MONTE CARLO.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10777, 27 May 1911, Page 3 (Supplement)

MONTE CARLO.

A PRINCIPALITY GOVERNED BY A CASINO.

Among the microscopic Staies in

the European Conceit, the Principality of Monaco holds record ; geographically it is the smallest State in Europe. \et is is universally famous, and every years it is visited by

foreigners. .Monaco is an independent Principality, whose actual head, Albeit 1.. is

a scion of tlie Norman ianiily of the Martignuns, grafted, in the eighteenth century, on to the old Genoese stock of the Grimaklis. An extraordinary chapter of events, indeed, this history of a race of Italian corsairs, bold and cunning, planting its feet in the Middle Ages, ijii the fort-.ess of Monaco, built by the Genoese, claiming its dominion, little by little, and at iirst uncertainly enough, 011 these few rocks, hunted, or humiliated, turn by turn, by the Genoese, the Spaniards, and the French, raising its head with insolence when fortune favored, or bowing and cringing in adverse times, and finally becoming great lords at the Court of France, protected by the King and Sovereign princes! Their luck was equal to their cleverness, and never abandoned them throughout all the vicissitudes of their history. But his people are less known. There are very few of them. The Principality of Mona co at the Jast official census ,of 1908;, comprised 19,121 inhabitants, ; including; 17,039; /foreigners (among whom wer6 8241 Italians, 7306 French,'§l6 Germa'n,-.. 3sl- Swiss, 385 English, :! etc.), "and 148S .Monacoans. Note that carefully. The Prince governs, or has ceased to. gov/eni, .1482 subjects. And for the inost part "they are Italian or French by origin, having been naturalised quite recently. , ; '' Monaco practically has neither agriculture nor- industry. Fifty-one years ago the country was almost,.a solitude. A few hundreds of fishermen lived miserably on' the coast; Monte Carlo did not exist, or rather was nothing byt S tangled, growth: of shrubs and cactus, with a few pines and olivei trees. Who, then, first, gave. life, and then, wealth,- to this which seemed vowed to poverty? The Societe .des Baines de, Mer, otherwise called the Casino, which M. Francois Blanc bought 011 March 31, .1863, for the sum of - 1.700J300 francs from the Sbciete Lofebre, and whjcli he reformed on grandiose foundations. However ono may grieve or rejoice, there is the brutal fact.

To M. Francois Blanc succeeded, in 1877, his son, M. Camille Blanc, under whose direction the business has- continued to prosper.- Does . anyone want figures? At the present-moment the S.B.M. (Societe des Bains de Mer) is worth the formidable sum of 275 millions of francs.

But that is not all. Grouped aroun< the gambling firm are the hotels o fantastic architecture, the fasliionabli shops, and the villas. , The Grand Hote de Paris,, which belongs to the S.B.M. represents a value of more tlian '2( million francs; the Hermitage and tin Metiopolc, run by an English company, arc estimated at about four million francs. The total value of tin building property 50 million francs. Tilt French hold the greater part of this wealth (about 150 millions of francs), against 30 millions held by the Moliacoans, and 15 millions by the Italians. The rest, perhaps 67 millions are divided among other foreigners and limited; companies. _ . The personal fortune of the 1 rince has followed tlie same increasing progress*. Formerly the Princes of naco were so p'oor that in order to live they had to grind down their unfortunate subject's by taxes. The Casino has made them enormously_ rich. An annual share of the gambling proiiwS (and this amounted, in 1900, for example, to 3,770,000 francs), special indemnities, which figure out at dozens of millions of francs in order to obtain a prolongation of the concession, contribute to the steady stream into tlie princely treasury, so that the actual fortune of the Prince is valued at nearly 80 millions of francs. ■ There is nothing astonishing about this if one reflects that the Casino, on one side, shows a yearly balance of .W million francs, and that, in the other, everything is for the good of the Prince, us the S.B.M. subsidises nearly all the expenses of public order. And this 's not the. least strange characteristic < r in organisation which makes the Casino i State within the State, or, to speaK more clerly, the real Government-, of ivhich the Government of the Prmce, s jut an annexe. - The 5.8.M., indeed, has a very complicated Administration, which constiiues a real Ministry, with its directors ind comptrollers. The monopoly which t- enjoys, and by which it is assured oi :he exclusive exploitation of the gamnin" has made it responsible, on tno jtlier hand, for many heavy burdens, vhich it does not hesitate to support, jeeause it thus secures dominion witlimt fear of rivalry. In return for this suzerain power it has allowed its obligations to accumulate. Upon this Administration alone, since* its general nonopoly embraces an infinite variety )f private monopolies, depend tlie -serrice of water, cleansing, heating, and sanitation. It is responsible-for lightng, the upkeep "of the roads, squares, md gardens. It takes charge of the irgnmsatkm of public festivals and di agnatic performances. Quite recently it supported the fire brigade. . ... And those are only its ' chief obligations. There are .others only halt ,vowed, but still taxing the Budget of ;he Casino; subsidies to the police of he Principality, and an allou anec for listribution—one may guess the object >f it —subsidies to the 1 ress, exceeding i million francs; -subsidies to public vorks and to companies. In fact, "the 5.8.M., in order to saferuard its power, absorbs nearly eveij nonopoly, and has only disdained those vhich did not appear to be immediately lseful to its objects, or which, fiom me cause or another, have escaped its ilutches, such as electricity, tramways, Markets, and the Mint de Piete, ol '"(fsllra up the whole matter, the Prince of Monaco reigns. It is the S.B.M. which governs. And tile people of Monaco, It jears that they ought to be perfecUj lappy in a country where the Casino niS taken such scrupulous care of their ivell-being. What do they lack, >liked? All the public service is sup>orted without any cost to tliem. Ln inous sums have been expended; ene iort upon wliicli work is still • o Qint, >n lias it not swallowed up more than L()' million francs P Most of them^ge. .heir wages from tlieS.B.M. And_ to hat company, directly -or indirect^, ire due their fortunes and t]re prosjerity of. their. country .. Better # stiL, •elieved of all cares, without militai} service, they do not pay taxes, arousin,-. n this the envy of. all those peoples oi Surope who,are crushed under the burlen of innumerable imposts. , Nevertheless, the people .of Monaco ire not happy. Privileged more m.aprjearance than Tn reality, {because, tp cite me example, they also know tlie peanni£ of indirect- taxation, amlsuffcr from he high ;price of living), they complain, it the same'time of their 1 and jf h lbave Sl al°ly thoy deplore that they. ,re held in a state of " tutelage, esteemna themselves .to be capable of manning their own affairs. They claim ;he right of intervening m the administration and "the government of thfiu' •ountrv. to point out reforms, winch ihouß bo realised, and abuses should bej.suppressed; to put iii foot a jrogramme of: public jworks, to heaiiti > md modernise the Principality accordup to their taste. Finally, .tliej aje iold enough to desire—and it ls ' to ' ± w 1 lonor—intellectual reforms, a.mpre libe•al regime, a- more modern system j t education. They are snot content^with satisfying.their.education. . They L -J.re lot content with satisfying tlie.r■ anletites. They claim their rights, holdno- indeed, that liberty, independence, ligiiity, self-respect, and esteem are >ossessinns not without value. There is the Monaco question in a luUhell. -