FASCIST EXPENDITURE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 94, 4 April 1934, Page 4

FASCIST EXPENDITURE

Many Millions in Italy COUNTRY ENTIRELY CHANGED Total payments made for public works in Italy since the beginning of the Fascist regime have amounted to some 24,709,000,000 lire. This figure is revealed in a publication by Signor Araldo di Crollalanza, Minister of Public Works, who describes the achievements of his department during the first decade of Fascist rule. Of this total the Ministry of Public Works has spent more than 15,000,000,000 lire upon hydraulic works, hydroelectric plant, ports, land reclamation and various other undertakings. In the 60 years preceding the March on Home in 1922 the total spent on public works was, it is stated, 21,536, 000,000 lire.

Fascism takes particular pride in the success achieved m this field of en- , deavour, and the claim that Signor | Mussolini has changed the face of | Italy beyond recognition is unquestionl ably true j The payments already made for pub I lie works do not, however, give a complete picture since it appears that I the responsibilities assumed by the three principal spending departments, the Ministry of Public Works, the Road Board, and the Under-Secretariat for Land Reclamation amount to nearly 37,000,000,000 lire. This vast expenditure has not only brought great material benefits to the country but has had political and moral effects ot equal, if not greater value The improvements in the communiea tions between northern and southern Italy and the islands of Sicily and Sar dinia, and the agricultural development given to backward areas have, it is claimed, completely wiped out that lack of unity and cohesion that still existed in Italy when Fascism came to power. Of the 5,000.000 acres ol land mark

ed for reclamation, about one-third of which has already been actually reclaimed, by far the greater part lies in the south and in the islands. Sicily had been so much neglected by previous governments that not a single new road had been built during the period 1870-1922. Although it is true that the most spectacular read-building has been done in the north, it is equally true that all the main roads of Sicily have now been repaired and the island is to-day provided with a network of roads that have converted it into a paradise for the motorist.