The sun., 1897-04-18

tute q menace which has caused italian
| Liberals to shiver in the hour OF their
ostensible triumph, for they indicate that
the time Is drawing near when the mon
archy founded by CAvoUR will be bcset by
the REDS" upon the one hand and by the
"Blacks" upon the other.
1t Is not SO much the number OF Socialists
in the new Chamber which excites appre-
henslon, for they will fall short of twenty,
tional distinction of the constituencies car.
ried by them. Two Socialists, for instance,
were returned by Turin, the hereditary
citadel Of the house Of SAVOY; another So
cialist was elected in Florence, and two
Radicals Of the most advanced type were
victorious in Rome. Thus the three success
sive capitals of the kingdom of Italy have
partially declared for that further develop
ment Of the revolution which threatens the
existing order. An equally significant
symptom of dissatisfaction with tho present
state of things was disclosed In Milan,
where the anti-monarchical principle tri-
umphed over the monarchical by 11,O62
votes to 7,795. The dlsmay Of the Liberal
or Moderate party, of which the Marquis
DI RUprNI is the chief, Is revealed In their
Indignation at the persistent refusal Of the
Catholic party to participate In the contest
for tho cause Of order at the ballot box. 1t
seems that during the late campaign Cath.
olio associations were particularly active
in urging abstention, and were more sue
cessful than ever before, Notwithstanding
the pressure put In some cases upon Cath
olio workmen by their employers to induce
them to vote, and Notwithstanding the
solid Inducements in the form Of bribes
which were held out to the electors.
1t Is said that single votes brought
fabulous prices, as much, for example. as
$40 apiece, and that In one case $500 was
obtained for ten votes. Nevertheless, in
Bergamo, the Vendee of Italy, the actual
voters numbered only "a per cent. Of the
registered electors, and In parish Of Pa
dua out Of 554 enrolled upon the registra-
tion list, only SO exercised their privilege.
In Florence, although upward of $4,000
were registered, less than 1000 voted,
while in Rome the disproportion was still
larger. amounting in one constituency to
only 1865 votes as against 8 5,263 electors;
in Turin the numbers polled varied from
about half to third Of those registered.
In the opinion of the GGEzettd di Torino.
the Socialist gains, impressive as they are,
constitute less ominous phenomenon than
does the attitude Of the Catholics, whose OBJ
stinate abstention from the ballot boxes
may in future give q perilous character to
the agitation Of the advanced Socialist and
Republican party. The Ga-zetta di Ve,,e-
ria warns its friends, the Moderate Lib
erals, against the dream of being able by
the means of a medium party to make head
against the two extremes. The programme
"neither reds nor Blacks" it says, may
have been q possible expedient some years
ago, but a few years hence the situation,
with which Italians will be confronted,
will be this: A middle party, weak and
discordant, and two extreme wings very
strong; one all black, consisting of the
Catholic masses organized and resolute {;
the other all red, made up of the popular
masses recruited by Socialism in the fields
and workshops. The same newspaper,
reminding the Liberals that Signor
COSTA, tho most powerful Socialist in
Italy, has said: 1--WE fear the priests
alone; as for you. you are in liquidation"
goes on to ask whether the Liberals will
continue to laugh at the Clericals and call
them the enemies Of the country when, as
a matter of fact, it is the Clericals alone
who in presence Of the unheeding passive
ness Of some institutions and the progress
sive ruin Of others, are preparing the pha-
lanxes that will battle with the revolution.
There is no doubt that with every year
the efficacy Of the purely negative system
of defensive warfare adopted by the Papacy
against the existing monarchical regime,
becomes increasingly apparent in the utter
dislocation introduced by it into the mech
anism of representative government.