The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-03-27

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| Gus population where now a hundred people live
or rather die slowly OF IN term.ttent fever. Cesar
took into consideration the practcabIiry
OF rectifying the course OF the nber, so
| as to prevent ;ne continually recurring inunda-
uons. Inc POrt OF Ciaudins Is AZ present a swamp
Until the destruction OF the many cities that once
hourished on the Campagna the populations OF
which were gathered to increase the city OF Rome
we must accept the hypothesis that the Agro
Romano was wei cultivated. ana that swamps
were not allowed to develop as they have done
IN later years; that the forests existed on the
mountains and the sacred groves everywhere on
the vast plain and that only small portions Of the
country OF which we are speaking were unhealthy.
J THE DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
with the decline oftse Roman Empire came the
| neglect OF culture on the Campagna. and the un.
healthiness OF the country became immensely
! greater than before. II Petrus Damanus speaks
| truly. when he writes to Pope Nicholas H.. IN the
eleventh century, the condition of Rome was then
| very deporable.
| Roma verax hominum, domat ardua cola vlrorum
Roma ierax ieblum, nccis est uberrma frugum,
hoinahfe ieDres s'abli stunt Jure fdeles.
| QUEEN semel invadunt viX a vivente recount.
| And since then the condition OF the AERO
Romano and tie entire Campagna has not i'm.
proved. but has become more and more deplora.
bic, keeping pace with the political decline OF the
country.
So we came to the conclusion, with the majority
OF historians, that
THE CAUSE OF THE MALARIA
is to be looked for in the presence Of the swamps.
The swamps are caused by the overlooking OF the
Tfoer on the one part, the foundations of the
mountain torrents on the other, both OF which
phenomena must be attributed primarily to the
destruction or the forests the mountain dec1ivi-
ties. Other swamps have been formed, like those
nv ha thp
ing OF the sea, produced by the annual deposits or
the Tiber. The ancient jewellers OF the Campagna
PAID great attention to the swampy places
and provided bitches to enable the stag
nant waters to pass Off The successors
OF these ancient cultivators did nothing
OF the sort; they folded their arms
and saw in calm the swamps increasing in size
year by rear, and thus do likewise the occupiers
OF the soil az the present time. Garibaldrs plan
to remedy the deplorabe condition of the Agro
Romano is a very good thing III its way, but 1t
| does not go back far enough. The torrents Will
descend and devastate the plains so long rs the
mountains are not planted with forests, and the
stagnant swarnps Will remain 80 long as the gov
eminent does not take the matter In hand ana
drain them, like the Dutch do their little, under
sea-level land, like as Prince Torlonia did with
Lake Fucero. Once drained, with government
inspectors TO keep guard afterward there cannot
be much difficulty In creating q healthy region
where now Turk pestence and death. In another
letter will speak or the projects that have been
entertained in former times Tor improving the
condition OF the Campagna.
SKETCH OF EARLY AND MODERN PROJECTS FOR
ITS 1MPRovEMENr-THE PoNT1FFs AND TIE
CAMpAGNA-PI4ANs OF SCIENTIFIC MEN-sIGNoR
PARETA--GENERAL GARIBALDI
ROME, March 3, 1875
In q previous letter have attempted TO give
you some idea OF the present condition OF the 70.
man Campagna. or more properly speking OF the
Agro Romano, and or the causes which produced
the deplorabe state OF things we now see. In
this letter l. VIII give a brief account OF some OF
the more important plans and projects enter
tanned by the various governments to bring about
an Improvement o. the condition OF the land and
people, and to remove the malaria from the
neighbornoOd OF Rome Nearly every writer OF
note IN Italy has written at one time another
something about the Improvement OF the Cam.
pagna. Pamphlets and projects about
the subject can be counted by the hun.
dred bat actual experiments very few. And
the fact IS tnat before 1870, when the laws or
mortman and OF entail prevailed over two.thlrds
OF the estates or the Campagna, It was absolutely
impossible for any government TO proceed to the
work OF Improvement without first confscating
nor the clergy although they might very much
have desired 10 see the condition OF the Campagna
improved, did not care to spend any money them
selves for his end, ana che government did not
see It's way clear III spending millions to benefit a
few landed proprie;ors. The earlier ecclesiastical
property OF the Campagna now being actually
under the controi Of the government, which
created commission for its sale AMI admnstra.
ton, and the great estates OF the mobiles being no
longer subject to the Jaw of entail, there are no
obstacles in the way OF the government appro.
priation and Improvement
THE ROMAN PoNrIFFS AND THE AGRo ROMANO
The s,erlhty OF the Campagna has at various
times occupied the attehtion OF the Roman pom
tifTs, who took certain measures TO improve the
condition OF the land ana people. generally, how
ever, with little or no permanent benefit. Their
projects we're carried on. chiefly without appar-
entity looking into the causes OF the conditions
they sought to ameiorate. Pope Zacharla caused
three village colonies 90 be founded in the cam.
pagna, ana his example Was followed by Adrian
J., but with no success. ana these were the only
attempts made at colo aizaton during the Middle
Ages. In consequence of the increasing sterili.y
of the Campagna, Rome. however, was frequently
visited by great scarcity OF food, aud the popes
had no 0tner way OF meeting these calamities
than by erecting immense storerooms for grain
in Rome. These depots were called deW G6undatd.
The authorities purchased the corn of the Cam
pagna and then sold 1t again to the bakers and
consumers at fixed price, sometimes be-
low the actual cost. SiXtus w. adopted
during the great famine OF 1917. besides the
above, also more radical measure, permitting
every person to SOW wheat wherever ne chose IN
the Campagna and other provinces under the
dominion Of the Gnu rich, paying TO the proprietor
of the land nominal sum fixed by the state.
This measure was taken in order to inauce the
proprietors to cultivate their lands with grain in
stead OF leaving them Tor the pasturage OF cattle.
The proprietors alone secured great benefit from
the ordinance, compelling tue sewers 20 sell their
crops to them ana reseling the grain TO Rome at
great increase OF price.
ARBITRARY MEASURES.
julius II. C503-l2) caused very stringent laws