The railways alone require 240,000 per month. The British coal control board had guaranteed 750,000 tons per month.1 (ii) Proposed Government coal monopoly. The Government had considered at one time the establishment of a Government coal monopoly, but gave up the idea as too difficult of realization. In a public statement the minister of finance gave the reasons which have led the Government to abandon the idea of the proposed monopoly. He stated that, contrary to expectations, the price of coal has remained on a level which would make it impossible for the State to obtain a lucrative revenue by the establishment of a monopoly. In fact, the Government is at present (February, 1919) supplying coal to the industries at a heavy loss. The announcement of the proposed coal monopoly created great displeasure in England among coal operators and shipowners, so much so that obstacles were put in the way of the cession to Italy of 500,000 tons of shipping. In place of the coal monopoly which was expected to bring in a revenue to the State of 500,000,000 lire, it will probably be necessary to establish other State monopolies.2 (iii) Available supplies of coal.-In March, 1919, the minister of transportation made the following statement as regards the available sources of supply for coal: We can get American coal and in large quantities, too, but in that case Italy would be obliged to lay out a large part of her mercantile marine for coal transport. If America would supply us with some of her ships for transport purposes, as well as with her coal, it would then be possible for us to deal with her, but up to now no understanding has been arrived at. As to French coal, that country has kindly offered to supply us with 80,000 tons of coal per month out of the 600,000 or 700,000 needed. It was even suggested to share with France the output of several German coal mines. But rail transport is much too expensive, so the problem can not be solved by this means. Antwerp is offering to help us also, but all the above offers put together would only give us an infinitely inferior quantity of fuel to that required, so that the industrial crisis can only be saved by British coal.3 (iv) British coal shipments suspended. It was stated in May, 1919, -that no coal was coming from England at that time, owing to lack of ships. Out of her allotment of German ships of 500,000 tons, England has granted to Italy 83,000 tons. But nine of these ships are at South Wales in such bad repair that they can not be used, so that the situation does not improve." (v) Outlook of the coal crisis.-The consequence of decontrol of coal in England, it is stated, is that in a short time coal for export to Italy and other allied countries is likely to advance 70 per cent in price. The actual cost to Italy will not advance to such an extent, as freight rates to Italy will remain fixed. Unfortunately for Italy, the increase in price can not be met by a reduction in imports, because Italy must have the coal. On the other hand, the concessions made to the English coal miners, which come into force on July 1, must lead to a reduction in the production, which will mean that there will be less coal available for export. The quantity of coal which Italy is at present receiving is not sufficient for her requirements, 1 Corriere della Sera, Mar. 16, 1919, quoted in Economic Supplement to the Review of the foreign press, London, Mar. 26, 1919, p. 376. 3 Sole, Feb. 18, 1919, quoted in Economic Supplement to the Review of the foreign press, London, Mar. 12, 1919, p. 342. Since the above statement was made the price of coal has considerably increased in Italy. 3 Corriere della Sera, Apr. 2, 1919, quoted in Economic Supplement to the Review of the foreign press, London, Apr. 30, 1919, p. 478. Economista d'Italia, May 5, 1919, quoted in Economic Supplement, June 11, 1919, p. 126. therefore any further reduction in imports will create a disastrous situation in Italy. It is absolutely necessary for Italy to look for other markets from which to import coal. The rise in the price of English coal will bring it nearer to that of American coal, which can be obtained in larger quantities.1 (B) ROLLING STOCK. (i) Condition at the end of the war.-The condition of the rolling stock was bad at the end of the war, because the Italian firms specializing in the construction of railway material were obliged during the war to devote practically all their energies to the manufacture of munitions, and little could be done in the matter of new construction or repairs. At the end of the war the Government immediately took up the question of placing new orders for equipment with Italian firms, and a program covering the needs of the railways for the five years following the war was presented to the interministerial committee charged with promoting and coordinating the action of the various branches of the Government during the transition period following the cessation of actual hostilities.2 (ii) Present condition. In accordance with the above-mentioned program involving the use of 400,000 tons of material and the expenditure of 600,000,000 lire,3 orders have been placed for 770 steam and electric locomotives, 640 passenger cars, 300 baggage cars, and 27,700 freight cars. Since the armistice there has been delivered to the Italian railways the following rolling stock: From the recovered territories, 350 locomotives, 700 passenger and baggage cars, 9.260 freight cars; from Austria, through the Italian armistice commission at Vienna, 123 locomotives, 100 passenger cars, 2,360 freight cars. In addition to the above, the Italian Government has leased 64 locomotives from the Austrian and Czecho-Slovak railways for the transportation of food trains, which are being operated for Austria and Bohemia, and from the number of locomotives which Germany must deliver to the Allies, 200 former German locomotives have been allotted to Italy by France.1 In the spring of 1919, out of 10,600 passenger cars, 4,160 were in need of repairs, and little progress was being made owing to labor conditions. (c) RATE QUESTIONS. In 1917 and 19185 both passenger and freight rates were considerably raised. No change has been made since the war. Government is planning an upward revision of the freight rates on certain articles. Nothing definite is known at this time as to the extent of this revision other than the statement made by the minister of transportation in July, 1919, that such revision was being considered." 1 Sole, June 6, 1919, quoted in Economic Supplement, July 9, 1919, p. 206. Statement of the director general of the State railways, quoted in the Railway Age, June 6, 1919, p. 1FTA * Journal des Débats, Paris, Jan. 2, 1919. 4 Statement of the director general of the State railways, loc. cit. 6 The Railway Age, June 6, 1919, p. 1373. See p. 3219. Declaration of the minister of transportation, Railway Age, June 6, 1919, p. 1373. 7 Corriere della Sera, July 14, 1919. IV. THE RAILWAY EMPLOYEES IN RELATION TO THE GOVERNMENT. (A) LABOR CONDITIONS AT End of war. A number of increases of wages and the grant of special allowances or gratuities have substantially improved the material condition of the railway employees during the war. From figures submitted by the minister of transportation, the expenditure for the personnel in the budget of the State railways is shown to have jumped from 300,000,000 lire in 1914 to 890,000,000 lire in 1919.1 Among the special benefits enjoyed by the State railway employees the following deserve special mention on account of their importance.2 1. Fund for the construction of cheap dwellings for railway workers. This fund, established by act of July 14, 1907, provides the means of supplying railway workers and their families with cheap and sanitary dwellings. The budget for 1919-20 carries an appropriation of 11,782,000 lire for this purpose. 2. Pension fund. This fund was established by act of July 9, 1908. It is entered in the budget for 1919-20 for 109,547,000 lire. 3. Welfare of orphan children of employees, etc. The current budget carries an appropriation of. 9,505,000 lire applicable to the care of the orphan children of employees and of their families and for other purposes. It includes an appropriation of 1,000,000 lire for the maintenance of schools for the children of railway workers. (B) NEW DEMANDS OF EMPLOYEES. During the winter of 1919, the railway employees made the following demands on the Government: (1) New scale of wages; (2) application of the eight-hour day to the railroads. In March, 1919, the minister of transportation informed the railway organizations of his intention to appoint a commission to discuss the eight-hour day and the increase of wages.3 In April the executive committee of the railwaymen's union, including delegates from every important railroad center, met in Rome and passed a resolution urging the Government to grant all demands made concerning the new scale of wages and an eight-hour working day. In May an agreement was reached regarding the adoption of the eight-hour day on the State railways, providing for its extension to nearly all railway workers, with the exception of certain classes in the administrative departments.5 (1) New scale of wages.-The demands of the employees as regards wages were met by the Government by the decree of June 11, 1919," which grants a very considerable increase of wages to nearly all classes of employees, the amount of the increase varying with the position. The decree contains also very liberal provisions governing the grant and length of annual and sick leaves with pay. On February 23, 1919, a decree had been issued which granted to State railway employees, on account of the influenza epidemic, a 1 Corriere della Sera, July 14, 1919. Italy. Ministero del tesoro. Rendiconto generale consuntivo dello Stato, Parte I, vol. 2. Same source for Nos. 2 and 3. Journal des Transports, 1919, p. 78. special gratuity of 250 lire, plus 50 lire to their wives and 25 lire on account of each child under age or of any other dependent.' (2) Application of the eight-hour day to the railroads.-The extension of the eight-hour day to the railroads is governed by the decree of June 8, 1919, and May 15, 1919, applicable, respectively, to the personnel of the State railways and to that of the private companies. (i) Application to the personnel of the private companies: By the decree of May 15, 1916, owners of railroads privately operated and directors of street cars and of inland navigation companies engaged in a public service are directed to adopt an average working day of eight hours for the same classes of employees as in the State railway administration. The decree further provides for the payment of certain gratuities (demobilization bonus, etc.) and for certain increases of salary from April 1, 1919. To meet this additional outlay. the private companies are authorized to raise the price of tickets and of passenger and freight rates on their lines from June 1, 1919. The provisions of this decree came into effect on May 28, the day of its publication in the Official Gazette. (ii) Application to the personnel of the State railways: The decree of June 8, 1919,3 permits" the application of an eight-hour working day and of a weekly rest day for the personnel of the administration of the State railways, with such exceptions as may be determined by the minister of maritime and railway transportation, due regard being had to the different requirements of service of the various classes and groups of employees." The manner of applying the above provisions is to be determined by the minister of transportation on account of the technical difficulties connected with their application and of the necessity of insuring an undisturbed service. The decree came into effect on June 15, 1919. V. LABOR UNREST AND STRIKES.* During the war the management of the railroads was under the rigid control of the military authorities. Such control necessarily precluded any attempt on the part of the railwaymen to continue their labor activities. But with the gradual resumption of normal conditions the control of the military authorities over the railroads was correspondingly relaxed and the railway organizations lost no time in taking advantage of such relaxation. Their first demands had to do with labor questions, and these, we have seen, were granted by the Government. But in the summer of 1919 their activities assumed a political character. In July, 1919, the French General Confederation of Labor, an organization of extreme labor tendencies, sent out an appeal to all European national labor organizations to declare a general strike of 24 hours' duration on July 21, 1919, as a protest of the labor world against the attitude of the allied Governments toward the red gov ernments of Russia and Hungary. This appeal was heard by some of the Italian railway organizations. The central committee of the Italian Railway Men's Union voted in favor of the strike. But saner 1 Collezione celerifera, 1919. ibid. ibid. This chapter is based on articles published in the Carriere della Sera, Milan during July, August, and September, 1919. heads among the other railway unions refused to adhere to the strike. Certain groups in Rome and Milan voted on July 14 to refuse their support. In the meantime the movement launched by the French General Confederation of Labor met with little support in France, and in the face of the growing opposition the confederation on July 19 issued instructions countermanding the strike order. The confederation informed the other European organizations of the decision adopted and invited them to abandon the proposed strike. As a result, the day of the 21st passed in Italy without any disturbance of any kind. On the whole railway system trains were run as usual. On August 14, the minister of transportation had a conference with the director general of the State railways to see what could be done by the Government to show the railway men its appreciation of the zeal and good will displayed by them in connection with the strike of July 21.1 On September 2, the Official Gazette published a decree granting amnesty to railway employees for misdemeanors committed by them from May 24, 1915, to date. 1 Corriere della Sera, Aug. 15, 1919. 152894-19-VOL 3- -50 2 Ibid., Sept. 3, 1919. |