STARVE OR WORK LAW IN ITALY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16371, 20 June 1927, Page 10

STARVE OR WORK LAW IN ITALY

IDLERS BANISHED ,BY DECREE

CRIME TO STRIKE

ROME, April 8.

There is no place in Italy, under the new regime, for lazy people. Signor Mussolini has introduced legislation which has reduced to a minimum the rights of those who do nqt produce. You may be idle in Italy, but you will starve. .No private or public organisation whatever will provide you with a penny.

The innumerable beggars that years ago tourist's saw in the streets and oh chyrcjh steps have disappeared.; They now understand that only work can save them from starvation. Beggars arc punished. ’livery possible effort ifs made, however, to help cases of involuntary unemployment. A special law. passed in 1923 regulates assistance in cases of involuntary unemployment. Article 1 makes insurance compulsory for persons of both sexes, without distinction of nationality, between the ages of 15 and.6s. A special fund is. constituted out of compulsory contributions paid by workers and employers, but no unemployment dole is paid by. the State. The law also prescribes that ho subsidy shall be given during a conflict between workmen and employers if work is interrupted. Another fundamental law provides help for the invalid and aged; in this case the State contributes. Insurance against acoidents is compulsory, and every employer .of. five oh more workmen who do dangerous work must insure them. This social legislation with the lilight Hour taw, passed in 1923, places Italy ini,the forefront of Europe, .and forms a chain outside which there is no assistance for workmen. SPIRIT OF THE LAW The spirit of the Italian labor Jaw is that when a man is. working, lie is also working to save for periods of unemployment, and that only iby working seriously can he .ho sure of the future. Tills legislation has been justified. iUuder the ,no\v legislation Italian industry and commerce have been restored to prosperity. Italian factories now work without tear of strikes, strikes are regarded as a ..crime punishable by law. This fact naturally .creates an advantage in making foreign contracts. Wages are made •to- correspond with the purchasing value of money. It is calculated that the cost of living in Italy , to-day is five or six times what it was before the war, to which the average wage corresponds. JBmployors might .perhaps be tempted to reduce wages, hut dare not do so because of the control of the State. Workmen are prevented in the same way from making attempts io obtain more than the maintenance of this balance. This favors production and keeps prices comparatively 16w. Success, judging by the steady improvement ju foreign exchange rates, is attending this policy, which aims at the revalorisation of the lira.

During March the total unemployed in Italy numbered only about 200,000, and it is expected that this figure will be reduced by 60,000 during the present month.