New-York tribune., 1920-12-26
Proposed Labor
Reforms Close
Italian Plants
Manufacturers, Particularly
in Northern Part Of King.
dom, Refuse TO Submit
to Syndicalisis' Demands
Cost of Production Scars
Clause In Contracts Per
mits Seller to Raise Price
If Raw Materials Advance
From O specsai Correspondent

ROME, Dec. lA.-ItaIian industrial
conditions, to the surprise of the So
cialists, are not what might be called
flourtshng, owing to the discrepancies
tion caused by the proposed Industrial
reforms. The problem is too great for
a happy solution now, owing to the
unce rtainty Of trade and commerce.
Owners Of factories in the North in
many cases have preferred to close
their factories rather than submit to
syndicallsm.
The Steelworkers Federation has
called on the Socialists to watch The
maneuvers OF the industrlaIs who
are charged with using the recent
events in Bologna when two non.
Socialists were killed by Red agen IS
In the municipal o.llces as propaganda
against syndlcalist control
IN the mean time men are being dis
charged from the factories. OWING to
the high price of coal and raw mate
rlals the cost of manufacture is now SO
great that 1t seems impossible to sell
al the figure it would be necessary to
ask. During the last month prospcc-
tive buyers from England, France, Ger
many and Austria have been busy max
ing inquiries regarding prices, but
when told they made q hurried retreat
Factories uOw inslst on cause in
their contract which allows the seller
T. raise the price IN case future stocks
OF raw materials cost the manufactures
more.
Government Loan Possible
With emigration closed to them, the
workman Is faced by two proDIems--
he must accept lower wages or starve.
The government may step IN, however,
and assist the steel Industries by ,ssu-
ing loan. 1t has been estimated that
such loan would have to be nearly
two billion francs.
The Socialists absolutely deny that
the industrial crisis is due to them. as
they point out that what the country
Is really suffering from is lack OF
raw materials. What Italy needs, they
say, is cotton, coal and iron. VI .th
youthful optimism, they say: Give
the factories raw materials and trade
wlil~boom."
Coal is, and was even before the war,
greatly needed, as the coal found in
Italy, called Ignite. might be described
as green coal. 1t has not The bdrning
During the war an effort was made
TO use Ignite in furnaces and factories,
but it was found that it buns too
freely and clogs furnaces.
Where special CRATES are used Ignite
could be substituted for anthracite, but
otherwise the damage to the CRATES is
enormous.
Lignite was first used about seven
years ago, when great hopes were held
out that this in time wouio rcpiace
the English coal But it is far from
being the case, IS last year only half
the 1918 output sof 2,l7i ,o0o tons was
mined and factories now prefer to pay
the high price of the English product
rather than bother with the Italian lig-
mite. 1t is the same with other Italian
products. Iron has now been found in
Carnia, but it is doubtful whether any
one will bother mining it, preterrin. to
get materials from abroad.
Socialism Grips Industry
With this iron, it is believed, the
steel industry could get on its feet
again; that is, if what the Socialists
say is really true, that the lack Of law
materials is to be blamed for present
conditions. But neither raw materials
nor the exchange is the cause of the
present industrial cris 8. Soc alst and
Communist propaganda has got int~
the very blood Of the steel indus
try, A glance at the recently issued
statistics in Bologna shows that dur
ing the summer strike, which was
guided by the Socialist labor leaders,
nearly two million quintals Of hay
was allowed to decay, as the str kers
refused to gather it. This represented
loss of 81, 900 900 francs, besides rails