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state and its governments.8 In addition, emigration, which involved
the rural classes in particular, caused progressive depopulation of
farmlands both in northern and southern Italy. Therefore, landhold-
ers faced a shortage of the very labour force they had been exploit-
ing for centuries. Because so many had left, those who stayed be-
hind had greater bargaining power and could demand better pay
and better working conditions. Since property owners had signifi-
cant influence within the political and administrative class in Italy,
one can assume that they added considerably to the level of hostil-
ity against emigrants and emigration.
3. Emigration Policy

One of the consequences of the prejudice of the ruling class against
emigration was the development of what might be called informal
state censorship with regards to the issue. In fact, this censorship
had as much to do with scant and unreliable information as it did
with the elite’s intention to change statistics. An extremely ineffi-
cient and widespread bureaucratic system was responsible for col-
lecting data. The central offices in charge of the processing of sta-
tistical data did not have adequate or reliable links to the regional
offices for several reasons, one being the fact that the reassignment
of state employees and officers occurred on a regular basis. The
national statistics system for emigration, created in 1876, was
assigned to an institute, the Directorate of Statistics (It. Direzione
di statistica), which was neither subordinated to the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs nor to the Ministry of the Interior, but was a sub-
sidiary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce (It.
Ministero dell’Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio). This was signifi-
cant, demonstrating how the emigration issue was regarded as an
economic-labour problem rather than a social one. In 1882, the
8 Among the most unpopular and incompetent governmental actions of the post-unification period
can be mentioned the so-called tax on bread (It. tassa sul macinato). Enacted in 1868, it had dev-
astating consequences on the already disastrous conditions of the Italian peasants especially in the
South. The tax was abolished only in 1884. But what testified to both the corruption and the
financial ineptitude of the political authorities on a large scale was the bankruptcy of the Banca
Romana, a scandal which came to light in January 1893 and caused the collapse of Giolitti’s
government in November of the same year.
STEFANO ROSATTI