The Italian Colonies

P X'? ^-'6 >? sa ^ , TATIONAL economic prob_Vf'y^ ^'.^^ 3 w', \:J: [ lems, accentuated since the A /-?-'*7~AO ' end of the World War, have Thil-^lj1p ' | ' ^ ,> stimulated among the Italians the ,. '. X growth of what might be called a .-, 0 -----/ 2?. colonial conscience. On the one hand we have the rising standard of Lake Chad F .,'.........-'ERII. living among laboring classes, the / ,:: ? '.' ETHIOPIAJ unforeseen and serious curtailment .. .... .'..... .-. of emigration, added to a popular ^ MILES Wo -^.:' j' / ggkfo dis-uhi THE GEOGR REVIEJW, JULY., 19 , 20 l tion already very dense and with an FIG. i-The Italian Colonies. increasingly rapid rate of growth; on the other hand we have the decline in the value of the lira, the very moderate per capita wealth of the nation, the insufficiency of agricultural production, and the almost total lack of raw materials necessary for industrial life. Thus has arisen the renewed impetus given to the construction of artificial reservoirs for the production of electric energy to relieve our dependence on foreign coal.' Similarly attempts are being made to improve the cereal cultivation of the home fields, and an extensive program of land reclamation has been inaugurated which ought, in the course of a few years, to put in production lands heretofore waste. Methodical researches are also being undertaken into the mineral resources, and the work of propaganda abroad has in view competition with other nations in the marketing of manufactures. Of a piece with these is the aid given to the mercantile marine both as regards passenger and goods traffic. There enters into this program also the exploitation of the colonial possessions. The first stage in the development of the Italian colonies -the long first period of acquisition and pacification-has been concluded. This has been a matter of government action and has had little interest for the citizens at large. A number of geographers and naturalists had already turned their attention to the colonies, but the public was generally ignorant of their studies. Today the situation is changed: a new period has begun-that of exploitation. Here it is well to present in outline the existing knowledge of our colonies

Genealogy · Geography · History · Italy: Economic History and Contemporary Issues