except a few irreconcilables; now that the iialianitd of Fiume was guaranteed there seemed to_be no reason for continuing in an illegal situation. The evacuation of Dalmatia began in the spring of 1921. Subsequently, on April 24, the election for the Constituent Assembly in Fiume caused disorder, necessitating the intervention of Italian forces. The port question, left unsettled at Rapallo, was the subject of an Italo- Yugoslav agreement at Belgrade in June 1921, the whole port system, including Porto Baros and Sussale, being placed for 12 years under a governing board consisting of two Italians, two Fiumani, and two Yugoslavs.
During the summer and autumn of 1920 there were further internal troubles in Italy itself. Sporadic strikes and disorders had been going on through the summer; the employees Comma- o f [ ne secondary railways had been again on strike f r some time; on July 14 the tramwaymen in most Italian towns proclaimed a sympathy strike, and the electricians in Rome interrupted the electric supply spasmodically and continued to do so for several nights. On the ipth the secondary railways strike came to an end on the understanding that the strikers would not be dismissed. The Rome tramwaymen on returning to work tried to make a demonstration with red flags, but the people rose against them; a general protest strike attempted on the 2ist failed and resulted in the wrecking of the Rome offices of the Avanli, while several Socialist deputies, including Modigliani, were beaten by the crowd. The electri- cians' strike ended on the 29th. The agrarian strikes in Romagna, after a long period of agitation disastrous to production, ended on Sept. 3, when the Government requisitioned the crops to save them from destruction.
A more serious movement now broke out in the metal trades. The metallurgical industry had greatly developed during the war, and Italian manufacturers had rapidly transformed their plants after the war in view of peace production. They had made large profits, and had been able to grant very large increases of wages to their men. But working costs were now very high and there were signs of a coming trade slump; the workmen nevertheless demanded still higher wages. On Aug. 13, after a three-day conference, the representatives of the Industrial Metallurgical Federation finally rejected the demands of the delegates of the workmen's union, the F.I.O.M. (Federasione italiana operai metallurgici), on the ground that the conditions of the industry made any further concessions impossible. On the 2oth the work- men began to adopt obstructive tactics, impeding all production and in some cases committing acts of sabotage. This was particularly the case at the Romeo works at Milan, where a lock-out was proclaimed in consequence. Thereupon the F.I.O.M. ordered the workmen of other metal factories in Milan to remain in permanence at their works so as to prevent an extension of the lock-out. On Aug. 31 the Federation of Mechanical Industries proclaimed a general lock-out throughout Italy. The workmen then proceeded to seize a number of metallurgical works, at first in Lombardy alone, then in Piedmont and other parts of the country; these occupations were also extended to plants of other kinds (chemical works, textiles, etc.). The Socialists regarded this action as a beginning of practical Communism, and, although there were but few acts of violence at first, the extremists, encouraged by the passive attitude of the authorities, attempted to force the owners, managers and experts to continue to conduct the works in the exclusive interests of the workmen; " red guards " were organized, revolutionary tribunals set up, and persons trying to enter the factories or even passing near them were shot at. At Turin, where the movement was more general, the factory counrils attempted even to sell the goods manufactured, but the owners warned the public that they refused to recognize the validity of such sales. In any case, the workmen found it more and more difficult to run the factories without the managers and experts, as they could get no credit to purchase raw materials, and ended by making the occupation of the factories merely an occasion for drunken orgies. On Sept. 6 the General Confederation of Labour declared that the action of the metal workers was justified, but that the conflict must be
placed under its own guidance in order eventually to achieve collectivist management; it did not, however, authorize the extension of the seizures to other industries for the moment. On the other hand, the General Confederation of Industry ap- proved the conduct of the Mechanical Federation in resisting the workmen's imposition. The Socialist party now attempted to get control of the movement, but at the meeting of the general council of the G.C.L. a resolution in favour of control by the latter was voted by 591,245 votes to 409,569 and 93,623 absten- tions; this confirmed by a small majority the economic as op- posed to the political character of the agitation.
The Government now instructed the prefects of Milan and Turin to open negotiations for a peaceful solution. The extrem- ists were becoming every day more truculent, and in some cases the leaders had broken open the safes and pocketed the contents. At Turin acts of violence were more frequent, and on Sept. 22 the " red guards " brutally murdered a Nationalist student and a detective who happened to be passing near a factory; the murderers were, however, apprehended soon afterwards. The police at last began to act, and seized and occupied the Gilardini works, where the worst criminals were concentrated. Sig. . Giolitti, on his return from Aix-les-Bains, had continued his holiday at Bardonnecchia with Olympic serenity ; but he, too, now felt that he must do something. He summoned representatives of the owners and workmen to meet him at Turin, and formed a joint commission to formulate proposals for introducing some form of syndicalist control into factory management, which was what the G.C.L. and the union leaders were now demanding. The National Council of the Industrial Confederation expressed its willingness to consider the question of syndicalist control, but protested against the outrages committed by the extremists and the tolerance of the authorities. On the igth the delegates of the conflicting parties, summoned by the premier, met in Rome and came to a settlement concerning the demand for a rise in wages, and the ow T ners agreed to pay for the work actually done during the occupation of the factories on condition that all damage done should be deducted. The principle of syndicalist control was also accepted, the Government undertaking to present a bill embodying it to Parliament. The owners would not agree to the readmission of all the workmen, and only ended by accepting it under protest as an imposition by the Government. The Congress of the F.I.O.M. accepted the Rome agreement by 118 votes to 18 on the 22nd, and submitted it to a referendum of the local section,which approved it by 127,904 votes 1044,531 and a few abstentions. The agitation committee of the F.I.O.M. then ordered the workmen to evacuate the factories on the 27th; work was resumed on Oct. 4, after the plants, which had been left in appalling state of filth and disorder, had been tidied up. The evacuation did not take place everywhere at once, and there were some further troubles, but gradually normal conditions were reestablished. As an attempt on the part of the extremists, represented by Bombacci, to promote a revolution and establish Communism, the movement had failed. But it did a great deal of harm to Italian industry and credit, for which even the. more moderate leaders, such as Buozzi, were responsible.
About the same time agrarian troubles had broken out in various parts of Italy, especially in Sicily, where the associations of ex-soldiers and other agricultural labourers demand- ed land and seized many estates: but the movement Trouble" was directed chiefly against the middlemen and large farmers, and settlements were usually effected by agreement with the landlords, who were willing to rent their estates to the agricultural and cooperative associations. Estates were forcibly occupied by the peasantry in the province of Rome and in the Tuscan Maremma, but the disputes were usually settled without serious incidents. In the Veneto, in parts of Tuscany and in the provinces of Bergamo and Cremona, the troubles were more serious; the peasantry demanded ever more favourable land contracts, which, if granted, would have left the landlord without enough income to pay the taxes. The movement was usually promoted by the Popolari, especially by Sig. Miglioli and Cocchi, the leaders of the Catholic extremists. In the Puglie
