Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-07
eclal correspondence of The Evening Star.

| commercial exchanges between the two
countries which are recorded In his once.
With lively regret Vice Consul Mast has
noted the decline of American shipping,
for he remembers the time when as many
as twenty-five vessels sailing under the
American flag entered the port OF Leghorn
each month, and he has failed to see that
flag floating at the masthead Of any snip
for several years past. In the early days
of his consular work Leghorn was a great
port. Before the italian federation OF
thirty-five years ago it was what was called
a free port, of which there were two others
in Italy, Messina and Genoa. With the
| u~niffcation of Italy. came a unihcation or
the. tariff systems of the country and the
municipal duties were restored to all cities
| alike. When Leghorn was a free port
goods were landed, and after paying the
national duties were taxed no further. IN
der the customs system of Italy at that
time, at all places other than the free ports,
| further duties were collected upon imports
by the municipalities before goods could
| proceed into the interior.
A Great Distribution Point.
The fact that Leghor was a free port
| made it a great distributing point for the
| interior of central Italy. and foreign trade
| fourished amazingly. With the reimposition
of the municipal tax. the greater energies
| of Genoa and Naples made themselves felt
| and Leghorn has steadily lost ground as a
| point of commercial importance. Amelio
Mast remembers the day when between five
and six thousand ships could be- found at
the wharves or anchored in the harbor at
one time. such a shipping as this means a
city full of life. with thousands of sailors
| ashore and scores Of merchants bargaining
for incoming and outgoing cargoes
In sad contrast to the bustling port of
Genoa is the ancient city of LivornO, better
known to the world as Leghorn. With wide
| streets and handsome buildings, a magnifi-
cent and wefl-sheltered harbor, a trade
with the nrpCfipa of nnntIripQ and Qdvqn-
tageously located for supplying the interior.
Leghorn is today a once great commercial
city In decay.
Nearly five thousand vessels called at this
port last year. but most of them only for
the purpose of leaving a small part of a
cargo, or of taking on a supplement to
| cargo secured elsewhere. The American
trade is the only one showing material gain
and that trade is in staple raw materials
and partially manufactured goods.
In the year 1903, only SiXty-seven vessels
sailed for America from this port, and none
of these carried the American flag. The
Italian and English flags are most COM
monty seen in the Mediterranean trade.
Few of the German ships find their way
here. though many sail from Genoa and
Naples. In the past twelve months there
has been a decided decrease even in the
number of vessels calling at the port, for
the records show a loss of over three hun
dred in that time. The vessels going to the
United States carried as their largest item
of freight blocks of various colored marbles
from the great duarries at Carrara and
other nearby places. for which Leghorn is
the natural shipping point. The vessels
coming from America brought wheat. coal.
tobacco. oil and lumber. but wheat alone
constituted nearly two-thirds of the total
lmportations. The importatious of tobacco
were naturally large, owing to the fact
that 1t is admitted free of duty, being a
government monopoly and ntende for the
manufacture OF cigars and cigarettes. Pine
topacco Is very scarce, the government find
ins mat IL can make a wider margin on the
other forms. the revenue from which helps
greatly toward filing the national treasury
Shifting Of Commercial Activity.
Inc scenes OF commercial activity in Italy
nave shlfted to a much more marked de-
gree than the centers of the population. In
the time of the Romans Pisa, now six miles
Inland from Leghorn, was a seaport town
and its natural advantages were considered
so great by the Roman emperors that every
encouragement to settlement and develon-
ment was given by the succeeding govern-
ments. AS the sea changed the outline of
the coast and the river Arno bull it's fiat
slit meadows between Pisa and ewa
the city OF the leaning tower lost her COM
mercial prestige. and in her place Leghorn
grew wealthy at her expense. The building
OF railroads and the concentration of can't
tai at other places changed the channels of
&C mmerc much in the same manner as the
waters had changed the coast line. The
lines Of least resistance now point to other
places, and with natural advantages greater
than many more ffourishing ports of Italy.
Leghorn is becoming more and more iso-
lated from the world. 1t is no inconsidera-
bic place. however, even now, having a
population of over 100.o eco: while the steady
growth of American interests makes 1t of
more Importance from the American point
of view than some other places whose com
merce is expressed in larger totals.
There is no emigration from Leghorn to
the United States, for the northern Ital-
ians who leave for America make Genoa
their point of departure, and in southern
Italy Naples is the great gathering point
for intending em~igrants. The great steam
a convenient port of call, for with the con-
sohdation of the shipping interests, the
passenger carrying lines have been able to
concentrate their business to fewer and
larger points
Rural Italy is not developing to any
marked degree, hence it is Impossible to
predict much of promise for the future of
Leghorn. and no great interests are con-
ceIned in building up the port to rival
other places on the peninsula.
In summer many Italians come to Leg
horn for the sea bathing and it is quite a
favorite resort for German tourists at this
time of the year. A beautiful sea front,
along which is a drive bordered by hand
some villas. presents all the possibilities In
the form of Mediterranean shore resorts,
though the Italian much prefers the coffee
room and the entering gossip thereof to
any more strenuous FORM OF amusement.
With the best that can be said of Leg
horn, 1t is an extremely quiet place. and
these who travel for pleasure usually seek
some excitement such as is presented by
the more popuious and thriving points. In
the old days Legh0rn was a refuge fol
those who hed from persecution and civil
wars In other parts OF italy. or even In
foreign Iands., and 1t Is the descendants OF
these exiles who have become the com.
merciaf families OF a conservative and wei
ordered city, which, Notwithstanding Its
quiet, has q substantial trade with the in
ferfar and the world without.