permitted, is allowed on deposit of the tax; and if objects of
importance are allowed to be sent from one part of Italy to
another (especially to the islands), this is done by the government
at the owner’s expense.
As to excavations, in every case application to excavate must be made to the minister, who has a general supervision over the work and may stop it temporarily or assume the conduct of it. The state can excavate on private ground, but pays compensation; and can expropriate ground on which it wishes to excavate or on which discoveries have been made, the “archaeological value” not being reckoned. As to finds, if the state conducts the excavation, the owner retains one-fourth of the value or of the objects discovered at the choice of the state, the rest belongs to the state. In other cases, and in the case of chance discoveries (notice of which must be given immediately), the state takes one-half, but if the excavation is conducted by foreign institutions or persons, then the discoveries must be given to a public museum, or if part is handed over to the finder, it must be kept in such a way as to be accessible to the Italian public. The ministry gives periodical reports of all work carried out by the authorities in the Notizie degli Scavi and the Bollettino d’arte, both of which appear every month. The funds at the disposal of the ministry for purchases include (a) a sum of £40,000 already invested, (b) the interest upon £160,000 rentes regularly paid in, (c) other sums from sales of publications, fines, &c.; (d) an annual credit voted in the budget (£12,000 in 1909–1910), forming an account called the monte di belle arti.
The regulations issued in 1910 for the execution of the new law consist of some 200 articles in three divisions—one dealing with the artistic and historical patrimony of Italy and its internal administration, a second with the question of exportation, and the third with financial matters. (T. As.)
Greece.—The earliest regulations are those contained in the law of 1837, promulgated by royal decree. This has been replaced by the Monument Act of 1899, but the principles of the earlier law remain, and the later act still lays down “the most extensive claim that any state has ever put forward in the matter of monuments,” viz. that “all objects of antiquity in Greece, as the productions of the ancestors of the Hellenic people, are regarded as the common national possession of all Hellenes.” The department in charge of the administration of the act is that of the minister of religion and public instruction. There is a central commission working with local, commissions and a body of conservators, The control of this executive is in the hands of the ephor-general of antiquities. The act protects medieval monuments as well as those of classical Greece. All immovable monuments are public property, but compensation is to be paid to private owners if such monuments are to be preserved. Movable antiquities, if worthy of preservation by the state, must be placed in public museums. If discovered on private property the owner receives half the value, and may keep those not removed to a museum; all, however, must be registered. Excavations can be made anywhere by the state, and permission for private work must be first obtained. Expropriation is allowed. The export of antiquities is strictly forbidden under severe penalties, and the infringement of the various provisions of the act can be punished by heavy fines or imprisonment.
Austria-Hungary.—There is no legislation for the empire as a whole. In Austria there is a central commission, established 1850, whose authority is regulated by rescripts of 1873 and 1899 of the minister of religion and education. It consists of twenty members selected from experts in history, art and archaeology; there is also a numerous body of conservators who have districts covering the country assigned to them. They have no executive powers, but report on all new works likely to injure monuments, make inventories, influence public opinion, and work with archaeological societies for the general protection of ancient monuments. Hungary, on the other hand, has a Monument Act of 1881. With regard to any existing monument, the minister of religion and education decides whether it is worth preserving. Then the owner, whether public or private, must preserve it at his own cost. If that is impossible the minister may expropriate it. Compulsory purchase may also be resorted to for the purpose of excavation.
Belgium.—There is no monument legislation, but there is a royal commission, resembling that of Austria, founded in 1835, and a royal decree of 1824 prevents alienation of objects of interest contained in churches or alienation or reconstruction of churches without state permission. An inventory has been in progress since 1861, and the commission publishes a Bulletin. By a communal law of 1836 local administrations have to submit proposals for the destruction or repair of monuments to the committee of the provincial council, and must obtain royal approval. Expropriation on the ground of public utility may be resorted to for the protection of a threatened monument in the hands of a private owner.
Holland.—A state commission (Rijkscommissie) was established in 1903, and began an inventory of all monuments, movable and immovable. Any proposed alteration or demolition of buildings of interest in a town must be reported by the burgomaster to the minister of the interior. The annual budget of the minister of the interior contains sums to be allotted for the repair of specified monuments.
Switzerland.—Legislation is in the hands of the cantons; Vaud, Neuchatel and Bern have passed Monuments Acts, modelled on that of France. The federal government may allot an annual grant for the acquisition and upkeep of national monuments and for excavations. There is a federal commission, established in 1886, whose functions, mainly those of other countries, are exercised by the Swiss Society for the Preservation of Monuments of Historical Art.
The preservation of scenery and of natural monuments is considered a matter of great importance, and in 1905 was founded a Swiss society which has a branch in the United Kingdom, La Ligue pour la conservation de la Suisse pittoresque—Die schweizerische Vereinigung für Heimatschutz. The special object of the society is the prevention of the defacement of Alpine scenery by funicular and other railways, mountain-lifts, power-stations, &c. It was successful in protecting the falls of the Rhine at Schaffhausen from a Zurich electric-power scheme.
Denmark.—The means adopted are an excellent example of what can be done without legislation by appeals made by a central authority working with expert knowledge to an enlightened public opinion and to national sentiment. The authority consists of an inspector of ancient monuments and the directorate of the Museum of Northern Antiquities at Copenhagen, exercising the functions of a royal commission that was established in 1807 and dissolved in 1849. The successful preservation of antiquities is also due to an old law, modified by royal decrees of 1737 and 1752, by which all finds of gold, silver and precious objects belong to the state, and to a declaration of 1848 that all monuments on the Crown domains are national property and are to be specially reserved in case of sale. Many private owners have followed the example of the Crown. G. Baldwin Brown (op. cit. p. 188 seq.) gives some interesting examples of the success of the directorate of the museum in preserving monuments by appeals to ecclesiastical owners, projectors of railways and other works, and companies engaged in reclaiming land.
Sweden.—There is a state antiquary (Riksantikvar), appointed first by Gustavus Adolphus; the functions of a, commission are exercised by the Royal Academy of Science, History and Antiquities, founded in 1786. There is an elaborate and stringent code of regulations protecting monuments, contained in royal decrees of 1867, 1873 and 1886. These are based on the edict of, Charles XI. (1666), declaring all ancient monuments under royal protection. Sweden possesses one of the fullest inventories contained in the antiquarian topographical archives.
Norway.—Here there is also a state antiquary, and a state-subsidized society, Foreningen til norske Fortidsmindesmaerkers Bevaring, founded in 1844, which acts much as a commission, and advises the state official.
Russia.—The care of ancient monuments is in the charge
