New-York tribune., 1922-02-12
Rates for Public
Service in Italy
Steadily Cainins 9
New Increases in Postal
and Telephone Charges;
Enigrants Must Travel
III HOmc-Owned Vessels

Special Foreign Financial Correspondence
ROME, Jan. 21.- Among the financial
/ consequences of tho war is the contnu
Gus increase Of rates for public scrv-
ices in proportion to the increased cost
Of their upkecp and especially to in
creased salaries.
On January I marked increase In
foreign postal rates, registered. in
surcd and parcel post, was put into
effect (2.50 lire for parcel weighing
under a kilo, as compared to 60 CEN
times in 1910. Telephone subscription
rates have been subdividcd into cate
gorics. making four separate groups,
according TO tho vo,mc Of use Rates
vary from $50 to l,5OO lire annually.
The majority Of telephones and acccs-
sores come from Scandinavia and
prices are affected by The high rate Of
exchange. The average expense to
each subscriber is calculated at 900
lire.
The deficit of the state telephones
substituting automatic telephones, with
the consequent saving on salaries and
other working expenses. AT present,
OF 10000 subscribers only 400 are
connected with automatic Telephones
1t has been proved. however. that the
increase Of rates is not always ndvisa-
bio from financial point of view For
example, in September. 1920, the State
Railways enforced n Sunday surchar9c
on railway tickets proportioncd to the
ordinary amount, from a minimum Of
0.15 lire to maximum Of 25 lire on
tickets Of 100 lire, but the experiment
was not successful, as it cntnilcd cX-
ira control expenses and resulted in n
marked decrease in traffic. especially
in short journeys, preferred by Sun
day travellers. The surchage has there
fore been abolished.
The number Of persons who can mi
CRATE annually from Italy to the United
States has been fixed at 10000 that
is an eighth OF the pre-wnr average.
The government has noticed that many
emigrants prefer travelling on foreign
steamers and, 7flaae cautious by the
crisis in our maritime industry, has is
sued a decree which provides that until
June 80 next the EN- Migrants to the
United States shall be carried only by
Italian shipping companies. 1t is trust
ed. however, that this protectionist
measure will be Of a transitory char
acter
The situation of the principal stock
exchanges is still irregular owing. to
the difficult liquidation of stocks which
instead Of taking place at the end Of
the year took place on January 10.
Stock brokers who had bought heavily
of Banca di Sconto shares, and who,
owing to the moratorium, were in criti-
| cal conditions, were assisted by spe-
cial consortium formed by the principal
stock brokers of the various markets,
without danger to the creditors and de-
positors Of the bank itself.
In this way bankruptcies were
avoided and the prestige Of authorized
stock brokers was maintained The
government, notwithstanding. still
limits all Bourse transactions TO cash
ones, and this restraint. placed only
through an absurd fear Of speculations,
rouses a just discomfort in the com
mercial world.
At meeting hel dat Milan on Janu
uary 10 exporters discussed the ne
ccssity of increasing exports of agri-
cultural products in order to make up
the deficit in our commercial balance
Among the most characteristic and
profitable products Of southern Italy
the NrSt place must be gwen TO oranges
and lemons. The value Of this pro
duction in 1918 was estimated at no.
600 lire, to-day at b0O,000,0OO.
Sicily produces 8S per cent of the to-
tai, but now serious crisis exists in
the sales there owing to the closing
o. the principal exporting channels.
due TO the war. In some regions
oranges and lemons rot on the trees,
there bein ga superabundanecon the
market, and in the Province of SYRIA
cuse eight oranges can be had for five
centimes. The competition between
Sicilian and Californian lemons is
rather curious economic fact in
1915 California supplied only quar-
tor of the lemons used in the United
States and the remaining three quar-
ters came from Sicily, whereas at the
present time Sicily supplies only one
fifth At the Milan meeting tho Amer
! ican EN- mergency Tariff act was strong
ly deplored. This act increases by
two cents a pound the duty on lemons,
was the principal market of Sicilian
lemons.
During the week the Federation Of
the Workers Syndicate has expressed
wish that the Socialist party sup
port the government in the solution
of the problems Of intcrcs TO the
workers. This marks the defeat Of
the revolutionary group and the end
OF disorderly agitations.