Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/477

 STATISTICS.] ITALY 457 Table XXII. shows tho great increase that has taken place in the amounts exported in the case of several important articles. Among the chief imports is coal, the demand for which, in 1865 only 456,039 tons, 1 has gradually increased to 1,523,676 in 1879, and&quot; to 1,737,746 in 1880 more than threefold. The importation of mineral oils has in the same space increased in value from 83,984 quintals to 586,323. Whereas the excess of importation over ex portation in the case of raw wool was 4,249,135 kilogrammes in 1865, in 1880 it was 5,574,700 kilogrammes ; in t ne case of cotton the corresponding figures were 3,745,009 for 1865 and 29, 158,500 for 1880. According to the llelazione sui Scn izi idraulici pel licnnio 1877-78 (Rome, 1880), the number of ports in the kingdom is 307, of which 10 are of the first class, 20 of the second, 27 of the third, and 250 of the fourth. Those belonging to the first category are Ancona, Cagliari, Naples, Palermo, Venice, Genoa, Leghorn, Messina, Civita Vecchia, and Brindisi ; and those of the second in- c lude Portofino, Porto Veiiere, Porto Ferraio, Porto Krcolc, Marciano, Porto d Anzio, Gaeta, Ponza, Baia, Manfredonia, Tortoli, Milazzo, Cotrone, Syracuse, Longone, Nisida. In extent of commerce Genoa is facile princeps, as is evident from the following table (XXIII.) of tonnage, according to the official Morime-nfo dclhi Narigazionc (Home, 1880): Foreign Trade. Coasting Trade. , 1SG1. 1879. 1861. 1879. flenoa 968,848 2,078,973 980,857 459.884 401,097 072,254 730,145 933,762 282,101 607,649 060,047 878.395 907,916 (592,862 708,494 873,730 541,153 78,760 1,490,192 1.891,490 1,683,896 2,042.559 1,479,685 400,365 Xaples Venice Of the foreign nations that are engaged in the shipping trade of the Italian ports Great Britain has by far the most important share (7669 vessels, of 5,950,279 tons burden) ; next comes France (4256 vessels, 2,061,973 tons); third, but at an enormous distance, is Austria, and fourth Greece. It is calculated that in the vessels, native and foreign, that visited the Italian ports in 1879, no less than 1,748,717 men were engaged as seamen. The Government undertakes the engineering works necessary for the improvement and maintenance of the harbours of the first three classes, and it further subsidizes the communes which have to main tain the harbours of the fourth class. In 1878 there were 60 light houses on the Italian coast, of which 16 are of the first class, exclu sive of the international light at Cape Spartivento. The whole cost of harbour and lighthouse maintenance is thus indicated (in lire) for 1877 and 1878 (Table XXIV.): 1877. 1878. Works e x ecuted 5,786 050 7 409 090 Sums placed in balance Sums pnid 16,945,522 5,714.769 20,431,168 8 524 31 1 Sums carried to next year 11,159,566 71 185 11,902,179 4 676 J The Italian seaboard is officially divided into 23 maritime districts (compartment?) : Porto Maurizio (from Ventimiglia to Alassio), Savona (onwards to Arenzano), Genoa (to Eapallo), Spezia (to Avenxa), Leghorn (to Graticciare), Porto Ferraio (island of Elba), Civita Vecchia (from Graticciare to Torre Gregoriana), Gaeta (to Lago di Patria), Naples (to Torre del Greco), Castellamare di Stabia (to Sapri), Pizzo(to Bagnara), Taranto (from Melito to Fasano), Bail i to Viesti), Ancona (to mouth of Cesano), Rimini (to Po di Goro), Venice (to the Austrian boundary), Cagliari (from Oristano to Terranuova Pausania), La Maddalona (to Oristano), Messina (con tinental Italy from Bagnara to Melito, the. Li pan. Islands, and Sicily from the river Pollina to Alcantara), Catania (to Pachino), Porto F.mpedoele (to river Belici), Trapani (to Castellamare), TAIU.E XXV. Sailing Merchant re.isrtii, 18/9. J No. of Tons. Xo. of Sailing Ships. Tons. Porto Maur.zio i 90 Savona 159 5,355 48.082 Bari delle Puglie... 441 148 10,453 7 569 Genoa 1,180 477 775 Rimini Spezia 449 Leghorn. ... 41(4 (13,657 29 418 Venice 833 30,768 Porto Kcrraio 272 CivitaVecchia 27 18,149 2,216 La Maddalena Messina 19 424 420 15 129 Gaeta 162 13.701 260 14 134 Naples 1,106 Castellamare 527 68.585 86.372 Porto Kmpedocle... Trapuni 189 443 3,236 10 fi(i Pizzo 109 Taranto 35 1,588 836 Palermo 244 14.647 Total 7,910 933,306 Palermo (to river Pollina). Thus 15 of the districts are continental and 8 insular. Table XXV. gives the sailing vessels in the mercantile marine in 1879, tho last year for which statistics are available. The marine showed a total strength of 167,282 men, 8 being captains of the class technically called &quot;superior,&quot; 4122 captains of &quot; long course,&quot; and 2504 captains of the higher coasting class. Of the 7910 vessels none exceeded 1500 tons burden, 2 were more than 1200, and 18 others more than 1000. The steamers belonging to the country at the close of 1879 were 151 in number (aggregate burden 72,666 tons), of which 70 were Genoese, 11 Neapolitan, and 51 Palermitan. Of the total, 128 were screw- steamers and 23 paddle-steamers. Boats adapted for fishing were, registered at the same date as 15,411, of which no fewer than 1953 belonged to the Naples district, and 1399 to that of Messina. Ship building was carried on in 50 ship yards in 1879 ; and they pro duced 269 vessels, with a total burden of 21,213 tons. Shipbuilding. The district which showed the greatest activity in shipbuilding and produced the greatest number of large vessels was that of Genoa. This industry continued to increase in im portance in Italy from the foundation of the kingdom till 1869 (683 vessels, 96,010 tons); in the next three years there was n decline ; by 1875 the figures of 1869 were again almost reached, but since then there has been a very notable decrease. The number of workmen engaged in 1879 was 14,179, of whom 182 were ship builders of the first and 70 of the second class. Railways. The first railway opened in Italy was a line of 26 kilo metres, constructed in 1840, between Naples and Castellamare. By 1842 there were 54 kilometres in existence; by 1845, 157; by 1848, 360 ; by 1858, 1707 ; by 1868, 5679 : and by 1879, 8340. The system is considered as consisting of the following sections (Table XXVI.): Length. Cost of Construction. Cost of Material. Average PIT kilo. 1. Railways formerly worked by the Company of Upper Italy (Alta Italia) ) kilos. }M lire. 1,032,317,000 lire. 125,532,000 lire. 333,481 Lines purchased by conven tion of Basel, of which the state is co-proprietor Liguro-Tuscan linen, &c. 2. Railways worked by the Company of the Roman Lines t 2,389 1,083 [^T 689,145,000 343.172.000 470,237.000 36,57 6,000 304,574 3. Railways worked by the Company ot the Southern Lines : Lines belonging to the com pany ]- 1,9 396,400,000 36,318,000 250,707 Calabi o-Sicilian lines (state property) 314,737,000 22,600,000 293,847 4 Sardinian railways 5. Miscellaneous 229 278 57,836,000 20,959,200 1.721.000 3,699,900 262,073 Total 8,230 2 292 486,200 &amp;gt;26 446 900 308 730 1 1 ton (tonnellata) = -2-2W Ih, 40 11) less than the English ton. Thus the total cost may be stated at 100,800,000. At the end of 1879 the rolling stock consisted of 1385 locomotives, 4301 car riages, and 23,483 waggons. The total expenditure of the railways for the year 1879 was 101,088,901 lire, and the total receipts 164,672,340. Except in the northern part of the country the Italian railway system is still far from complete. With the French system it is connected by the coast-line from Genoa to Nice, and by the line from Turin to Geneva, which passes through the Mont Cenis tunnel. With the Austrian system there is connexion by the line which runs up the valley of the Adige from Verona to Botzen and by the lines which cross the eastern frontiers at Pontebba and Cormons respectively. From Milan to Piacenza, from Piacenza to Bologna, from Bologna to Ancona, and from Ancona to Brindisi, there is free route from the north right along the eastern coast ; but the lines on the western coast take the traveller no farther south than a little beyond Saleruo, and to reach Reggio from Naples involves a tremendous circuit. &quot;By the law of July 29, 1879, a great number of new lines received par liamentary sanction, the effect of which will be to complete the west ern coast-line, to increase the number of routes from the western to the eastern seaboard, and to furnish railway communication to numerous cities and districts which are now without it. Roads and Canals. It was found that on 31st December 1877 there existed in the kingdom 5151 miles of national reads, 15,596 of provincial roads, and 48,295 of communal roads all very un equally distributed throughout the country. The navigable canals have an aggregate length of about 663 miles, and the navigable portions of the rivers an aggregate length of 1100. Postal and Telegraphic System. The rate of development attained by the postal system is shown by the following figures. From 1862 to 1879 (both inclusive) the number of offices has increased from 2220 to 3272, the number of letters from 71,502,779 per annum to 143,587,709, the yearly expenditure from 21,740,226 lire to XIII. - 58
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