mouth; Bombacci flourished a revolver which he did not fire;
- others replied in kind, and Kabatcheff , a Bulgarian Jew represent-
ing the Russian Bolshevists, read out the indictment against the
moderates and ordered their expulsion. But when it came to vot-
ing, the Florence resolution representing the middle tendency
hostile to Moscow, supported by Turati, Treves, Buozzi, Baldisi,
D'Aragoni, and the G.C.L., who called themselves unitari and
were prepared to collaborate with a bourgeois Government
obtained 98,028 votes; the Imola resolution, representing the
Communists led by Bombacci, Bordiga, Misiani and Count
Gregiadci, got 58,783; and the Reggio Emilia resolution, whose
advocates Called themselves cenlristi, got 14,695. The split
was now an accomplished fact, and the Communists moved into
another building to hold a congress of their own; 18 members of
Parliament belonged to that group. Moscow now pronounced the
major excommunication against the Italian Socialist party, but
it was this very claim of the Russians to dictate to Italy that
aroused the opposition of the bulk of the Italian Socialists, for
in Italy even Socialists do not like being ordered about by
foreign Governments.
Sig. Giolitti's parliamentary position was somewhat weakening at this time. Most of the constitutional groups were but luke- warm supporters, and accepted his administration merely as a p is aller, disapproving of his policy towards revolutionary tendencies. Sig. Nitti, who desired to return to power, now began to oppose the Cabinet. The Nationalists and their sympathizers were opposed to Giolitti, but disliked Nitti still more. The Catholics were an uncertain quantity and could not be counted upon. The Socialists were, of course, in opposition, but Turati and his group were tending more and more towards the idea of collaboration with Giolitti, a tendency which alienated from the latter a good deal of support from the constitutionals, who feared that even a moderate Socialist amalgamation would mean further extravagance and incompetence in the administration, and legislation fatal to production and work. The chief practical question before Parlia- ment was that of the price of bread. The Government still main- tained a monopoly of the wheat trade, and, by selling bread under cost price, cast a tremendous burden on the budget. The situation at the end of 1920 was as follows. The harvest, which in 1913 had been as high as 58,452,000 quintals of wheat, had decreased during the war, and in 1919 had fallen to a little over 46,000,00x5; 1920 was a still worse year and had given only 38,500,000. As the average annual consumption amounted to 167 kgm. per inhabitant it was necessary to purchase 24,000,000 quintals abroad. The State requisitioned 12,500,000 quintals of the home crop (the rest being consumed by the producers) at 113 lire per quintal, and bought 24,000,000 abroad at 210 lire. Thus one kgm. of bread cost the State i lira 8oc., while it was sold at only 90 centesimi. In Dec. 1920 Giolitti introduced a bill for raising the price. The Socialists adopted obstructionist tactics. Finally, the bill was voted by a large majority on March i . Home-grown wheat was then sold at cost price, and that purchased abroad at 150 lire. Bread was of two qualities, sold at two prices, the commoner sort at i lira 2oc. to i lira 25C., and the better sort at varying higher prices. The Government expressed the intention of gradually returning to freedom of trade in all food- stuffs. The Budget deficit for 1921-2 had been estimated at 10,370 millions, of which 7,000 millions was due to the State monopoly of cereals; but the new measures reduced the estimated deficit to about 4,000 millions, which it was hoped to cover by other means. The Cabinet was less successful over its education bill. Ever since the Catholics had entered Parliament in large numbers they had demanded State examinations in the schools, so that pupils from the private schools, mostly Catholic institutions, should be on an equal footing with those of the Government schools. Sig. Torre, when Minister of Education, had presented a bill to that effect, but had been unable to carry it through owing to the fall of the Cabinet. Now Sig. Croce, a Liberal not remotely suspected of Clerical leanings, brought forth a new bill to the same effect. But the majority of the Chamber voted against it and Sig. Croce wished to resign (Feb. n), but his
resignation was not accepted. At the end of Feb. a bill providing for syndicalist control in industry was also presented to Parlia- ment, but it encountered much opposition.
The new Communist party was determined to try its strength in the country by a series of terrorist outrages, by which it hoped to draw the masses into that revolution which the Offi- cial Socialist party had failed to bring about. The first JSw*orf". attempt was in Florence, where a regular revolutionary rates. plot was discovered; on Feb. 27 a group of Com- munists threw a bomb at a patriotic procession of schoolboys, killing and wounding several people. The Fascisti retaliated by attacking and wrecking the offices of the Socialist organizations, and killed Lavagnini, a noted railway agitator and editor of a local Communist paper. The Florence railwaymen went out on strike, and so did the electricians; a series of affrays between the Communists and Fascisti took place, and the former erected barricades in the popular San Frediano quarter. The troops and police repressed the rioting with energy, backed up by the Fascisti and the enormous majority of the population. The Communists committed several cold-blooded murders, mcluding that of the small son of a manufacturer, whereat the Fascisti burnt down the labour exchange and the offices of the F.I.O.M. Other encounters took place in the environs, notably at Bandino and Scandicci, and in one or two cases the troops had to resort to artillery fire to demolish barricades. In all 20 persons were killed and 100 wounded. Minor outbreaks and individual murders took place at Pisa, Siena, Cascina, Empoli, etc. But everywhere popular reaction was unmistakable and vigorous; in many places it was the soldiers and police who had to protect the Communists from being lynched by the crowd. The Fascista movement acquired ever fresh impetus, and more and more peasants' unions cast off Socialism to join the Fasci. In many places it was discovered that the Socialist or Communist labour leaders had derived large profits from the employment offices, the cooperative stores and the distribution of food-stuffs. More and more Socialist municipal councils, especially in Central Italy, resigned.
The Government's parliamentary position continued un- certain. On March 10 a motion presented by Sig. Amendola (Constitutional Liberal) in favour of an immediate discussion on foreign affairs, which the Cabinet Break-up opposed, was rejected by only a small majority, ^/ff, the Nationalists, Democratic Liberals, as well as the cabinet, Socialists, voting in favour of it. In the Allied Coun- " 1921. cils increasingly during the course of 1921 Italy found herself in support of Great Britain in exercising a moderating influence over the more violent tendencies of France against Germany. A movement in favour of a general election had been gathering strength for some months. The Chamber elected in Nov. 1919 in very special circumstances no longer represented anything like public opinion, but it rose for the Easter holidays without any decision having been arrived at. On April i Sig. Meda, having resigned on account of his health, was succeeded at the Treasury by Sig. Bonomi, whose place at the War Minis- try was taken by Sig. Rodino of the Catholic party. Giolitti then issued a decree dissolving the Chamber on the 7th, the elections to take place on May 15 and Parliament to reassemble on June 8. The elections went off without serious incidents, save a certain number of encounters between Fascisti and Social- ists or Communists on the days immediately preceding or fol- lowing that of the polls (May 15). The total percentage of voters was higher than at previous elections, reaching in some cases 80 or 90% of the total. The new Chamber comprised 535 members, as compared with 508 in the old one, owing to the 27 seats assigned to the annexed provinces. Of this total the various Liberal groups obtained 275 seats (239 in the previous Chamber), the Catholics rose from 101 to 107, the Socialists fell from 156 to 122 for the unitari or Socialists proper and 16 for the Communists, the Republicans fell from 13 to 7; there were, in addition, four Germans from the Alto Adige and five Slavs from the Venezia Giulia. The actual proportions of the various parties were not therefore very
