conferred upon thegiunta(prefect and certain assistants) of the province. In practice to-day, when the legality of acts committed by the administrative officials is called in question, the ordinary courts exercise jurisdiction, if the question is one of privateright; if it is one merely of privateinterest, it goes for decision to an administrative tribunal. In most continental countriesallcases involving the legality of official acts fall within the domain of the administrative courts.[561]
423. Historical Basis.—In her ancient territorial divisions Italy had once the basis of a natural and wholesomely decentralized system of local government. Instead of availing themselves of it, however, the founders of the present kingdom preferred to reduce the realm to atabula rasaand to erect within it a wholly new and symmetrical hierarchy of territorial divisions and governmental organs. By a great statute of March 20, 1865, there was introduced in the kingdom a system of provincial and communal organization, the essentials of which were taken over in part from Belgium, but more largely from France. The functions and relations of the various local agencies were amplified and given substantially their present form in the law of December 30, 1888, supplemented and amended by acts of July 7, 1889, and July 11, 1894. So closely has the French model been adhered to throughout that the resemblance between the two systems amounts almost to duplication. The system of Italy calls, therefore, for no very extended independent description.
The units of local government are four in number—the province, thecircondaro, themandamento, and the commune. Of these, the first and last alone possess vitality, distinct interests, and some measure of autonomy; and throughout the entire series runs that same principle of thoroughgoing centralization which is the pre-eminent characteristicof the local governmental system of France. Thecircondaro, corresponding to the Frencharrondissement, is essentially an electoral division. Strictly, there are in the kingdom 197circondarii; but 87 districts comprising the province of Mantua and the eight provinces of Venetia are, in all save name,circondariialso. The 1806mandamenti, or cantons, are but subdivisions of the provinces for administrative purposes.
424. The Province: Prefect and Council.—There are in the kingdom 69 provinces, varying considerably in size but with an average population of 450,000 to 500,000. The Italian province corresponds closely to the French department. At its head is a prefect, appointed by the crown and directly responsible to the Minister of the Interior. Like the French prefect, the Italian is a political official, and the fact not merely influences his appointment but affects greatly his conduct in office. As representative and agent of the central government the prefect publishes and executes the laws, supervises the provincial administration, opens and closes sessions of the provincial council and sanctions or vetoes the measures of that body, and safeguards in general the interests of the Government in the province.
Within each province is a council of from 20 to 60 members, elected for a period of six years on a franchise somewhat broader than that which prevails in parliamentary elections. One-half of the membership is renewed triennially. The council meets regularly once each year, nominally for a month's session; but an extraordinary session may be convened at any time by the prefect, by the deputation, or upon call of one-third of the councillors. Aside from the voting of the provincial budget, the powers of the council are relatively meager. In part, e.g., in respect to the maintenance of highways, the control of secondary and technical education, and a share in the supervision of charity, they are obligatory; in part they are merely permissive. A deputation, or commission, of from six to ten persons, elected by the council from its own membership, represents the council in the intervals between its sittings and carries on the work which it may have in hand. The prefect is advised by a prefectorial council of three members appointed by the Government, and he is further assisted by agiuntaof six members, four of whom are elected by the provincial council, the other two being drawn from the prefectorial council. It is the business of thegiuntato assist the prefect and sub-prefects in the supervision of local administration and to serve as a tribunal for the trial of cases arising under the administrative law. The prefect and thegiuntapossess large, and to a considerable degree, discretionary powers of control over the proceedings of the council; and the prefect, representing as he does the central government exclusively,can be called to account only by his superiors at Rome.
425. The Commune: Syndic and Council.—As in France, the commune is the least artificial and the most vigorous of the local governmental units. In June, 1911, there were in Italy a total of 8,323 communes, besides four boroughs in Sardinia not included in the communal organization. Each commune has a council of from 15 to 80 members, according to its population, elected for a period of six years, one-half retiring every three years. The communal franchise is appreciably broader than the parliamentary. It extends to all Italian citizens twenty-one years of age who can read and write, provided they are on the parliamentary list, or pay any direct annual contribution to the commune, or comply with various other very easy conditions. The council holds two regular sessions a year, though in the large towns it, in point of fact, meets much more frequently. Between sittings its work is carried on by agiunta, which serves as a committee to execute the resolutions of the council and to draft its budget and by-laws. The powers of the council are comprehensive. It is obligated to maintain streets, roads, and markets; to provide for elementary education; to make suitable arrangements for the relief of the poor, the registration of births and deaths, and of electors; to establish police regulations and prisons; and, under varying conditions, to attend to a wide variety of other matters. The range of its optional activities is almost boundless. The council may establish theatres, found museums, subsidize public amusements, and, indeed, go to almost any length in the regulation of local affairs and the expenditure of local funds.[562]
As its chief official, every commune has asindaco, i.e., a syndic, or mayor. Prior to 1896 the syndic was chosen by the communal council from its own members, if the commune had more than 10,000 inhabitants, or was the capital of a province orcircondaro; otherwise he was appointed from among the members of the council by the king. In the great majority of communes the procedure was of the second type. Since 1896 the syndic has been chosen regularly in all communes by the council, for a term of three years, together with a secretary, elected in the first instance for two, but afterwards for periods of not less than six, years. Despite the fact that the syndic is now elected universally by the communal council, his position is not that exclusively of executive head of the local community. Like the prefect, he is a government official, who, save under very exceptional circumstances, may be removed only with the prefect's permission. He may not be called toaccount except by his superiors, or sued save with the permission of the crown.[563]
Italy differs from other nations of importance in containing what is essentially a state within a state. The capital of the kingdom is likewise the capital of the Catholic world—the administrative seat of a government which is not only absolutely independent of the government of the Italian nation but is in no small degree antagonistic to it. It need hardly be remarked that the consequences of this anomalous situation affect profoundly the practical operations of government, and especially the crystallization and programmes of political parties, in the peninsula.
426. Termination of the Temporal Power.—One goal toward which the founders of the kingdom directed their efforts was the realization of the ideal of Cavour, "a free church in a free state." A thoroughgoing application of this principle proved impracticable, but such progress has been made toward it as to constitute, for Italy, a veritable revolution. On the 20th of September, 1870, the armed forces of King Victor Emmanuel crossed the bounds of the petty papal dominion about Rome, entered the city, and by a few sharp strokes beat down all forcible opposition to the sovereignty of the united Italian nation. Pope Pius IX. refused absolutely to acquiesce in the loss of his temporal dominion, but he was powerless to prevent it. His sole hope of indemnity lay in a possible intervention of the Catholic powers in his behalf—a hope which by Prussia's defeat of France and the downfall of the Emperor Napoleon III. was rendered extremely unsubstantial. The possibility of intervention was, however, sufficiently considerable to occasion real apprehension on the part of Victor Emmanuel and of those attached to the interests of the young nation. In part to avert complications abroad, as well as with an honest purpose to adjust a difficult situation, the Government made haste to devise what it considered a fair, safe, and honorable settlement of its relations with the papal authority. The result was the fundamental statute known as the Law of the Papal Guarantees, enacted March 21, 1871, after a heated parliamentary contestlasting upwards of two months, and promulgated under date of May 13 following.[564]
427. The Law of Papal Guarantees, 1871: Papal Prerogatives.—This important measure, which remains to this day unchanged, falls into two principal parts. The first is concerned with the prerogatives of the Supreme Pontiff and of the Holy See; the second regulates the legal relations of church and state within the kingdom. In a series of thirteen articles there is enumerated a sum total of papal privileges which constitutes the Vatican an essentially sovereign and independent power. First of all, the Pope is declared sacred and inviolable, and any offense against his person is made punishable with the same penalty as a similar offense against the person of the king. In the second place, the Italian Government "grants to the Supreme Pontiff, within the kingdom, sovereign honors, and guarantees to him the pre-eminence customarily accorded to him by Catholic sovereigns."[565]Diplomatic agents accredited to him, and envoys whom he may send to foreign states, are entitled to all the prerogatives and immunities which international law accords to diplomatic agents generally. In lieu of the revenues which were cut off by the loss of the temporal dominion there is settled upon the Pope a permanent income to be paid from the treasury of the state. For the uses of the Holy See—the preservation and custody of the apostolic palaces, compensation and pensions for guards and attachés, the keeping of the Vatican museums and library, and any other needful purposes—there is reserved the sum of 3,225,000 lire ($645,000) annually, to be "entered in the great book of the public debt as a perpetual and inalienable income of the Holy See."[566]The obligation thus assumed by the state may never be repudiated, nor may the amount stipulated be reduced. Permanent possession, furthermore, of the Vatican and Lateran palaces, with all buildings, museums, libraries, gardens, and lands appertaining thereto (including the church of St. Peter's), together with the villa at Castel Gandolfo, is expressly guaranteed, and it is stipulated, not only that these properties shall be exempt from all taxation and charges and from seizure for public purposes, but that, except with papal permission, no public official or agent in the performance of his public duties shall so much as enter the papal palaces or grounds, or any place where there may be in session at any time a conclave or ecumenical council. During a vacancy of the pontifical chair no judicial or political functionary may, on any pretext, invade thepersonal liberty of the cardinals, and the Government engages specifically to see to it that conclaves and ecumenical councils shall not be molested by external disorder.
428. Papal Freedom in the Exercise of Spiritual Functions.—In the exercises of spiritual functions the independence of the Holy See is fully secured. The Pope may correspond freely with the bishops and with "the whole Catholic world," without interference from the Government.[567]Papers, documents, books, and registers deposited in pontifical offices or in congregations of an exclusively spiritual character are exempt from all legal processes of visit, search, or sequestration, and ecclesiastics may not be called to account by the civil authorities for taking part officially in the promulgation of any act pertaining to the spiritual ministry of the Holy See. To facilitate the administration of papal affairs the right is granted of maintaining separate postal and telegraph offices, of transmitting sealed packages of correspondence under the papal stamp, either directly or through the Italian post, and of sending couriers who, within the kingdom, are placed on an equal footing with emissaries of foreign governments.
429. Legal Relations of Church and State.—The regulations by which the relations of church and state are governed more specifically begin with the abolition of all restrictions upon the right of members of the Catholic clergy to assemble for ecclesiastical purposes. With provisional exceptions, theexequatur, theplacet, and all other forms of civil authorization of spiritual measures are done away.[568]The state yields its ancient right of nominating to bishoprics, and the bishops themselves are no longer required to take oath of fidelity to the king. In matters of spiritual discipline it is stipulated that there shall be no appeal to the civil courts from the decisions of the ecclesiastical authorities. If, however, any ecclesiastical decision or act contravenes a law of the state, subverts public order, or encroaches upon the rights of individuals, it is,ipso facto, of no effect; and in respect to these things the state is constituted sole judge. The Church, in short, is granted a very large measure of freedom and of autonomy; but at the same time it is not so far privileged as to be removed beyond the pale of the public law. If its measures constitute offenses, they are subject to the provisions of the ordinary criminal code.[569]
430.Papal Opposition to the Existing System.—The arrangements thus comprised in the Law of Guarantees have never received the sanction of the papacy. They rest exclusively upon the authority of the state. Pope Pius IX., flatly refusing to accept them, issued, May 15, 1871, an encyclical to the bishops of the Church repudiating the Law and calling upon Catholic princes everywhere to co-operate in the restoration of the temporal power. The call was unheeded, and the Pope fell back upon the obstructionist policy of maintaining absolutely no relations, with the Italian kingdom. His successor, Leo XIII., preserved essentially the same attitude, and, although many times it has been intimated that the present Pope, Pius X., is more disposed to a conciliatory policy, it still is true that the only recognition which is accorded the Quirinal by the Vatican is of a purely passive and involuntary character. The Pope persists in regarding himself as "the prisoner of the Vatican." He will not so much as set foot outside the petty domain which has been assigned to him, because his doing so might be construed as a virtual recognition of the legality of the authority of the kingdom within the Eternal City. Not a penny of the annuity whose payment to the Holy See was stipulated in 1871 has been touched. By the Italian Government the annuity itself has been made subject to quinquennial prescription, so that in the event of a recognition of the Law at any time by the papacy not more than a five-year quota, with interest, could be collected.
As to the measure of fidelity with which the Government has fulfilled the obligations which it assumed under the Law, there is, naturally, a wide divergence of opinion. The authors of what is probably the most authoritative book on Italy written from a detached and impartial point of view say that "on the whole, one is bound to conclude that the Government has stretched the Law of Guarantees in its own interest, but that the brevity and incompleteness of the Law is chiefly responsible for the difficulty in construing it."[570]Undoubtedly it may be affirmed that the spirit of the Law has been observed with consistency, though the exigencies of temporal interest have compelled not infrequently the non-observance of the letter. So long as the Vatican persists in holding rigidly aloof from co-operation in the arrangement the Law obviously cannot be executed with the spontaneity and completeness that were intended by its framers. The situation is unfortunate, alike for state and church, and subversive of the best interests of the Italian people.[571]
431. Party Beginnings: the Conservative Ascendancy, 1861-1876.—In Italy, as in France, political parties are numerous and their constituencies and programmes are subject to rapid and bewildering fluctuation. In the earliest days of the kingdom party lines were not sharply drawn. In the parliament elected in January, 1861, the supporters of Cavour numbered 407, while the strength of the opposition was but 36. After the death of Cavour, however, June 6, 1861, the cleavage which already had begun to mark off the Radicals, or Left, from the Conservatives, or Right, was accentuated, and the Left grew rapidly in numbers and in influence. During the period between 1861 and 1870 the two parties differed principally upon the question of the completion of Italian unity, the Conservatives favoring a policy of caution and delay, the Radicals urging that the issue be forced at the earliest opportunity. With the exception of brief intervals in 1862 and 1867, when the Radicals, under Rattazzi, gained the upper hand, the government during the period indicated was administered by the Conservative ministries of Ricasoli (the successor of Cavour), Minghetti, La Marmora, Menabrea, and Lanza. Each of the Rattazzi ministries had as one of its principal incidents an invasion of the papal territory by Garibaldi, and each fell primarily because of the fear of the nation that its continuance in power would mean war with France. The unification of the peninsula was left to be accomplished by the Conservatives.
After 1870 the dominance of the Conservatives was prolonged to 1876. The Lanza government, whose most distinguished member was the finance minister Sella, lasted until July 10, 1873, and the second ministry of Minghetti, given distinction by the able foreign minister Visconti-Venosta, filled out the period to March 18, 1876. Upon these two ministries devolved the enormous task of organizing more fully the governmental system of the kingdom, and especially of bringing order out of chaos in the national finances. The work was effectively performed, but when it had been completed the nation was more than ready to drive the Conservatives from office. The Conservative administration had been honest and efficient, but it had been rigid and at times harsh. It had set itself squarely against the democracy ofGaribaldi, Crispi, and Depretis; it had sought to retain the important offices of state in the hands of its own immediate adherents; and in the execution of its fiscal measures it had been exacting, and even ruthless. March 18, 1876, the Minghetti government found itself lacking a majority in the Chamber, whereupon it retired and was replaced by a Radical ministry under the premiership of Depretis, successor of Rattazzi in the leadership of the Left. A national election which followed, in November, yielded the new Government the overwhelming parliamentary majority of 421 to 87.
432. The Rule of the Radicals, 1876-1896.—Prior to their accession to power the Radical leaders had criticised so sharply the fiscal and administrative policies of their opponents that they were expected by many persons to overturn completely the existing order of the state. As all but invariably happens under such circumstances, however, when the "outs" became the "ins" their point of view, and consequently their purposes, underwent a remarkable transformation. In almost every essential the policies, and even the methods, of the Conservatives were perpetuated, and the importance of the political overturn of 1876 arises, not from any shift which took place from one style of government to another, but from its effects upon the composition and alignment of the parties themselves. During its fifteen-year ascendancy the Right had exhibited again and again a glaring lack of coherence; yet its unity was in reality considerably more substantial than was that of the Left. So long as the Radicals occupied the position of opponents of the Government they were able, indeed, to present a seemingly solid front. But when it fell to them to organize ministries, to frame and enact measures, and to conduct the administration, the fact appeared instantly that they had neither a constructive programme nor a unified leadership. The upshot was that upon its advent to power the Left promptly fell apart into the several groups of which it was composed, and never thereafter was there substantial co-operation among these groups, save at rare intervals when co-operation was necessary to prevent the return to office of the Conservatives.
433. The Depretis Ministries, 1876-1887.—That portion of the party which first acquired ascendancy was the more moderate, under the leadership of Depretis. Its programme may be said to have embraced the extension of the franchise, the enforcement of the rights of the state in relation to the Church, the incompatibility of a parliamentary mandate with the holding of public office, the maintenance of the military and naval policy instituted by the Conservatives, and, eventually, fiscal reform, though the amelioration of taxation was givenno such prominence as the nation had been led to expect. Save for the brief intervals occupied by the two Cairoli ministries of 1878 and 1879-1881, Depretis continued in the office of premier from 1876 until his death, in the summer of 1887. Again and again during this period the personnel of the ministry was changed. Ministers who made themselves unpopular were replaced by new ones,[572]and so complete became the lack of dividing principles between the parties that in 1883 there was established a Depretis cabinet which represented a coalition of the moderate Left and the Right.[573]The coalition, however, proved ill-advised, and when, July 27, 1887, Depretis died he left behind him a government which represented rather a fusion of the moderate and radical wings of the Left. By reason of the disintegrated condition of parties Depretis had been able to override habitually the fundamental principles of parliamentarism and to maintain through many years a government which lived from hand to mouth on petty manœuvers. The franchise, it is true, had been broadened by the law of 1882, and some of the more odious taxes, e.g., the much complained of grist tax, had been abolished. But electoral corruption had been condoned, if not encouraged; the civil service had been degraded to a mere machine of the ministerial majority; and the nation had been led to embark upon highly questionable policies of colonial expansion, alliance with Germany and Austria, and protective tariffs.
434. The First Crispi, First Rudini, and First Giolitti Ministries, 1887-1893.—The successor of Depretis was Crispi, in reality the only man of first-rate statesmanship in the ranks of the Left. To him it fell to tide the nation safely over the crises attendant upon the death (January 9, 1878) of King Victor Emmanuel II. and that (February 7 following) of Pope Pius IX. The personality of Crispi was very much more forceful than was that of Depretis and the grasp which he secured upon the political situation rendered his position little short of that of a dictator. The elections of 1876 had reduced to impotence the old Right as a party of opposition, and although prior to Crispi's ministry there had been some recovery, the Left continued in all but uncontested power. In the elections of November, 1890, the Government was accorded an overwhelming majority. None the less, largely by reason of his uncontrollable temper, Crispi allowed himself, at the end ofJanuary, 1891, to be forced by the Conservatives into a position such that the only course open to him was to resign.
There followed a transitional period during which the chaos of party groups was made more than ever apparent. The Rudini ministry, composed of representatives of both the Right and the Left, survived little more than a year. May 5, 1892, the formation of a ministry was intrusted by King Humbert to Giolitti, a Piedmontese deputy and at one time minister of finance in the Crispi cabinet. The product was a ministry supported by the groups of the Centre and the Left, but opposed by those of the Right and of the Extreme Left. Parliament was dissolved and during the ensuing November were held national elections in which, by exercise of the grossest sort of official pressure, the Government was able to win a substantial victory. The period covered by Giolitti's ministry—marked by a cringing foreign policy, an almost utter breakdown of the national finances, and the scandals of 1893 in connection with the management of state banks, especially the Banca Romana—may well be regarded as the most unfortunate in Italian history since the completion of national unity. The revelations made, November 23, 1893, by a committee appointed by Parliament to investigate the bank scandals were of such a character that the Giolitti ministry retired from office, November 24, without so much as challenging a vote of confidence. After prolonged delay a new ministry was made up, December 10, by Crispi, whose return to power was dictated by the conviction of the nation that no one else was qualified to deal with a situation so desperate.
435. The Second Crispi Ministry, 1893-1896.—The second Crispi ministry extended from December, 1893, to March, 1896. Politically, the period was one of extreme unsettlement. Supported by the Centre and the Left, substantially as Giolitti had been, the Government suppressed disorder, effected economies, and entered upon an ambitious attempt at colonial aggrandizement in East Africa. But it was opposed by the Extreme Left, a large portion of the Right, and the adherents of Giolitti, so that its position was always precarious. In December, 1894, Giolitti produced papers purporting to show that Crispi himself had been implicated in the bank irregularities. The effort to bring about the premier's fall failed, although there ensued a veritable war between the cabinet and the chambers, in the course of which even the appearance of parliamentary government was abandoned. In the elections of May, 1895, the Government was victorious, and it was only by reason of public indignation arising from the failure of the Eritrean enterprise that, finally, March 5, 1896, Crispi and his colleagues surrendered office.
During the period which was terminated by the retirement of Crispi the successive ministries, while occasionally including representatives of more than a single political group, exhibited normally a considerable degree of solidarity. After 1896 there set in, however, an epoch during which the growing multiplicity of parties bore fruit in cabinets of amazingly composite character. In the place of the fairly substantial Conservative and Radical parties of the seventies stood now upwards of half a score of contending factions, some durable, some but transitory. No government could survive a month save by the support of an affiliation of a number of these groups. But such affiliations were, in the nature of things, artificial and provisional, and ministerial stability became what it remains to-day, a thing universally desired but rarely enjoyed.
436. The Second Rudini and the Pelloux Ministries, 1896-1900.—To General Ricotti-Magnani was committed, at Crispi's fall in 1896, the task of forming a new ministry. After some delay the premiership was bestowed upon Rudini, now leader of the Right. The new Government, constructed to attract the support of both the Right and the Extreme Left, took as its principal object the elimination of Crispi from the arena of politics. In time its foreign policy was strengthened appreciably by the return of Visconti-Venosta, after twenty years, to the foreign office, but home affairs were administered in a grossly inefficient manner. Bound by a secret understanding with Cavalotti, the leader of the Extreme Left, Rudini was obliged to submit habitually to radical dictation, and the elections of 1899, conducted specifically to crush the adherents of Crispi, threw open yet wider the door of opportunity for the Socialists, the Republicans, and the radical elements generally. The Rudini ministry survived until June 18, 1898, when it was overthrown in consequence of riots occasioned in southern Italy by a rise in the price of bread.
June 29, 1898, a ministry was made up by General Pelloux which was essentially colorless politically and whose immediate programme consisted solely in the passage of a public safety measure originated during the preceding ministry. When, in June, 1900, the Government dissolved parliament and appealed to the country the result was another appreciable increase of power on the part of the radicals. In the new chamber the extremists—Radicals, Republicans, and Socialists—numbered nearly 100, or double their former strength. The Pelloux government forthwith retired, and a Liberal ministry was constituted (June24, 1900) under Saracco, president of the Senate. Five weeks later, upon the assassination of King Humbert, occurred the accession of the present sovereign, Victor Emmanuel III.
437. The Saracco and Zanardelli Ministries, 1900-1903.—The Saracco ministry, formed as a cabinet of pacification, was overthrown February 7, 1901, in consequence of its hesitating attitude towards a dock strike at Genoa. It was succeeded by a ministry containing Giolitti (in the portfolio of the interior) and presided over by Zanardelli, long a leader of the extremer wing of the Radicals. The members of the new Government were drawn from several groups. Three were of Zanardelli's following, three were adherents of Giolitti, three belonged to the Right, one was a Crispian, and two were Independents. Such was their forced reliance, however, upon the support of the Extreme Left that the formation of this cabinet served as an impetus to a notable advance on the part of the extremer groups, especially the Socialists.
438. Giolitti, Fortis, and Sonnino, 1903-1909.—In October, 1903, Premier Zanardelli retired, by reason of ill-health, and the cabinet was reconstituted under Giolitti. Aside from the premier, its most distinguished members were Tittoni, minister of foreign affairs, and Luzzatti, minister of finance. The position of the new Government was insecure, and although the elections of November, 1904, resulted in the return of a substantial ministerial majority, the cabinet, realizing that it really lacked the support of the country, resigned in March, 1905. A new and colorless ministry, that of Fortis, lasted less than a year, i.e., until February 2, 1906. The coalition cabinet of Sonnino proved even less long-lived. The well-known statesmanship of Sonnino, together with the fact that men of ability, such as Luzzatti and Guicciardini, were placed in charge of various portfolios, afforded ground for the hope that there might ensue an increased measure of parliamentary stability. But the hope was vain and, May 17, 1906, the ministry abandoned office. Curiously enough, the much desired stability was realized under a new Giolitti government, composed, as all Italian governments in these days must be, of representatives of a number of political groups. In part by reason of the shrewdness of the premier and his colleagues, in part by reason of sheer circumstance, the Giolitti cabinet maintained steadily its position until December 2, 1909, although, as need hardly be observed, during these three and a half years there were numerous changes in the tenure of individual portfolios.
439. Second Sonnino and Luzzatti Ministries, 1909-1911.—Upon the retirement of Giolitti there was constituted a second Sonnino ministry, composed of elements drawn from all of the moderate groups from the Liberal Right to the Democratic Left. The programme which it announced includedelectoral reform, the improvement of primary education, measures for the encouragement of agriculture, reorganization of local taxation, reduction of the period of military service to two years, and a multiplicity of other ambitious projects. Scarcely more fortunate, however, was the second Sonnino government than had been the first, and, in the midst of the turmoil attending the debates upon a Shipping Conventions bill, the premier and his colleagues felt themselves forced to retire, March 21, 1910.
Giolitti refused to attempt the formation of another ministry, and the task devolved upon the former minister of finance, Luzzatti. In the new cabinet the premier and one other member represented the Liberal element of the Right; one member represented the Centre; three were adherents of Giolitti; two were Radicals; one was a Socialist; and two professed independence of all groups. Whatever of advantage might be supposed to accrue from a government which was broadly representative could legitimately be expected from this combination; although the composite character of the ministry, it was well enough understood, must of necessity operate to the detriment of the Government's unity and influence. The programme which the Luzzatti ministry announced was no less ambitious than that put forward by its predecessor. Included in it were the establishment of proportional representation, the extension of the suffrage, measures to remedy unemployment and other industrial ills, compulsory insurance for agricultural laborers, resistance to clerical intrigue and the prevention of anti-clerical provocations, and the usual pledge to maintain the Triple Alliance.
440. Giolitti and the Left, 1911-.—The life of the Luzzatti government covered barely a twelvemonth. March 29, 1911, Giolitti returned to the premiership, signalizing his restoration to power by avowing in the Chamber a programme of policies which, for the time at least, elicited the support of all of the more important party groups. The composition of the new government differed but slightly from that of the former one, but the fact was undisguised that Giolitti relied for support principally upon the more radical elements of the nation, and that, furthermore, he did so with the full assent of the king. A striking evidence of this was the invitation which was extended the socialist leader Bissolati to assume a post in the ministry. Certain obstacles arose which prevented acceptance of the offered position, but when the Government's programme was being given shape Bissolati was called repeatedly into counsel, and it is understood that the ministry's pronouncement in behalf of universal suffrage and the reduction of military and naval expenditures was inspired immediately by socialist influence. Socialism in Italy, it may be observed, is not entirely anti-monarchical, asit is in France and Spain; on the contrary, it tends constantly to subordinate political to social questions and ends. Bissolati is himself an exponent of the evolutionary type of socialism, as is Briand in France. The first vote of confidence accorded the Giolitti government was participated in by the Giolitti Liberals, the Democratic Left, the Radicals, and a section of the Socialists—by, in short, a general coalition of the Left. The shift of political gravity toward the Left, of which the vote was symptomatic, is the most fundamental aspect of the political situation in Italy to-day, even as it is in that of France. During more than a generation the grouping of parties and factions has been such as to preclude the formation of a compact and disciplined majority able and willing to grapple with the great social questions which successive ministries have inscribed in their programmes. But it seems not impossible that a workingententeamong the groups of the Left may in time produce the legislative stability requisite for systematic and fruitful legislation.
441. Lack of a Conservative Party: Effects.—"From the beginning," says an Italian writer, "the constitution of our parties has been determined, not at all by great historical or political considerations, but by considerations of a purely personal nature, and this aspect has been accentuated more and more as we have progressed in constitutional development. The natural conditions surrounding the birth and growth of the new nation did not permit the formation of a true conservative party which could stand in opposition to a liberal party. The liberal party, therefore, occupying the entire field, divided empirically into groups, denominated not less empirically Right and Left, in accordance with simple distinctions of degrees and forms, and perchance also of personal disposition."[574]
The preponderating facts, in short, relative to political parties in Italy are two: (1) the absence of any genuine conservative party such as in virtually every other European state plays a rôle of greater or lesser importance, and (2) the splitting of the liberal forces, which elsewhere are bound to co-operate against the conservatives, into a number of factional groups, dominated largely by factional leaders, and unwilling to unite save in occasional coalitions for momentary advantage. The lack of a genuine conservative party is to be explained largely by the anomalous situation which has existed since 1870 in respect to church and state. Until late years that important element, the clericals, which normally would have constituted, as does its counterpart in France,the backbone of a conservative party has persisted in the purely passive policy of abstention from national politics. In the evolution of party groupings it has had no part, and in Parliament it has been totally unrepresented. Until recently all active party groups were essentially "liberal," and rarely did any one of them put forward a programme which served to impart to it any vital distinction from its rivals. Each was little more than a faction, united by personal ties, fluctuating in membership and in leadership, fighting with such means as for the moment appeared dependable for the perquisites of office. Of broadly national political issues there were none, just as indeed there were no truly national parties.
442. The Groups of the Extreme Left.—More recently there has begun to be a certain development in the direction of national parties and of stable party programmes. This is coming about primarily through the growth of the Extreme Left, and especially of the Socialists. Although the effects are as yet scarcely perceptible, so that the politics of the country exhibit still all of the changeableness, ineffectiveness, and chaos characteristic of the group system, the development of thepartiti populariwhich compose collectively the Extreme Left, i.e., the Republicans, the Radicals, and the Socialists, is an interesting political phenomenon.[575]The Republicans are not numerous or well organized. Quite impotent between 1870 and 1890, they gained no little ground during the struggle against Crispi; but the rise of socialism has weakened them, and the party may now be said to be distinctly in decline. To employ the expressive phrase of the Italians, the Republicans are butquattro noci in un sacco, four nuts rattling in a bag. The Radicals are stronger, and their outlook is much more promising. They are monarchists who are dissatisfied with the misgovernment of the older parties, but who distrust socialism. They draw especially from the artisans and lower middle class, and are strongest in Lombardy, Venetia, and Tuscany.
443. The Rise of Socialism.—In not a few respects the master fact of Italian politics to-day is the remarkable growth of the Socialist party. The origins of the socialist movement in Italy may be traced to the Congress of Rimini in 1872, but during a considerable period Italian socialism was scarcely distinguishable from Bakuninian anarchism, and it was not before 1890 that the line between the two was drawn with precision. In 1891 was founded the collectivist journalCritica Sociale, and in the same year was held the first Italian congress which was distinctively socialist. In 1892 came the final break with the anarchists,and since this date socialism in Italy has differed in no essential particulars from its counterpart in other countries. Between 1891 and 1893 the new party was allied with the Right, but Crispi's relentless policy of repression in 1894 had the effect of driving gradually the radical groups, Republicans, Radicals, and Socialists, into co-operation, and it is to this period that the origins of the present coalition of the groups of the Extreme Left are to be traced. During the years 1895-1900 the Socialists assumed definitely the position of the advanced wing of a great parliamentary party, with a very definite programme of political and social reform. This "minimum programme," as it was gradually given shape, came to comprise as its most essential features the establishment of universal suffrage for adults of both sexes, the payment of deputies and members of local councils, the enactment of a more humane penal code, the replacing of the standing army by a national militia, improved factory legislation, compulsory insurance against sickness, the reform of laws regulating the relations of landlords and tenants, the nationalization of railways and mines, the extension of compulsory education, the abolition of duties on food, and the enactment of a progressive income tax and succession duty. The widespread dissatisfaction of Italians with the older parties, the practical character of the socialist programme, and the comparatively able leadership of the socialist forces have combined to give socialism an enormous growth within the past fifteen years. In 1895 the party polled 60,000 votes and returned to the Chamber of Deputies 12 members. In 1897 it polled 108,000 votes and returned 16 members. Thereafter the quota of seats carried at successive elections rose as follows: 1900, 33; 1904, 26; 1906, 42; and 1909, 43.
444. The Catholics and Politics: the Non Expedit.—Aside from the growth of socialism, the most important development in recent Italian politics has been the changed attitude of the Holy See with respect to the participation of Catholics in political affairs. The term "Catholic" in Italy has a variety of significations. From one point of view it denotes the great mass of the people—97.1 per cent in 1910—who are not Protestants, Greeks, Jews, or adherents of any faith other than the Roman. In another sense it denotes that very much smaller portion of the people who regularly and faithfully observe Catholic precepts of worship. Finally, it denotes also the still smaller body of men who yield the Pope implicit obedience in all matters, civil as well as ecclesiastical, and who, with papal sanction, are beginning to constitute an organized force in politics. After it had become manifest that the Holy See might not hope for assistance from the Catholic powers in the recovery of its temporal possessions and of its accustomed independence, there was workedout gradually at the Vatican a policy under which pressure was to be brought to bear upon the Italian state from within. This policy comprised abstention from participation in national political life on the part of as many citizens as could be induced to admit the right of the papal government to control their civic conduct. In protest against the alleged usurpations of secular power Pope Pius IX. promulgated, in 1883, the memorable decreeNon Expedit, by which it was declared "inexpedient" that Catholics should vote at parliamentary elections. Leo XIII. maintained a similar attitude; and in 1895 he went a step further by expressly forbidding what hitherto had been pronounced simply inexpedient.
At no time, before or after Pope Leo's decree of prohibition, was the policy of abstention widely enforced, and very many Catholics, both in and out of Italy, warmly opposed it. The stricture was applied only to parliamentary, not to municipal, elections; yet in the two the percentages of the enfranchised citizens who appeared at the polls continued to be not very unequal, and there is every reason to believe that the meagerness of these percentages has been attributable at all times to the habitual indifference of the Italian electorate rather than to the restraining effects of the papal veto. None the less, in the strongly Catholic province of Bergamo and in some other quarters, the papal regulations, by common admission, have cut deeply into what otherwise would have been the normal parliamentary vote.
445. Relaxation of the Papal Ban.—In the elections of 1904 many Catholics who hitherto had abstained from voting joined with the Government's supporters at the polls in an effort to check the growing influence of the more radical political groups, justifying their conduct by the conviction that the combatting of socialism is a fundamental Catholic obligation. Pope Leo XIII. was ready to admit the force of the argument, and in June of the following year there was issued an encyclical which made it the duty of Catholics everywhere, Italy included, to share in the maintenance of social order, and permitted, and even enjoined, that they take part in political contests in defense of social order whenever and wherever it was obviously menaced. At the same time, such participation must be, not indiscriminate, but disciplined. It must be carried on under the direction of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and with the express approval of the Vatican. Theoretically, and as a general rule, theNon Expeditremains. But where the rigid application of the law would open the way for the triumph of the enemies of society and of religion (as, from the papal point of view, socialists inevitably are) the rule, upon request of the bishop and sanction by the Holy See, is to be waived. A corollary ofthis new policy is that, under certain circumstances, Catholics not merely vote but may stand for parliamentary seats. By the encyclical it is prescribed that such candidacies shall be permitted only where absolutely necessary to prevent the election of an avowed adversary of the Church, only where there is a real chance of success, and only with the approbation of the proper hierarchical authorities; and even then the candidate shall seek office notasa Catholic, butalthougha Catholic.[576]
The partial lifting of theNon Expedithas had two obvious effects. In the first place, it has stimulated considerably the political activities of the Catholics. In the elections of 1906 and 1909 the number of Catholic voters and of Catholic candidates was larger than ever before, and in the Chamber of Deputies the group of clerical members gives promise of attaining some real importance. A second result has been, on the other hand, a quickening of the anti-clerical spirit, with a perceptible strengthening of the radical-republican-socialistbloc. By providing the Left with a solidifying issue it may yet prove that the papacy has rendered unwittingly a service to the very elements against whom it has authorized its adherents to wage relentless war.[577]
446. The Election of 1909.—In respect to the parliamentary strength of the several party groups the elections of the past decade have produced occasional changes of consequence, but the situation to-day is not widely different from what it was at the opening of the century. In the Chamber elected in 1900 the Extreme Left obtained, in all, 107 seats. In 1904 the total fell to 77. In 1906, however, the Radicals secured 44, the Socialists 42, and the Republicans 23—an aggregate of 109; and following the elections of March 7 and 14, 1909, the quotas were, respectively, 37, 43, and 23, aggregating 103. The falling-off in 1904 is to be explained principally by the activity of the Catholics in the elections of that year, and the recovery in 1906 by the fact that, sobered by their reverses, the Socialists had abandoned in the meantime the extremer phases of their revolutionary propaganda. The elections of 1909 were precipitated by Giolitti's dissolution of the Chamber, February 6, in consequence largely of the dissatisfaction of the nation with the ministry's conciliatory attitude toward Austria-Hungary following the annexation by that power of the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the excitement by which it was preceded, however, the campaign was a listless one. The foreign situation as an issue was soon forgotten, and no preponderating nationalquestion rose to assume its place. The Left made the most of the opportunity to increase its parliamentary strength, and the Catholics were more than ever active. The two forces, however, in a measure offset each other, and the mass of the nation, unreached by either, returned the customary overwhelming Governmental majority. When various electoral contests had been decided the quota of seats retained by each of the party groups in the Chamber was found to be as follows: Radicals, 37; Socialists, 43; Republicans, 23; Catholics, 16; Constitutional Opposition (separated from the Government upon no vital matter of principle), 42; and Ministerialists, or supporters of the Government, 346. These supporters of the Government include men of varied political opinions, but collectively they correspond approximately to the elements which in other countries are apt to be designated Liberals, Progressives, or Moderates.[578]