A BIG DECLINE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 277, 22 November 1928, Page 11

A BIG DECLINE

ITALIAN EMIGRATION SAVINGS BANK LIRE SHRINK From statistics published by the Italian Foreign Otiicc on the subject of transoceanic and continental emigration it transpires that in the first quarter of 1928 there lias been a conskierablc decline in the number of I Italian emigrants. Figures for the i first three months of the current year j Rhow that tnere were only 11,1776 I Italian emigrants in the proper sense of the word, that is, Italians who have definitely left their native country to settle abroad; temporary emigrants numbered 12,944, while the number of Italians who left Italy for temporary visits in foreign countries was 6976. During the first six' incn he of the preced'ing year the number of Italian emigrants was 59,823 and it is anticipated that the total number of emigrants for the whole of 1928 will not reach this figure. The present Italian Government is doing its utmost to discourage permanent eui'gration and, in this respect, is iciiowing a diametrically opposite pobey from that of former administrations. The nution that ’ ‘ the more Italians emigrated the better it wa> !• - l(A i now, it i Stated, been definitely abnnE'oned. “The sxiameful spectacle of hundreds of thousands of Italians wandering all over the world because they were stuvin at home now no longer exists, ’ utelared a prominent member of the Fascist Gov rnmeal some tint ' i ago, and. this statement A borne out | The uecjine in Uie nianoer of emr granrs bus also considerably reduced) t-ie rcmit.tar.ces s( nt homo by Italian I emigrants, thus unfavourably affect- j ing Italy’s balance of international payments. The practical aspect oi this problem is clearly reflected in the iciiowing figures: In 1925 the sums deposited by Italian emigrants in po"st office saving banks in Italy amounted to nearly 899,999,009 lire; in 1926 they were slightly over 609,900,099; in .1927 they had shrank to about 180,009.000 lire. Ou Hie other hand, the money withdrawn from t*e country by Italian emigrants rose I from 548.000.009 in 1925 to 822,06u,000 m 1927. Thus while in 1925 deposits exceeded reimbursements by 252,000.000 lire, last year reimbursements exceeded deposits by 642,000.000. During the first six months of the present year Italian emigrants have withdrawn from Italy 208,000,- ; 090 lire more than they have sent in. |