The New York herald., 1921-06-11

4
gramme, which it was developing with
some success when the labor troubles
commenced. After these had been
! quieted temporarily the plants settled
down again. but fresh trouble occurred
| in April when as the result of the Fiat
dismissing certain unsatisfactory char
| acters, the +. /. o. NJ. Federation OF
Metal WorSers) interfered, with the
result that the Fiat ordered lockout.
This lasted for three weeks. the work.
ers disobeying the orders OF the +. /.
o. NJ. and returning to work on the
| companys terms, each worker signing
an individual agreement with the COM
pany. Thus ended the first attempt In
] Italy to control the internal manage
ment Of the factory by trades union.
Certain Of the Flat shops are en-
gagged on The completion Of ammuni-
/ zion for abroad. This fact was partly
dtss to the strike. as some of the work.
ers refused to handle the munitions,
which they thought were intended for
Poland in her struggle against Russia.
A notable feature in the policy OF de-
velopment of the Fiat last year was the
attempt. like Ansaldo, to secure It's own
sources of raw material. With this In
view 1t purchased two-afths of the cap
ital Of the Eisenerz Mines, held by the
Alkine Montan Gesellschaft. 1t was
found, however, that 1t was impossible
to provide the combustibles for working
| the smelling furnaces, and in February
of this year the shares passed into the
hands of Hugo SHINES.
The other great groups in the metal
lurgical industry, the Ilva and the Terni.
are both suffering from great depres-
| sion. not only for trade reasons, but
also on account of speculation, which
have caused enormous loss to thousands
i of people The actual production of
steel has dropped from 100000 tons a
year to under 100000 and shows still
further signs of collapse. The Iva
scandal, brought about by the specula-
ton of the bankers, is a natural result
Of the gross interference of the banks
| In industries, to which I have previously
referred, and is declared by many peo-
| pie to have been an attempt by the
Banca Comn,erciale to obtain complete
| control of this group, which may be said
to have been the key group for the sup
ply of steel to Italian industries to at
least the amount of four-fifths OF the
total amount used. Commentators Toep-
litz however. absolutely denied these
accusations to me. but as there appear
| to be international political conditions
in the history will deal in a separate
article with the whole history and the
!
Terni and the Ilva group.
Americas Aided Textiles.
The great textile industry, which is
centred around Bergamo, Ferrara and
! Milan, was beginning to feel the slump,
wrsn trade suddenly frightened owing
| to heavy orders from the two Americas.
| This was particularly fortunate, as the
Italian spinners and weavers last year
had put forward great endeavors to
supply the Russian Black Sea market. in
! the belief that traie, at least. would
soon be reopened there. In this they
were disappointed, and there are huge
stocks OF textile materials. especially
! cottops, lying in Ruinania and Smyrna
waiting for disposal.
Unfortunately the improved condition
cannot be maintained in the mills. owing
to the shortage OF electric power, due
| to the dry winter in the Alps. Short
hours are the rule, and in many fac
tories. TO keep the looms and spindles
working. the proprietors are burning
| wood.
In some districts thu workers, al
| though their wages are good. are not
making much endeavor to fulfil their
| duties. The output is much smaller
than before the war. and especially
around Ferrara there Is considerable
| Socialist feeling, which reacts on the
work. In this industry the wages for
! experienced workers, weavers and spin
ners run from 2.75 to 3 lire an hour
| The pay of ordinary labor Is, mas
| LEO to 2io lire an hour. according to
age. and for female labor 1875 to 1.5(
an hour. bonuses always extra.
One OF the industries most seriously
affected In the north is that Of pottery
and glass, the majority OF majolica.
terra Gotta and porcelain coming from
! Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio. This lie
I chiefly due to the competition of Ger
many and Bohemia. 1t is reckoned that
| Germany last year was able to dump
into italy terra Gotta and porcel ain
! wares a 227 lire for 30 pounds less than
! Italy could manufacture th I'm. AS the
| porcelain industry gives occupation to
| l66 fair sized factories, besides thou
| sands of families who work at home II
Is evident that large degree of un-
| employment must result until Germany
is dabarred by reformed tariff.
Glass Factories suffer, Too.
Glass factories, OF which there are
40. mostly in Lombardy and venet.a.
nave seen similar experiences. Previous
to the war, except for glass for optical
instruments. Italy provided all the
glassware needed in the country. To-
day. owing to the price of coal. Belgium
and Bohemia can import much cheapsr.
| When recently the prices from abroad
| and at home became more equal the
advantage vas cancelled by the workers
demanding and obtaining an incranse
IN wages. which again left Italy at a
disadvantage. and for certain classes of
glassware the difference in favor of
Sohefnia Is as much as 80 per cent.
The industry that is In the most salts.
factory position to-day is the electric
trade, but this has It's troubles also
The consumption of electric power ha.
been decreased. with the result TIA,
short turns have had to be instituted
In parts OF Lombady. l am told. this re-
duction has reached IL per cent.
The electro-chemical works are also
doing well. There has been little labor
! trouble ia this industry, where skilled
| labor received 2l to "a lire day. p,us
bonus. and ordinary labor 10 to 81 lire
| plus bonus, with 30 per cent. for extra
time and 30 per cent. on sunday. In
| the heavy chemical industry the average
wage is 2t.50 per day for common labor
1850 for semi-skiled labor rs for
| skilled labor and 1850 for skilled me-
chanical labor
In general the industrial condition OF
! Italy cannot be said 70 be bad a,
| Milan last week the unemployment had
4 Il.