The Republican journal., 1900-06-28

I into the presence of a man who had a
lot of gold lace on his cap and who could
speak about as much French as we
could Italian. In a jargon of these
languages we succeeded in getting
something written on our tickets which
we fondly hoped was the ''formalita''
which he had been asked to ''Scrivere
sub biglietto.' With a profusion of
| ''sratias' and ''mercis'' we departed in
| high glee. 1t was far more exciting
than simply walking up to window
and saying Ticket. pleas, and then
sitting down to wait for train.
| We meet some odd specimens of .hu-
mainly en- route. The other day we fell
in with an English priest, who was
about as dogmatic in his assertions as
any person / ever met. You should
| have heard him on the war in South At
RIGA. He denounced the Beers as 1.-The
biggest beasts going and said the peo-
pie were nothing but Mohammedans
and Calvinists, We met him again in
the art gallery at Siena and here he be-
gan TRADE against Raphael and his
Madonnas, also against Bacoleker S
guide book because they did not des-
crlbe every old picture in the collection.
| AS he turned away. his black cassock
1
| really enjoyed being unhappy. But
, whatever the discount on some of our
fellow travellers there is certainly none
on the country itself. You can imagine
| nothing more beautiful that the high
hills. cultivated to the very top. the
valleys full of waving grain and grow
ing vegetables. and the orchards with
garlands of grape vines stretched from
tree to tree. Quantities of scarlet pop
pies bloom amid the wheat and great
clusters of magnificent roses run riot
over the stone walls and poor little cot
tageS OF the peasants. The methods OF
farming are nearly as primitive as 1000
years ago, all the grain being cut with a
sickle by hand. usually by women, who
do most of the drudgery in the fields.
One longs to set modern American
moving machine and reaper whizZing
through these fertile fields. The gray
olive trees are very abundant, and with
the solemn expresses give touch to
the landscape quite different from what
we see in New England The pines,
too. are unlike ours. They grow to an
immense height then spread out like
palm at the top, and for this reason are
called umbrella or parasol pines.
What will be the future of Italy, who
can tell? do not wonder that so many
of her people emigrate to America.
They are struggling under a burden of
taxation that is appalling. We have
been told that fifty per cent. of all that
a man earns is eaten up in taxes. Then
there is the burden Of supporting the
army and navy and meeting expenses of
the Triple Alliance. Poor Italy made a
great mistake in that ENHANCEMENT.
She is paying too big price to be reck-
oned among the Great Powers with the
capital letters. Besides all this the
church eats terribly into the revenues
of the people, so that between priest
and soldier the country is staggering
under load too heavy to carry. In GER
tain localities. especially in the North
where there is more intelligence and en-
ergy. the people openly protest and
socialism is rampant OF course you
know that the Pope and the King or
rather the church and the government.
are sworn enemies and that adds fuel
to the flame. Altogether the conditions
are favorable for a revolution amy day
| though it may he brought about by
| peaceful means. Let us hope so. at
least. y nation that has given Cara
| baIdl and a CaVour to the world in the
| last half century ought to live and ,ros-
| per.
Next Sunday will be election day and
! shall not be surprised to hear of riots
III some of the principal cities. II they
occur you viii have detailed accounts
III the newspapers long before this
reaches You. Despite her weakness and
her follies, past and present. Italy is a
land full of charm. with her pictures
and palaces. her priests and heggars.
smiling meadows and sunlit streams.
and shall have a bit of heartache in
saving goodbye to a place where we
have enjoyed SO many happy weeks.