Italy and the Italians (Volume 2) online

LETTER LXVIII.

Leghorn — Population— Commerce — Taxes — Customs.

Florence, June 10th.
By way of change I shall to-day carry you to
Leghorn.

c5



34 LEGHORN — POPULATION.

The times when a state or a city could acquire
a power wholly disproportionate to its natural rela-
tions, and seize upon commerce in particular, are
past, and will, it is to be hoped, never return through
a destroying supremacy. The universally diffused
activity has prescribed to that individual activity
its measure and limit, beyond which in general it
cannot pass. Thus Leghorn finds itself limited by
Marseilles, Genoa, Ancona, Venice, Trieste, &c.,
and can reckon upon the custom of at most from
three to four millions of people. As every one is
now striving to buy and sell for himself without any
intermediate person, the commission trade must
decrease, and so must that with Africa, because
France possesses Algiers. Still Leghorn keeps in-
creasing in size, and displays activity, though in a
particular way. To the mere traveller, Genoa,
Venice, and even Pisa, are more interesting than
Leghorn.

In the year 1791 the town contained 50,000 in-
habitants, 64,000 in 1807, and 76,000 in 1836.

In 1757, the amount of its commercial transac-
tions was computed at 5 million lire, in 1835 the
exports were estimated at from 52 to 63 million,
and the imports at from 66 to 85 million. Though
these calculations may be arbitrary and exaggerated,
yet that it has made very great advances even to
the natural limits of trade is not to be doubted,



COMMERCE. 35

any more than the magnitude of the fluctuations
which it has suffered can be questioned.

There entered in the year 1825 905 vessels.

1826 721

1827 1017

1828 867

1829 726

1832 1266

1833 1150

1836 831

1837 1075
Or including steam-vessels "j 1836 5503

and coasters j 1837 5897

On an average the number of vessels has not

increased since 1826. The number of vessels that

entered was





1825.


1836.


1837-


Average from
1815 to 1834.


English


170


156


185


234


Tuscan


161


114


140


178


Sardinian


152


191


184




Austrian


111


55


139


89


Neapolitan


71


98


80


79


French


62


15


40


83


Spanish


38


12


13


25


Swedish and
Norwegian


1 36


14


23


48


Roman


35






37





COMMERCE.




^25.


1836.


1837.


Average from
1815 to 1834.


29


32


18


32


18


46


96


54


12


11


4


21


9






7


1










55


104


12




11


22


5



23 27



36



American

Russian

Danish

Dutch (and )

Hanoverian) j

Algerine

Greek

Ionian

Belgian,

Dutch,

Prussian,

Hanoverian,

Turkish,

Roman.

From this list it appears that some states, in
regard to this direction of commercial activity,
materially declined, (Spain, for instance,) while
others flourished, and others were set in motion in
particular years by extraordinary circumstances and
demand.

The principal articles of import are corn, colonial
commodities, (especially sugar, coffee, and pepper,)
manufactured goods, metals, &c. ; and the chief
articles of exportation, leather, oil, soap, borax,
straw hats, caps, liqueurs, starch, coral, &c.

Leghorn, as it is well known, is a free port, and



^



J



19 Turkish.
1 Barbary.
1 Hamburg;.



REVENUES OF LEGHORN. 87

many duties particularly oppressive for commerce
were abolished in the year 1834, (perhaps too late,)
and in their stead a tax was laid upon the mercantile
profession, to be divided by it and levied according
to four classes. Various duties on articles of con-
sumption are likewise levied at Leghorn.

The fixed receipts of the town (from rent and
the like) amounted in 1838 to about 20,000 lire ;
the variable, arising from taxes of all kinds, to
861,000. For 1839 the receipts and expences are
calculated at 852,000 lire. The first custom-house
regulation which is worthy of mention, and which
suppressed great abuses, is that of the year 1 781 ;
the second, proceeding still farther, of the year
1791. All the lines of custom-house in the interior
were abolished, the duties levied at all places of
import equalized, the customs' roads specified, and
circumstantial instructions given relative to the
administration properly so called. Those custom-
house laws paid homage to the then prevailing
mercantile system, inasmuch as (in order to pro-
mote native manufactures) they impeded or pro-
hibited the export of many raw articles, for instance,
wool, silk, rags, hides, &c. It appears extraor-
dinary, on the other hand, that cattle and corn
were allowed to be imported and exported duty
free. In 1816, the duties on all articles not pro-
duced and manufactured in the country were raised



38 CONSUMPTION OF FLORENCE.

one-fourth ; but in 1833 many of them were again
lowered. The net receipts of the customs amount
to 9 million lire, (or much more than double the
land-tax,) and the charges of collection to about
1,250,000.

At the gates of Florence the receipts, the whole
of which go to the state, were, in 1832, 2,120,000
lire. Florence consumed yearly 497,000 barili of
wine, and 47,000 of oil. If this wine was drunk
in Florence and by Florentines only, and we take
in round numbers 500,000 barili and 100,000
Florentines, there would be annually 5 barili, or
about 340 bottles per head; but this must be far
below the real consumption, for we must recollect
that women drink less wine and children none at all.



LETTER LXIX.

Tuscany — Population — Army — Clergy and Monks —
Universities.

Florence, June 11th.
The population of Tuscany amounted in 1815
to 1,169,000 inhabitants, in 1825 to 1,256,000,
and in 1838, in a round number, to a million and a
half. For this population an army of 7 to 8,000
men, partly on furlough, appears, in comparison
with many other states, moderate enough.



ARMY OF TUSCANY. S9

For the proper management of the levies, a com-
mission composed of magistrates and other respect-
able men is annually formed in each commune. It
is left for them to determine what way the number
of recruits required of the commune, in proportion
to its population, shall be obtained, and that with
the least inconvenience to the inhabitants, and with-
out detriment to the state. They generally begin
with looking about for volunteers, and without
ceremony pick out any idle useless individuals, if
they are liable to military duty. This liability
commences with the 21st year, and the military
service lasts six years. Ecclesiastics, students, per-
sons married in the current year, only sons of
widows or of fathers seventy years old, fathers of
families who live by manual labour, &c. are ex-
empted.

The commission decides, afier taking the volun-
teers and persons of bad character, whether the
number still deficient shall be obtained by money or
by lot. In the former case, it has a right to raise a
recruiting tax by classes upon all who are liable
to military service, that is to say, all who are not
soldiers, consequently, even civil officers, fathers of
families, Jews, only sons, &c. This method is
sometimes preferred, because it divides the burden
among many, and secures to the recruit a bounty of
50 scudi. In other places they seek, on the con-



40 ARMY OF TUSCANY.

trary, to avoid the paying of money, and conceive
that, as the number to be levied is but small, the
other alternative, the lot, is not attended with any
great danger. The person who is drawn may, but,
if a Jew or a heretic, he must, find a substitute. In
every town there is a civic watch composed of re-
spectable persons. The arms are deposited in a
public place, and an inspection is held once a
month.

It is pleasing to see that in Tuscany all peaceful
objects are not made subordinate to military ones,
that the greater part of the revenues of the state are
not expended on the latter, and that the inhabitants
enjoy the welcome liberty of dividing and lighten-
ing the burden of recruiting. But, on the other
hand, there are complaints that the selection of loose
persons and the acceptance of bad substitutes are
prejudicial to the spirit of the army and diminish
respect for it. It is true that, in Tuscany, among
the cardinal virtues, moderation takes precedence of
valour, and there is reason to doubt whether unin-
terrupted tranquillity, self-chosen activity, and aes-
thetic feeling, are adequate means for so steeling a
people that, in times of impending danger, they
shall sacrifice every thing to love of country, and if
not gloriously conquer, yet leave in their fall a
model for happier generations.

If Tuscany has a less numerous army of soldiers,



CLERGY AND MONKS. 41

it has, like all Italy, so much the more numerous a
host of foundlings, ecclesiastics, and monks. Balbi
gives the following numbers for this country.

The secular clergy consisted in 1830 of 7,000 priests.
The other clergy {chlerici) . 5,000

Total . 10,000

There are, with a provision.

Monks . . 1,150

Nuns . . . 4,200

Mendicant monks 1,400

8,150



General total of persons 18,150
There are convents of monks with a provision 45
„ nunneries ..... 67

,, convents of mendicants . . .50

Total . 162

For the year 1835, I find the number of the se-
cular clergy stated at 8,901, that of the monks at
2,461, that of the nuns at 3,939, that of the con-
vents of monks at 133, (52 of which were mendi-
cant convents) and that of the nunneries at 69.
Which of these statements is most accurate, or how
the variations that have crept in are to be accounted
for, I have not learned with certainty-

In so highly polished a land as Tuscany, the



42 UNIVERSITIES.

value of education and instruction has bj no means
escaped the attention of the government and of in-
dividuals ; yet much still remains to be done, and
schools and universities appear to be very scanty in
comparison with the number and revenues of the
clergy and especially of the monks. Indeed, the
Italians do not acquire knowledge by means of their
universities, but in spite of them ; and how can
governments be surprised if many, both old and
young, have either no ideas at all, or false ones, of
passing events, of social relations, states, constitu-
tions, and governments, since every genuine avenue
to science and experience is cut off' from them by
the perverse one-sided ness and silly apprehension
of their rulers !

Would it not be better if Tuscany had one ca-
pital complete university than two, which are equally
far from answering the conception and the end, as
the persons who hold appointments in them most
deeply feel and most bitterly lament ? On the
average of late years, Pisa had from five to six
hundred, Siena from two to three hundred students,
the greatest number of the law, the smallest of di-
vinity.



ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 43



LETTER LXX.

Tuscany — Administration of Justice — Jews — Revenues and
Expenditure of the State — Public Debt.

Florence, June 12tl).

As in every state, so in Tuscany, there are au-
thorities for the different branches of the adminis-
tration, but, from the smallness of the country, se-
veral of them can be committed to one person,
or the intermediate authorities, indispensable in
an extensive empire, can be spared. Instead, there-
fore, of tiring you with particulars, which are in some
measure matters of course, I will notice some points
in the judicial system which was new-modelled last
year.

In the first place, the vicars and podesta are
judges in the individual places or in smaller dis-
tricts, to the value of 400 lire, and in many other
cases without reference to value, for instance on
wages, non-performance of contract by the half-
lings, removal of boundaries, possession, &c. Four-
teen tribunals, as they are called, judge in first in-
stance in all matters exceeding in value 400 lire,
and appeals may be made to them from the decision



44 ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE.

of tlie vicars, Sec, when the value exceeds 70
lire. From their second decision, there is no further
appeal ; but from the first decision of these tribu-
nals appeal may be made to the superior court,
(corte regia) when the value exceeds 800 lire. In
the tribunal of first instance at least three of the
judges, and in the superior court five, must give
their opinion. The latter is composed of a president,
four vice-presidents, and sixteen councillors. In
criminal matters, there are the same gradations and
divisions as in civil suits.

In no case whatever is there a jury ; the ])rocced-
ings, on the other hand, are always public, and in
smaller matters below the value of 70 lire, mostly
oral, but short notes are committed to writing in a
protocol. A sort of chamber of accusation decides
whether penal proceedings ought to be opened.
The punishments are mild, but there is no appeal
from a penal sentence. The whole course of pro-
ceeding is copied from the French, and is therefore
as much extolled by some as it is censured by
others. After this commencement, a new civil code
must certainly be framed, for a beginning has been
made there only where the task appeared to be the
easiest.

The Jews are under the ordinary judges and the
laws, but they have a board formed from among
themselves for their divine worship, schools, poor,



REVENUE OF THE STATE. 45

&c. The relations of state and church are to be
judged according to the laws of Leopold, but of
late much that was formerly disputed has been
ceded to the latter. A monk is not allowed to take
the vows before his 24)th year, nor a nun before her
30th ; but notwithstanding this restriction, their
number has increased since 1815.

In the year 1828, the total revenue of the state
amounted, according to a statement with which I
have been furnished, to 25,186,000 lire.

lire.
Of this sum the customs and commei*-

cial duties produced 8,401,000

Land-tax 3,032,000

Salt 3,725,000

Lottery 2,309,000

Tobacco 1,577,000

For 1826, 1 find the revenue stated at 25,104,000
lire, and the expenditure at 23,078,000 lire,
which would show a large, but to me doubtful
surplus.

The charges of collection amount in general to
20 per cent, of the receipts. The military esta-
blishment cost even in Tuscany, 4,287,000 lire,
while 856,000 only are allotted to public instruction
and the fine arts. The expences for the court are
set down as fellows : —



46 EXPENDITURE.

lire.

Management and payments in cash 2,604,000

Embellishment of palaces, buildings &c. 231,000

Keeping up the same 115,000

Gardens 21,000

Flowers . 11,000

Hunting parties 84,000



Total 3,016,000
The following items are also worth quoting : —

lire.

For the University of Pisa 150,000

Purchase of works of art, excavations, &c. 23,000

Egyptian Travels , 22,000

Map of Tuscany 7,000

To the Pergola theatre 13,000

Citrons {cedrati) for the pope, and flowers

for the churches 1,601

Though there exist all sorts of public debts
there is no entry of them in the published accounts,
neither are they ever heard of in the market or at
the Exchange; a proof that their amount is small,
that their security (partly on mortgage) is unques-
tionable, that they mostly continue in the same
hands, and that they are easy to cover and to dis-
charge.

The improvements which the grand-duke is car-
rying on with judgment and energy in the Ma-



REVENUE OF FLORENCE. 47

remme have occasioned many extraordinary ex-
pences. It is hoped that they will some day amply
repay all that has been laid out upon them. So
much is certain that they already contribute much
to the health of the population, formerly afflicted,
nay, swept away, by disease. Many an under-
taking would be facilitated, if laws like those of
Prussia concerning redemptions and the founding
of absolute property were issued and carried into
operation.



LETTER LXXr.

Florence — Income and Expenditure of the City — Muni-
cipal Regulations.

Florence, June 13th,

I HAVE just received a statement of the receipts

and expences of the city of Florence for the year

1834, and shall extract some of the principal items,

as it would be too tedious and uninstructive to

enter into all the petty details. The total income

amounts to 818,000 lire, and the expenditure (with

the exceptijon of a covering sum,) is stated to be

just as high. Among the receipts we find : —

lire.

Fixed income for farms, ground-rents 5cc. 115,000

Extraordinary income 2,000

of which 1900 lire for opening the theatres



48 EXPENCES OF FLORENCE.

lire.
Compensation fiom the State for the tax

on articles of consumption 70,000

Fines for not attending the meetings of the

magistrates 100

Family-tax 50,000

Land and house-tax 616,000

The last two items are of most importance, since
the city derives no benefit from the tax on articles
of consumption ; but 46,000 lire out of the family-
tax, and 280,000 out of the land-tax, go to the
state : thus these sums diminish the real income
and expenditure of the city to about 492,000 lire.

Among the expences are the following items —

lire.
For the extinction of debt (all in round

numbers) 13,000

Do. military burdens of 1815-1816 ... 16,000

Charge for management, about 25,000

Preparation of the Ca