low, but rose again in 1898 and 1899. In 1900 the maximum rate was 107.32, and the minimum 105.40, but in 1901 rates fell considerably, and were at par in 1902–1909.
There are in Italy six clearing houses, namely, the ancient one at Leghorn, and those of Genoa, Milan, Rome, Florence and Turin, founded since 1882.
The number of ordinary banks, which diminished between 1889 and 1894, increased in the following years, and was 158 in 1898. At the same time the capital employed in banking decreased by nearly one-half, namely, from about £12,360,000 in 1880 to about £6,520,000 in 1898. This decrease was due to the liquidation of a number of large and small banks, amongst others the Bank of Genoa, the General Bank, and the Società di Credito Mobiliare Italiano of Rome, and the Genoa Discount Bank—establishments which alone represented £4,840,000 of paid-up capital. Ordinary credit operations are also carried on by the co-operative credit societies, of which there are some 700.
Certain banks make a special business of lending money to owners
of land or buildings (credito fondiario). Loans are repayable by
instalments, and are guaranteed by first mortgages not
greater in amount than half the value of the hypothecated
property. The banks may buy up mortgages and advance
Agrarian
Credit
Banks.
money on current account on the security of land or
buildings. The development of the large cities has induced these
banks to turn their attention rather to building enterprise than to
mortgages on rural property. The value of their land certificates
or cartelle fondiarie (representing capital in circulation) rose from
£10,420,000 in 1881 to £15,560,000 in 1886, and to £30,720,000
in 1891, but fell to £29,320,000 in 1896, to £27,360,000 in 1898,
and to £24,360,000 in 1907; the amount of money lent increased
from £10,440,000 in 1881 to £15,600,000 in 1886, and £30,800,000 in
1891, but fell to £29,320,000 in 1896, to £27,360,000 in 1899, and
to £21,720,000 in 1907. The diminution was due to the law of the
10th of April 1893 upon the banks of issue, by which they were
obliged to liquidate the loan and mortgage business they had previously
carried on.
Various laws have been passed to facilitate agrarian credit. The law of the 23rd of January 1887 (still in force) extended the dispositions of the Civil Code with regard to “privileges,”[1] and established special “privileges” in regard to harvested produce, produce stored in barns and farm buildings, and in regard to agricultural implements. Loans on mortgage may also be granted to landowners and agricultural unions, with a view to the introduction of agricultural improvements. These loans are regulated by special disposition, and are guaranteed by a share of the increased value of the land after the improvements have been carried out. Agrarian credit banks may, with the permission of the government, issue cartelle agrarie, or agrarian bonds, repayable by instalments and bearing interest.
Internal Administration.—It was not till 1865 that the administrative unity of Italy was realized. Up to that year some of the regions of the kingdom, such as Tuscany, continued to have a kind of autonomy; but by the laws of the 20th of March the whole country was divided into 69 provinces and 8545 communes. The extent to which communal independence had been maintained in Italy through all the centuries of its political disintegration was strongly in its favour. The syndic (sindaco) or chief magistrate of the commune was appointed by the king for three years, and he was assisted by a “municipal junta.”
Local government was modified by the law of the 10th of February 1889 and by posterior enactments. The syndics (or mayors) are now elected by a secret ballot of the communal council, though they are still government officials. In the provincial administrations the functions of the prefects have been curtailed. Each province has a prefect, responsible to and appointed by the Ministry of the Interior, while each of the regions (called variously circondarii and distretti) has its sub-prefect. Whereas the prefect was formerly ex-officio president of the provincial deputation or executive committee of the provincial council, his duties under the present law are reduced to mere participation in the management of provincial affairs, the president of the provincial deputation being chosen among and elected by the members of the deputation. The most important change introduced by the new law has been the creation in every province of a provincial administrative junta entrusted with the supervision of communal administrations, a function previously discharged by the provincial deputation. Each provincial administrative junta is composed, in part, of government nominees, and in larger part of elective elements, elected by the provincial council for four years, half of whom require to be elected every two years. The acts of communal administration requiring the sanction of the provincial administrative junta are chiefly financial. Both communal councils and prefects may appeal to the government against the decision of the provincial administrative juntas, the government being guided by the opinion of the Council of State. Besides possessing competence in regard to local government elections, which previously came within the jurisdiction of the provincial deputations, the provincial administrative juntas discharge magisterial functions in administrative affairs, and deal with appeals presented by private persons against acts of the communal and provincial administrations. The juntas are in this respect organs of the administrative jurisprudence created in Italy by the law of the 1st of May 1890, in order to provide juridical protection for those rights and interests outside the competence of the ordinary tribunals. The provincial council only meets once a year in ordinary session.
The former qualifications for electorship in local government elections have been modified, and it is now sufficient to pay five lire annually in direct taxes, five lire of certain communal taxes, or a certain rental (which varies according to the population of a commune), instead of being obliged to pay, as previously, at least five lire annually of direct taxes to the state. In consequence of this change the number of local electors increased by more than one-third between 1887–1889; it decreased, however, as a result of an extraordinary revision of the registers in 1894. The period for which both communal and provincial councils are elected is six years, one-half being renewed every three years.
The ratio of local electors to population is in Piedmont 79%, but in Sicily less than 45%. The ratio of voters to qualified electors tends to increase; it is highest in Campania, Basilicata and in the south generally; the lowest percentages are given by Emilia and Liguria.
Local finance is regulated by the communal and provincial law of May 1898, which instituted provincial administrative juntas, empowered to examine and sanction the acts of the communal financial administrations. The sanction of the provincial administrative junta is necessary for sales or Local finance. purchases of property, alterations of rates (although in case of increase the junta can only act upon request of ratepayers paying an aggregate of one-twentieth of the local direct taxation), and expenditure affecting the communal budget for more than five years. The provincial administrative junta is, moreover, empowered to order “obligatory” expenditure, such as the upkeep of roads, sanitary works, lighting, police (i.e. the so-called “guardie di pubblica sicurezza,” the “carabinieri” being really a military force; only the largest towns maintain a municipal police force), charities, education, &c., in case such expenditure is neglected by the communal authorities. The cost of fire brigades, infant asylums, evening and holiday schools, is classed as “optional” expenditure. Communal revenues are drawn from the proceeds of communal property, interest upon capital, taxes and local dues. The most important of the local dues is the gate tax, or dazio di consumo, which may be either a surtax upon commodities (such as alcoholic drinks or meat), having already paid customs duty at the frontier, in which case the local surtax may not exceed 50% of the frontier duty, or an exclusively communal duty limited to 10% on flour, bread and farinaceous products,[2] and to 20% upon other commodities. The taxes thus vary considerably in different towns.
In addition, the communes have a right to levy a surtax not exceeding 50% of the quota levied by the state upon lands and buildings; a family tax, or fuocatico, upon the total incomes of families, which, for fiscal purposes, are divided into various categories; a tax based upon the rent-value of houses, and other taxes upon cattle, horses, dogs, carriages and servants; also on licences for shopkeepers, hotel and restaurant keepers, &c.; on the slaughter of animals, stamp duties, one-half of the tax on bicycles, &c. Occasional sources of interest are found in the sale of communal property, the realization of communal credits, and the contraction of debt.
The provincial administrations are entrusted with the management of the affairs of the provinces in general, as distinguished from those of the communes. Their expenditure is likewise classed as “obligatory” and “optional.” The former category comprises the maintenance of provincial roads, bridges and watercourse embankments; secondary education, whenever this is not provided for by private institutions or by the state (elementary education being maintained by the communes), and the maintenance of foundlings and pauper lunatics. “Optional” expenditure includes the cost of services of general public interest, though not strictly indispensable. Provincial revenues are drawn from provincial property, school taxes, tolls and surtaxes on land and buildings. The provincial surtaxes may not exceed 50% of the quotas levied by the state. In 1897 the total provincial revenue was £3,732,253, of which £3,460,000 was obtained from the surtax upon lands and buildings. Expenditure amounted to £3,768,888, of which the principal items were £760,000 for roads and bridges, £520,000 for lunatic asylums, £240,000 for foundling hospitals, £320,000 for interest on debt and £200,000 for police. Like communal revenue, provincial revenue has considerably increased since 1880, principally on account of the increase in the land and building surtax.
The Italian local authorities, communes and provinces alike, have considerably increased their indebtedness since 1882. The ratio of communal and provincial debt per inhabitant has grown
- ↑ “Privileges” assure to creditors priority of claim in case of foreclosure for debt or mortgage. Prior to the law of the 23rd of January 1887 harvested produce and agricultural implements were legally exempt from “privilege.”
- ↑ At the beginning of 1902 the Italian parliament sanctioned a bill providing for the abolition of municipal duties on bread and farinaceous products within three years of the promulgation of the bill on 1st July 1902.
