White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1919-03-16
BY LLOYD ALLEN,
Western Newspaper Union Staff Cor
respondent.

OuT ADltrlchn dIuDdssauof mere IN
Rome. Thomas Nelson Page, believes
that Italy suffered more from the raw
ages Of war than any other nation
fighting the central powers. except
Serbia and Poland. both of which
were robbed and almost wholly over
run by invading Hun armies.
In spite Of her war losses, which in
clude almost half a million dead and
near on TO a million wounded, to say
nothing of an enormous national debt,
Italy Is today starting out on a pro-
gram Of reconstruction aiming to make
the most out of whatever place in the
sun the peace conference gives her.
The slogan of the national leaders
might well enough be Italy for the
Italians" since that phrase summa-
rizes a majority of their ambitions
and to all appearances has the sup
port of the people.
II is going to be a tremendous up
hill job, this business of repairing the
damages wrought by war. Sixty-two
per cent of the Italian merchant ma
rine was sunk by Austrian and Ger
man submarines-the Mediterranean
sea was made INTO a graveyard of
merchant ships. every one of which
could now be put to excellent peace
time use carrying raw materials and
food.
Enormous Task Ahead.
Half a million fine acres of land In
the northern provinces of Italy. which
was virtually abandoned during the
Austrian occupation. may not be
plowed this spring, owing to the short
ness of time. and the enormlty Of the
task of rehabilitating the farm popu-
lation. Several thousand blowing ma
chimes must be rushed In for the work.
II II Is to be accomplished. rs well as
a large number of horses for trans
porting fuel and fertilizers and for
sowing the fields.
There is a food shortage In the
meantime; meat and wheat and dairy
products are very scarce. in fact, but
ter Is almost an unknown commodity
In even the best hotels of Rome, Milan,
Turin and Genoa.
And there In a fuel shortage that is
even worse. because Italy does mo-
produce one pound Of coal within her
own boundaries. Every pound burned
must be hauled In ships. either from
England or America, and there Is none
e spare In England.
Not counting the excessively high
prices Of all commodities. these were
some of the principal economic trou-
bles the Italian government was en-
deavoring TO overcome during the first
weeks of the peace conference In
Paris. The army of 100000 men WIS
still In uniform. although a few had
been demobilized. and 100000 men and
women were still In the munition fac
tories.
Slight Tinpe of Anarchy.
Throughout the political situation
there was naturally enough an under
current of radlealism. which. fortunate
ly enough. was thought TO be only
slightly tinged with the anarchistic
doctrines of the b~olsheviks.
With this groundwork Italy's ma
tlonal leaders confidently expected to
develop a greater Italy an Italy that
would be big enough. and prosperous
enough. TO keep ut home most. II no
all, Of the half "A million Italians that
In former years were obliged to leave
the motheriand TO find work In the
Americas, either In the United States
or the Argentine Republic.
First of all the government expected
TO do great things for the country by
encouraging the development of water
power sites 10 the big rivers and In the
mountainous country of the north,
through the Trentino, which had just
been won from Austria.
Food Administrator Crespi. here In
Rome. outlined some of the advantages
to be gained by the greater use OF
electricity generated by the hydro
electric plants to take the place OF
coal costing more than 800 a ton.
Available Water Power.
According to Crespi. and his views
were substantially the same as
expressed by other Italian officials
with whom ! talked. Italy Is today uti-
LIKING 1.250.OO0 horse power out OF the
b.00O.O 900 horse power that is available
In all of the rivers and streams OF the
country.
"You must remember" Crespi said,
shat II will be many years before IT
Is an economic proposition to use
every bit Of the 5000. 900 horse power
we own. It's a simple problem In
f~inanceering. Some Of the water-power
sites must be left untouched because
II costs too much to harness the pow
er. The cost of installing a plant III
these doubtful sites Is Mt present too
great, even though coal, the only
power substitute, is frightfully expen-
sive.'
Crespi Is a manufactures himself,
prominent In the silk industry, and Is
recognized throughout Italy as n prac-