was a leading member; and in 1884 it entered into an incorporating union
with another working-class body, the Lombardy Labour Federation, which
had a large number of local branches. With their help it had become, in
1886, an organization of 133 branches, and Government resolved to
suppress it. Most of the branches in the north of Italy were dissolved,
and their funds, flags, and libraries confiscated. But the party is
still active over the country. They returned three members at the late
election in November, 1890. The growth of this party was even more
displeasing to the anarchists than to the Government, and in 1882 they
called back Maletesta, one of their old leaders, from abroad, to conduct
a regular campaign over the whole kingdom against Costa, and to denounce
every man for a traitor to the socialist cause who should take any
manner of part in parliamentary elections, or show the smallest sign of
reconciliation to the existing order of things. His campaign ended in
his arrest in May, 1883, and the condemnation of himself and 53 comrades
to several years' imprisonment for inciting to disturbance of the public
peace. Besides their contentions with the Socialist Labour Party, the
Italian anarchists are much given to contending among themselves, and
split up, even beyond other parties of the kind, upon trifles of
doctrine or procedure. But however divided they may be, socialists and
anarchists in Italy are all united in opposing the new social
legislation of the Government. When the Employers' Liability Bill was
introduced, Costa declared that legislation of that kind was utterly
useless so long as the people were denied electoral rights, because till
the franchise was reduced far enough to give the people a real voice in
public affairs, there could be no security for the loyal and faithful
execution of the provisions of such an act.
The Italian socialists and anarchists have always had a lively brood of
journals, which, however, are generally shorter lived than even
socialist organs elsewhere; but when one dies for want of funds to-day,
another comes out in its place to-morrow. This remarkable fertility in
journals seems to be due to the large literary proletariat that exists
in Italy--the unemployed educated class who could live by their pen if
they only had a paper to use it in. Through their presence among the
socialists new journals are pushed forward without sufficient funds to
carry them on, and as the people are too poor to subscribe to them, and
the party too poor to subsidize them, they soon come to a natural
termination.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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