The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-28

upon the Papacy by PEPlN, had lasted
for eleven centuries and had always
hindered the unification of ltaly.
There is no doubt that VICTOR EMMAN-
uEL, although he had deemed it duty
to occupy Rome, was extremely DESTROYS
Of conciliating the Vatican. He was
willing to concede to the Pope possession
of the Ieonine City in full sovereignty,
and carefully abstained from entering
it until PITS ~. begged him to send
troops thither to guarantee his safety
The Italian Government then sought
other means Of Cancellation, and VIC
TOR EMMANUEL retrained from enterln
Rome in state until July, 1871, more than
three months after the Parliament had
voted the so called Law of Guarantees,
which was intended to settle the relations
of Church and State and assure to the
Papacy spiritual liberty. This statute,
which unquestionably recognized Il
moral obligation, confirmed the Pope
in the rights and prerogatives OF sover-
eighty declared his person to be invio-
liable punished attacks upon it rs attacks
upon the King himself. guaranteed to
him the free Use of the Vatican and
Lateran palaces. which were proclaimed
free from all jurisdiction Of the State,
and finally, assigned to him an annual
dotaton Of 3,l25, 900 lire, or s645 900,
If the Vatican had chosen to accept it
there is reason to believe that the Law
of Guarantees would have been observed
by the Italian Government in the spirit us
we'll us in the letter EXasperated how
ever, by the Pope's reputation of the
offer, Reputation maintained from the
spring of 1871 up to the present hour,
the civil power has unquestonably
violated some of the promises embodied
in the statute of March 81, ISL. The
moral obligation, however, to pay the
covenanted dotation-the arrears of
which now amount to nearly 500 DOC, 900
undoubtedly persists, because the Italian
Government retains the consideration,
namely, the revenue formerly derived by
the Pope from his temporal dominions.
Whether the obligation would now be
recognized by the Italian monarchy
would be doubtful but for the fact that
the existing structure of society is ex
posed to serious peril by the growing
strength of the Socialists. The more
conservative advisers of VICTOR En-
MANUEL III. have been for some time
keenly alive to the importance of secur-
ing the support Of Catholic voters at the
III in huf
direction the other day by PITS X, when
he recalled or suspended the injunction,
to which his two predecessors had adj
hered, and by which faithful Catholics
were prohibited from taking part in
Italian Parliamentary elections. One
good turn deserves another If the Cath
Ole voters, who constitute something
like one half of the registered electorate,
are henceforward to go to the polls and
sustain the champions of the established
social order. why should not the mon
archical Government on its part make
over to the Papacy the arrears of dota
ton which was acknowledged to be a
substitute-an imperfect substitution
the confiscated revenue Of temporal
sovereign whose independence Italy had
bound itself by treaty to respect?
Nothing could be easier than for the
Italian Government to borrow s22 600, 900
for the purpose of acquitting a just debt.
Nor would anything be more likely to pro-
mote the stability of the Savoy dynasty
than to terminate a conflict which has
lasted for upward of three decades be-
tween the civil power and the Catholic
Church in Italy.