East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1922-02-10
ITALY SEEKS TO FREE
HERSELF FROM BONDAGE
Of FOREIGN DOMINATION
Country Breaks Away From
Foreign Coal Usage by
Electr.fying Her Railroads.
By HENRY WOOD

Omitted Press Staff Correspondent
ROME Feb. 10.-Along with Italy'sI
lpresent effort to free herself from the
bondage of foreign coal domination by
the identification of her state rail-
ways Italy is making an equally he
roic effort to throw off the yoke of
foreign tobacco slavery. /
Between what Italy now pays for
foreign coal and foreign tobacco, it
can be truthfully. said that a goodly
portion of her national wealth goes an
nually up in smoke-and foreign
smoke at that.
What makes it particularly hard for
Italy to gain her tobacco independence
is the fact that just as she gets her
nostrils nicely filled with the sweet
scent of liberty and is on the point of
burning her betters with the lighted
stump of a domestic made cigar. the
Italian population as a whole suddenly
takes to smoking more than ever, and
Italy has to return to spending mil
lions abroad in order to supply the de-
mand.
Before the wal italy smoked 400
900, 900 lire worth of cigars and cigar
cites annually. Now she smokes O.
100, 900, 900. While a portion of this in
crease is due to the advance in prices
charged, yet the greater bulk of it is
due to the fact that the war taught
hundreds of thousands of young men
to smoke, many of whom had they re-
mained in their active peasant dis
tricts would not have been able to,
and also to the fact that Italian wom-
en- are in no way behind their sisters
of other modern civilized nations in
taking to the wicked weed.
All of this has a very direct bearine
upon Ttaly's finances owing to the fac
that the government operates a state
monopoly on tobacco in Italy as re
CARDS both the manufacture and tn
sale. AS she also has to buy the raw
product the question of whether sh
can produce enough at home to sup
ply her local demand or whether sh
has to buy abroad thereby increasin
her expectations and sending up he
exchange, becomes of great import
ance.
Italy's monopoly on tobacco is tn
only n that as n matter of fact hf
been a real success as a revenue prt
Queer. She has been able to opera
this on a basis of about 10 per Gel
profit. In other words of the 1000
600 lire which the italian publ
spends every day for tobacco, 5000
600 lire goes into the state treasury
profit and evenue and only 10000
lire actually goes up in smoke.
FRANKLY, italy thinks that it won
hardly be possible to do better Thu
this: in fact she doubts if the pub
would stand FOR a larger p%ercenta
of tax and a smaller ratio of smol
iii Hence her only change of making I
monopoly more profitable ta the sta
is by producing Ill IF her tobacco
=. home and avoiding "orcign purchas
of tho raw material.
Dor The government is therefore eucou
vic aging and doing very ning possible
to promote tobacco growing. EIoWcv,
D q ttalinn peasants are neither fond
sir novelties in the matter Of crops or
fiji the difficulties invol;cd in tohac
cir growing, but little by little the tall
md government is winning her freedc
ide from foreign tobacco markets.
At the present time the Italian go
eminent spends 43h 900. 900 lire ann
ally for raw tobacco of which or
- $50. 900, 900 is spent at homa, I
= other 800, 900, 900 going to foreign t
bacco growers.
To date Italy has made tho mc
Z progress in the growing Of llch. !
bacco CT which she uses $1,000 Cui
2 tails annually. In the southern pre-
ince of Leccese about 10000 acres a
4now under cultivation and this abo
Z supplies the local demand.
With dark tobacco of The "Kentuc'
2 type for her cigars Italy is not sc fc
tunate. At the present time This !
= ing cultivated principally in Tuscar
However, her needs are 200, 900 qui
! tails annually and she produces or
$4,000. But by bringing her prese
acreage from 5000 up to 1900 ItG
= hopes eventually to win her tobac
< independence and blow her smoke
= the face of other nations instead
having to blow back their own, {