Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/55

* ITALY. 39 ITALY. some taxation. The indirect taxes include excise, customs, and octroi duties. To these should be added the revenues derived from the tobacco, salt, quinine, and lottery monopolies. These taxes and revenues altogether yield more than forty jier cent, of the total revenue. The direct taxes, in- cluding a land, an income, and a house tax, furnish about 28 per cent, of the total revenue. The inheritance tax, registration and stamp duties bring in about thirteen per cent. more. The remainder (19 per cent.) is obtained from incomes from all kinds of public property and Government works, such as public domains, rail- ways, telegraphs, posts, etc. The largest item of expenditure is the interest on the public debt — nearly $140,000,000 per annum, or -12^-2 per cent, of the total ordinary expenditure. The next largest item is the army and navy, which exceeded $'70,000,000 in 1002 (or 23% per cent, of the total expenditure). By con- trast the expenditure on public instruction dur- ing the same year was $9,600,000 (or less than 3 per cent.), and on agriculture, industry, and commerce combined, but $2,000,000 (or about one-half of one per cent.). Since 1885 the rev- enue and expenditure of the Government have remained practically the same, as is shown by the following table of the budget since the exist- ence of the Kingdom in its present limits: 1871 1881 1885-86 . . 1891-92 . . 1895-96 . 1899-19nD 1901-n2. . Revenue $249,847,591 303,707.n93 349.in3.182 349,590,318 367,950,702 349,585.629 362, .384.902 Expenditure $241,243 022 293.529,645 346.119.667 359,218,079 .368,277,331 348,543,552 358,191,956 Surphis (~f-) or deficit ( — ) 4-.l!8,6n4,568 -MO, 177,447 ■f 2,983,515 — 9,627.761 — 326,629 + 1,042,097 -i- 4,192,946 To what an extent all other public interests liave been neglected for the sake of military ex- penditure may be seen from the table below, which shows the increase of expenditure for mili- tary purposes, for the payment of the debt, and the total expenditure: ered indispensable. In 1899 the revenue of the communes of Italy amounted to $128,401,829, while that of the provinces was $20,335,205. The largest items in the communal revenue are (1) the gate tax or octroi, which is partly a duty on certain articles not otherwise taxed, and partly a surtax not to exceed 50 per cent, of that levied upon certain commodities at the frontier; and (2) a surtax upon lands and buildings, also lim- ited to a maximum of 50 per cent, of that levied by the State. Of less importance are the levies made upon family incomes, live stock, etc. The bulk of the provincial tax is secured from a sur- tax upon land and buildings, which is likewise limited to 50 per cent, of the State assessment. The expenditure and indebtedness of both the conmmnes and the provinces have greatly in- creased during the last two decades. As an illustration of the immense tax burden in Italy may be cited the land tax, which alto- gether, national, provincial, and communal, amoimts to nearly one-fourth of the land-owner's revenue. Under the cadastral survey which served as the basis of the land assessment prior to 1886, the burden of this tax fell with great inequality upon different parts of the country. But a law passed in 1886 authorized a new sur- vey, which was quickly made in the provinces which were unjustly burdened, thereby securing a measure of relief. But the provinces which would not profit by the survey have been slow to make it ( in some provinces the increase amounted to over 90 per cent.). Hence the revenue yielded by the land was lessened in consequence of the law. The income tax, which is proportional, does not apply to incomes obtained from the land, but only upon those from movable capital and from labor. Public Debt. The growth of Italy's debt and interest charges thereon since 1870 has been as follows : TEAR Expendi- ture army & navy Service of public debt Total expendi- ture 1871 45 67 86 77 97 128 138 138 1881 293 1891-92 359 1895-96 368 1901-02 .358 ♦Millions of dollars. It will be observed that the expenditure for military purposes decreased since 1896, due to the defeat of the troops in Africa and the con- set|uent contraction of militaiv operations. But the increase of expenditure on that item in the twenty-five-year period from 1871 to 1896 was 162 per cent., while the increase in the total ex- penditure was kept down to 53 per cent., to the detriment of such vital interests as public in- stitutions, sanitation, industry, agriculture, com- merce, etc. The interest on the pulilie debt amounts to about two-fifths of the total expendi- ture. Local Finances. In both commune and prov- ince, expenditure is clas'sified as 'obligatory' and 'optional,' the former including the maintenance of roads, education, police, and matters consid- TEAR Debt Interest 1870 1880 1890 1900 $1,663,744,800 1.966,627,800 2,413,513,400 2,529,057,800 S77.6S2,S0O 87.035,600 111.468,600 115,967.0n0 (The seeming discrepancy between the interest figures in the above table and the one preceding is due to the fact that the one gives the interest charges only, while the other gives the total ser- vice of the debt, which includesamortization.) The table shows that the debt increased more than fifty per cent, wilhin thirty years, making it the fourth largest public debt in the world. It is next to that of France, of Great Britain, and of Russia, all of which coimtries have far greater resources than Italy. In fact the per capita debt of Italy, $81.10 in" 1900, is greater than that of any of the countries mentioned except France, where it was $150.60 during the same year. It is, however, less than in some countries, for instance Spain, where the figure is $95.50; Portugal, $143.80; Argentina. $129: Netherlands. .$90.70. Defense. The often repeated invasion of Italy from the north has shown that the Alps cannot be depended upon as a protection against inva- sion. To guard against the possibilities of in- vasion, a large number of fortifications have been established in the northern part of Italy. In the first line of fortifications there are four groups which guard the French frontier, namely, the
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