Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/60

* ITALY. 44 ITALY. Church, however, sulTered greatly tlirouph Iho liitler contention that arose over the (juestion of temporal jiowcr of tlie I'oj)e and the possession oC property by reliyimis orders. There is still a Clerical Party, the inllucntial portion of which consists of the dcrj-y, v lio would have the temporal power of the Church reestablished. I'ius IX. refused to recognize the validity of the claims of the Italian (Jovernmcnt to the posses- sion of the Papal territories, and always insisted upon the rif;h1s of (lie Papacy t<i the States of the Church. Leo XIII. has steadily pursued the same course, and deolined the eonsideraticju of any modus I'ivotdi which does not admit the Papacy's rights to the temporal power. This unyielding attitude against compromise has considerably hampered the political work of the Government in internal aflairs, and weakened it in its policy against the alarming aggressiveness of the So- cialist Party. The great majiu'it.y of the upper classes are strongly opposed to the realization of the claims of the Clerical Party. It is ])iobable that the antipathy to the political ambition of the Clericals is largely responsil>le for the inditTerencc ■nhich the majority of the better classes show toward all religious princii)les. and for the wide- Rprcad prevalence of free thoight. The clergj', however, have a very considerable following from the ranks of the ignorant classes of the ]iopula- tion. Jliracles and mysteries play an important part in the worship of the lower elasscs, ])artieu- larly in Southern Italy. In 1S(!0 a law suppress- ing all religious houses was passed, applicable to the entire Kingdmn. Their property was sold by the State, the greater part of the proceed-- being turned into an ecclesiastical fund for the support of public worship, though a part of tha proceeds is granted as pensions to some members of the suppressed religious institutions. In 1809 there were still over 1.3.000 persons receiving pension funds. Although their ])riipcr(y was taken from them, the religious Orders still have a larse mcmbenship. The last census figures available (1881) return G2.000 Protestants and 38,000 .Tews. Over a third of the Protestants were Waldenses. They are strongest in Pied- mont. The Greek Orthodox Church also has a small representation in Italy. Soci.L Bettek.ment. The large agricultural population of Italy stil! live on a very low plane, a great portion of them being scarcely able to eke out an existence. The inferior condi- tion of the food consumed by the peasants has given rise to a disease known as the pellagra. It is most prevalent in Venetia and Lombardy. In recent years the disease is becoming less prominent. In some regions certain classes of ngricultural laborers receive as low as tenpenee a day. With the growth of the nianufaeturing industry along modern lines, the condition of (he laborers has in a measure improved. Vith the new industrial conditions labor organi- zations have developed, and strikes have be- come a very important factor in the industrial situation of Xorthern Italy. In some instances even the agricultural population have partici- pated in strikes. In order to facilitate improve- ments in agriculture, laws have been passed to make possible the granting of State loans to land-owners and agTieultural luiions. the issuing of agrarian bonds, and the establishing of agra- rian banks. (For the statistics of jnovidcnt in- stitutions, see paragraph on Banking.) In the first decades of the nineteenth century a large luimlH'r of coiiperative societies were organized in the noith of Italy. The majority of them were for distributive purposes. These distributive so- cieties follow the policy of selling their com- modities at cost, without trying to secure dividends. There are a large number also of ])roduelive cooperative societies which undertake various kinds of labcir contracts. Cii.MiiTiKs. The extreme poverty of the popula- tion in Italy has given occasion'for much activity in order to ]irevent distress. Formerly the income derived from the pmijcrty of the religions Orders was liberally, though not always wisely, spent for charitable purposes. Indeed, the belief that the sort of charity which the religious (Jrders dispensed tended to foster pauperism was one of the motives which led to the selling of their possessions. The responsibility for the care uf the poor now falls more delinitely upon the State, which has become very active not only in the Usual sphere of charitable endeavor, but also in the matter of imjiroving the industrial and social conditions (see below). A large ])art of the Government's animal expenditure for charitable purposes is by grants to charitable institutions which have permanent charitable endowments. In the course of years a large number of these have been established, the investigation of 1880 showing iJI.Sik;. with an aggregate capital of about .$400,000,000. Large additions have been annually made since that time. In 1800 a law was passed to secure a better administration of these establishments. The charitable institu- tions include dilTerent kinds of hospitals and asylums, almshouses, workhouses, etc. Outdoor relief is also extensive, and includes assistance in fcxid or money, medical .attention, and other objects, one of the most important being the giving of marriage portions. The ilinister of the Interior is at the head of the charitable adminis- trative system, the larger institutions being directly imder charge of the provincial govern- ments, and the smaller ones in charge of the com- munes. Education. Italy compares vcj-y unfavorably with X'orthern Kuropean countries in respect to the general difVusion of education. Since the nation is overburdened with debt and is lacking in national wealth, the educational system has not had the financial support necessary to its proper <levelopment. It would have been difficult to establish a high educational standard even had the Government not been financially handi- capped. It required much elTort and time to do away with the extremes of illiteracy existing in some of the provinces when the present King- dom was established. In whole regions two-thirds of the iiojiulation were illiterate, and in Iei;gio di Calabria and Catania the illiterates amounted to 9.3 per cent, of the total pojuilation. A better condition generally prevailed throughout the north of Italy. 'The Government, desirous of improving the educational status, made elemen- tary education free, and in 1877 passed a law making education compulsory between the ages of six and nine years. This has had a very beneficial influence, although, excepting in the northern provinces of Piedmont and Lombardy, the law has not been strictly enforced. Attendance is much the greatest in the winter months, when the schoolhouses are often overcrowded. The reduction of illiteracy has been aided by the