In the more densely populated districts the division of the land is
exceedingly minute, and this subdivision is still progressing at a
most disastrous rate. The nomad herdsmen, on the other hand, possess
no land of their own, though, if inclined, they are at liberty to
enclose a plot. But vague proprietary rights like these render the
careful cultivation of the soil impossible. It has been seriously
proposed to expropriate the whole of the land, and to sell it to a few
enterprising capitalists, but this would simply amount to a restoration
of the old feudal times, and poverty, which is great even now, would
become greater. There are villages in the district of Ogliastra where
the peasants eat bread made of the acorns of _Quercus ilex_, the dough
being kneaded with water containing a fatty clay. This is, perhaps, the
only instance of earth-eating in Europe. The Spaniards, too, eat acorn
bread, but they use the fruit of _Quercus ballota_, which is really
edible, and are careful not to mix its flour with earth.
The Sardinians, even when they are the owners of pasture-grounds or
of fields, never live in the country. Like the Sicilians, they are
concentrated in towns or large villages, and neither hamlets nor
isolated farmhouses are met with. Even {349} the shepherds in the
mountains build their huts in groups called _stazzi_, and combine for
mutual protection into _cussorgie_. Members of these associations, when
they lose their cattle from disease or any other cause, may claim one
or more beasts from every one of their comrades living within the same
district or canton. In other parts of the island—as, for instance,
near Iglesias—the produce of the orchards is looked upon as common
property. The mountaineers, though poor, practise the ancient virtue
of hospitality, and though the dwellings are rude, they find means of
making a stranger staying amongst them comfortable.
The products of Sardinia form but a small proportion of those of all
Italy. Most of the peasants only work by fits and starts, and hardly
more than a fourth of the area of the island has been brought under
cultivation. It sometimes happens that the crops are destroyed by
the scorching heat of the sun, or eaten up by locusts, which come in
swarms from Africa. Except near Sassari no attempt is made to improve
the produce. The olive-tree alone is cultivated with some care, for
the grower of a certain number of these trees may claim political
privileges, and even the title of “Count,” and thousands of proprietors
have converted their sterile steppes into productive olive groves. The
millions of oranges grown in the gardens of Millis and elsewhere are
taken entirely for home consumption. Commercially these oranges are of
less importance than the saline plants collected in the marshes of the
coast districts, and the ashes of which are exported to Marseilles to
be converted into soda.
The working of granite and marble quarries yields some profit, but the
mines, which were of such importance in the time of the Romans, are
hardly touched now. There is only one iron mine, that of San Leone,
where work has been carried on seriously by a French company since
1822. It yields about 50,000 tons of ore annually, and the oldest
railway of the island connects that mine with Cagliari. The district
of Iglesias, where the Romans founded Plumbea and Metalla, and the
Pisans searched for silver, has recently regained some of its ancient
importance on account of its lead and zinc mines. The waste of the old
mines is likewise being scientifically treated by French, English,
and Italian companies, to whom mining claims have been ceded, and a
curious stalactite cavern which traverses the hill near Domus Novas
has been utilised in gaining access to the scoriæ. Iglesias is rapidly
growing into a city of modern aspect, the village of Gonessa is already
a respectable town, and the little harbour of Porto Scuso, until
recently almost deserted, is now crowded with small craft employed in
carrying annually 900,000 tons of lead and zinc ore to the roadstead of
Carlo-Forte. Unfortunately the miners, especially those from abroad,
frequently succumb to the climate.
The fisheries, being for the most part carried on in the bays exposed
to the sea breezes, are not attended by the same dangers. Certain
portions of the coast abound in fish, such as the Bay of Cagliari, and
the narrow arms of the sea in the archipelago of the Maddalena, which
the ancients searched for purple shells. Anchovies and “sardines”
periodically visit the coasts, and as many as 50,000 tunny-fish are
sometimes caught in a single season. The swamps or lagoons likewise
yield fish, which are caught in nets spread at the openings of the
channels {350} communicating with the sea. The swamp of Cagliari
abounds in shad, that of Oristano in mullets and eels, and that
of Alghero in pike and gold fish. The fisheries of Sardinia are
consequently of much importance, but most of their profits are reaped
by strangers. Corsicans fish near La Maddalena, Genoese around San
Pietro, and Italians monopolize the coral fisheries. These latter, too,
collect the _Pinna nobilis_, a shell, the silky byssus of which is
converted into stuff for garments. Nor do the Sardinians take to the
sea as sailors, and the commerce of the island is carried on almost
exclusively in Genoese and other Italian vessels. Out of 2,400 proverbs
collected by Spano, only three refer to the sea ! [118]
[Illustration: Fig. 129—CAGLIARI, AS SEEN FROM THE PASS OF BONERIA.]
The inhabitants of the northern “Cape” of Sassari, or _di Sopra_,
claim to be more intelligent and civilised than those of the southern
“Cape” of Cagliari, or _di Sotto_. The former do not call themselves
Sardinians at all, but apply that name, which to them is synonymous
with barbarians, to the inhabitants of the {351} interior and of the
south. In former times these two sections of the population hated
each other, and the spirit of the vendetta, which set family against
family, village against village, made its influence felt all over the
island. This old animosity has not yet completely died out; but the
people of Sassari can no longer claim to be the superiors of their
southern neighbours. They certainly are better agriculturists and more
industrious, but the southerners possess the richest mines, their
portion of the island is most productive, and it is the seat of the
capital.
[Illustration: Fig. 130.—THE PORT OF TERRANOVA.
Scale 1 : 250,000.]
Cagliari, the ancient _Caralis_, has remained the great emporium of
the island since the days of Carthage. Only a few idols, sepulchral
chambers, the ruins of an aqueduct, and an amphitheatre excavated
in the rock, recall the dominion of Carthaginians and Romans, but
it could not be deprived of its excellent harbour and magnificent
roadstead. The town was only a short time under the rule of the Moors,
but its physiognomy is almost more oriental than that of any city in
Europe, many of its houses being provided with cupolas and balconies
overhanging the streets. Its position as a place of commerce is most
favourable, for it lies on the ocean highway connecting Sicily with
the Balearic Islands, and the coast of Africa is within a day’s sail.
It is sure to prosper, especially if a serious effort is made to
drain the marshes and to transform the plain of the Campidano into a
fertile garden. The latter, an ancient arm of the sea, extends to the
south-east towards Oristano, the “town of potters.” During the Middle
Ages {352} the latter was the seat of the most powerful lords of the
island, and it was thence Eleonora promulgated her famous _Carta de
logu_, which became the public law of the whole island. Oristano has
an excellent harbour, sheltered by the peninsula of Tharros, upon
which the Phœnicians had founded one of their settlements; its fields
are fertile, and, to bring about a return of its ancient prosperity,
it is only necessary to drain the marshes which now hem it in. In
former times fires were lighted upon the walls of the town during the
season of malaria, to purify the atmosphere; but the vast forests from
which the fuel for these fires was procured have disappeared, and this
portion of Sardinia is no longer entitled to its ancient epithet of
“Arborea.” It is said that in the marshes of Nurachi, to the north-east
of Oristano, may be heard now and then a noise resembling the bellowing
of a bull. This noise is probably produced by the passage of air
through some subterranean cavern, and similar phenomena have been
observed on the coast of Dalmatia.
Sassari the delightful, the rival of Cagliari, is embosomed amidst
olive-trees, gardens, and country houses. It alone, of all the towns of
the island, could boast of a republican government during the Middle
Ages, and the public spirit of its present inhabitants is, perhaps,
traceable to this circumstance. Its geographical position, however,
is far less favourable than that of Cagliari, for a zone of swamps
separates it from the sea. It might export its produce through the
port of Alghero or the excellent harbour of Porto Conto, to the south
of the mountains of La Nurra; but facility of access has dictated
its choice of Porto Torres, a miserable village on the swampy shore
of the Gulf of Asinara. Porto Torres occupies the site of a Roman
city, and the arches of a huge aqueduct and the columns of a Temple
of Fortune still rise above the reeds. This old port certainly offers
great facility for the export of the olive oil of Sassari and the
wines of Tempio, as respects France and Genoa; but the intricate
navigation of the Strait of Bonifacio separates it from the nearest
Italian coast. Italy has therefore determined to create an additional
port on the east coast of the island, and the Bay of Terranova has
been selected for that purpose. _Olbia_, which at the time of the
Romans had no less than 150,000 inhabitants, occupied the site of the
present town, which the Italians fondly imagine may become the great
emporium of the island. Its port is certainly well sheltered, and the
roadsteads of the archipelago of La Maddalena near it afford additional
accommodation; but seriously to improve the condition of Sardinia it
will be necessary, above all things, to drain its dreary swamps, and to
“transform their poisonous exhalations into bread.”[119]
IX.—THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF ITALY.
No impartial spectator can deny that Italy, since it has again taken
its place among the nations of Europe, promises great things for the
future. Even its {353} political regeneration has brought to the
surface men of the highest intellect, courage, zeal, and public spirit.
There are some amongst them whom posterity will look upon as a credit
to all mankind. Possibly this period of excitement and nervous activity
may be succeeded by a sort of moral collapse, such as generally takes
place after every great crisis in the life of a nation. But this need
not render us anxious for the future, for generations exhausted by the
efforts they have made will be succeeded by others eager to continue
the work their predecessors have begun.
In sciences and arts the native country of Volta, Cialdi, Secchi,
Rossini, Verdi, and Vela occupies even now a position of equality
with the most advanced nations of Europe. The Italian of the present
day is able to refer without shame to the two great centuries of the
Renaissance, for he has entered upon a second period of regeneration,
and the names of contemporaries can be mentioned by the side of the
great names of the past. Italy has its skilful painters and sculptors,
its celebrated architects and unrivalled musicians. The great works
achieved by its engineers are deserving the study of foreigners.
Amongst its physicists, geologists, astronomers, and mathematicians
there are some of the brightest ornaments of the age, and the assiduity
with which universities are frequented insures their having worthy
successors. A geographical society only recently established has
successfully taken up the work of exploration so gloriously carried
on by the Genoese and Venetians. It is not just, therefore, to say
ironically that “Italy has been made, but not Italians.” Individually
the Italians are inferior to no other race of Europe, and the
reorganization of the country would have been impossible had there been
any deficiency in men of mark.
Italy is more densely inhabited than any other of the great states
of Europe, in spite of vast extents of almost uninhabitable mountain
tracts and swamps. The population, however, increases less rapidly
than in Russia, England, or Germany. It doubles in about a century,
whilst that of Russia doubles in fifty and that of France in two
hundred years. Italy thus occupies an intermediate position. In Apulia
and Calabria, which are amongst the poorest provinces, the birth rate
is highest, whilst in the wealthy Marches and Umbria it is lowest.
On an average the Italian dies when he is thirty-two, and his life
is consequently much shorter than that of the average Frenchman or
Englishman.
Agriculture and the development of the natural resources of the soil
and the sea engage much more attention than industry properly so
called. Nearly fifty per cent. of the total area is under cultivation.
The cereals raised do not suffice for the wants of the inhabitants,
but other products are exported in considerable quantities. In its
production of oil Italy holds a foremost rank as regards quantity, but
not always with respect to quality. The amount of fruit grown, such
as figs, grapes, almonds, and oranges, is greater than in any other
country of Europe. The chestnut forests in the Apennines and Alps yield
rich harvests. Its mulberry plantations are four times more extensive
than those of France, and the raw silk produced in favourable years
exceeds in quantity that exported from China. The peninsula is still
entitled to its ancient epithet of {354} Œnotria (wine land), but,
apart from certain districts of continental Italy and Sicily, the
quality of wine produced, owing to carelessness on the part of the
growers, is inferior to what it is in France. The cultivation of cotton
is comparatively of small importance. The breeding of animals yields
large profits, and Italy is noted throughout Europe for the quality of
some kinds of cheese.[120]
The working of the iron mines of Elba, the quarrying of marble and
granite in the Alps and Apuanic Alps, the extraction of borax and
boracic acid in the Tuscan Sub-Apennines, the mining for lead and zinc
in Sardinia, and for sulphur in Sicily,[121] lead up to industrial
pursuits properly so called. These latter extend nearly to everything,
from the manufacture of pins to the construction of steam-engines and
ships. Italy, however, is eminent only in the production of certain
_articles de luxe_, such as straw bonnets, cameos, coral jewellery,
glass, and in the preparation of macaroni and other farinaceous pastes.
The manufacture of silk, however, has taken a rapid development in
recent years, and Milan has become a dangerous rival of Lyons. In the
province of Novara, and more especially at Biella, there are hundreds
of woollen factories. The cotton manufacture is not of much importance,
and linen-weaving is for the most part carried on as a domestic
industry. Italy, in fact, cannot yet be called a manufacturing country.
The number of workmen is large, but they mostly labour at home or in
small workshops,[122] and a division of labour, such as exists in
England, France, or Germany, is hardly known. Manufactories, however,
are rapidly increasing, and economical conditions are gradually
becoming what they are already in most other countries of Europe.
Italy possesses a powerful mercantile marine, manned by 150,000 seamen;
but its foreign commerce is far less than might have been expected
from its tonnage.[123] Most of the vessels are engaged in the coasting
trade. The first Italian vessel was seen in the Pacific in 1847, and
even now the Italian flag is very inadequately represented in the
navigation of the great oceans. Italian patriots are anxious to see
the commerce of the country extended to the most distant regions. For
the present Italy enjoys a sort of monopoly in the Mediterranean, and
any increase of {355} population or wealth in Northern Africa must
prove of immediate advantage to it. But there can be no doubt that the
proposed railway from Antwerp or Calais to Saloniki or Constantinople
will seriously affect the transit trade of Italian ports. Nor are
Italian shipowners able to compete with their rivals of Marseilles
or Trieste when it is a question of speed, for the number of their
steamers is very small.
[Illustration: Fig. 131.—NAVIGATION OF ITALY.]
The facilities for carrying on coasting trade have, in some measure,
interfered with the development of the inland trade of the country.
The construction of railways, however, is gradually bringing about a
change. Already five lines of {356} rails cross the Apennines, others
are projected, and one of the Italian railways, namely, that which
pierces the Alps in the tunnel of Mont Cenis, and finally follows the
eastern coast to Rimini, has become a portion of the great European
highway to India. Nor must the political importance of these railways
be underrated, for they knit together the most distant provinces of
Italy, and make the country really one.[124]
[Illustration: Fig. 132.—ROUTES OF COMMERCE OF ITALY.
Scale 1 : 6,000,000.]
{357}
The commerce of Italy has increased rapidly of late, but it is still
inferior not only to that of England, France, Germany, Austria,
and Russia, but likewise to that of much smaller countries, like
Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1875 the imports, including transit,
were estimated at £48,614,280, the exports at £42,301,800. France
participates in this commerce to the extent of 31 per cent., England
is represented by 23, Austria by 20, and all the other countries of
the world share in the remainder. Recently the commerce with North and
South America has assumed considerable proportions, and efforts are
being made to obtain a footing in Eastern Asia.
The great scourge of Italy consists in the poverty of its peasantry
even in the most fertile provinces, as in Lombardy and the Basilicata.
These peasants live in foul hovels, and the united earnings of a
whole family are hardly sufficient to procure bread. Chestnuts, and a
polenta of maize and paste made of damaged flour, are the principal
articles of food, and nothing is left for luxuries, or even comfortable
clothing. Rickets and other diseases brought about by an insufficiency
of food are common, and, in fact, mortality is very great. Emigration
is under these circumstances of immense advantage to the country, for
the thousands of Italians who seek work or found new homes in South
America, the United States, France, Turkey, Egypt, and elsewhere,
not only earn their bread, but also render some assistance to those
of their relatives who remain behind. It is said that out of 500,000
Italians living abroad, no less than 100,000 are engaged in art, either
as painters, sculptors, or musicians, the latter being frequently mere
street-singers or organ-grinders.
Ignorance, the usual companion of poverty, is still very great
throughout the peninsula. We might err in condemning the Italians
because of their ignorance of the arts of reading and writing, for, as
the heirs of an ancient civilisation, they are more polished in their
manners than the educated peasants of the North. Still this ignorance
is most deplorable, for it precludes all progress. Nearly two-thirds of
the population over ten years of age are unable to read, and fifty-nine
men and seventy-eight women out of every hundred are unable to sign
the marriage registers. There are several thousand parishes without
elementary schools, and the number of pupils, instead of amounting
to the normal proportion of one to every six or seven inhabitants,
is only one to about eleven.[125] Education, however, is making fair
progress, but its influence upon the diminution of crimes of violence
has hitherto been small. In 1874 Signor Cantelli, the Home Secretary,
stated that there occurred annually 3,000 homicides, 4,000 cases of
highway robbery, and 30,000 violent assaults.
The permanent confusion of the finances of Italy, attended as it is by
heavy and vexatious taxes, must be looked upon as one of the principal
causes which retard the development of the country. The national
debt may appear a small matter if we compare it with that of France,
but it has been raised in the course {358} of a single generation,
and is augmenting from year to year. The revenue increases but the
expenditure does so likewise, and the additional income resulting
from an increase of taxation and the sales of Church property is not
sufficient to cover the deficiency. The heavy cost of the army, an
absence of sustained efforts in carrying on public works, waste and
fraud by public servants, have hitherto prevented the establishment of
a balance between income and expenditure, and the paper money issued by
Government is nowhere accepted at its nominal value.
This disorganization of the finances places Italy at the mercy of
foreigners, and the arrangements which have to be made from time to
time with foreign capitalists are not always of a purely financial
nature. The inefficiency of her military and naval organization,
moreover, compels her to cultivate foreign alliances as expediency may
direct, and to these alliances Italy is, in a large measure, indebted
for her political unity.[126]
Nor is this unity even now as perfect as could be desired. The Pope
has been deprived of his temporal power; he resides at the Vatican
as a guest; and the money offered him by the Italian Government,
but which has never been accepted, is not tribute, but a gratuity.
But, in spite of this, the Pope is still a real power, and his very
presence interferes substantially with the permanent establishment of
the state. The Catholics of the world have not yet acquiesced in his
disestablishment, and they allow no opportunity for attacking the new
order of things to escape them. Political Europe is consequently much
interested in the home affairs of Italy, and feels tempted frequently
to intervene. The most expert diplomacy may not be able to avert this
danger, and if there is a struggle it will certainly not be confined to
the peninsula.
In the end Italy will no doubt escape from the anomalous position
of having for her capital a city which is the seat of a theocratic
government claiming the allegiance of the Roman Catholics of the
entire world. The geographical conditions of no other country are
equally favourable to the development of national sentiments and
the maintenance of a national individuality. At the same time the
well-defined boundaries of the country deprive it of all force of
expansion. Italy will never play a great part beyond the bounds of the
Mediterranean, and though Italian may obtain a certain preponderance
in Tunis, Egypt, and the Levant, the noble language of Dante has no
chance, as regards universality, when opposed to English, French,
Spanish, German, or Russian.
X.—GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.
The charter promulgated in March, 1848, declares the old kingdom of
Sardinia to be an hereditary constitutional monarchy. It has gradually
been {359} extended to the other portions of the peninsula. Like most
similar documents, it guarantees equality before the law, personal
liberty, and inviolability of the domicile. The press is free, “subject
to a law repressing its abuses;” the right of meeting is recognised,
“but not in the case of places open to the general public;” and all
citizens are promised the enjoyment of equal civil and political
rights, “except in those cases which shall be determined by law.”