PART I. ·rHE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL SITUATION. 1. The Exchange. The first promise made to the country by the new rulers was to restore the Italian lira in a short time to the value of 50 gold centesimi. 1 The promise was a manifestation of the Fascists' faith in miracles. While they were preaching the liberation of things economic from State control, they were dreaming of exerting by political measures an immediate influence upon things economic. In point of fact, the tendency of the Italian lira to stabilisation and slow improvement had already been manifested before the coming of Fascism to power, and if_ the international questions arising out of the war could have been ~ettled the improvement would have been still more rapid. In 1919-20 the agreement with the Allies which artificially pegged the exchange came to an end; and the exchange fell precipitously, revealing all the damage done by the war. In 1921 and 1922 there were various oscillations, with a tendency towards stabilisation and improvement. In 1923, that is the year of Fascist rule, the exchange has tended rather to worsen than the contrary, in comparison with 1922. The average rate .·at which the dollar was quoted in the Italian exchanges during January to September, 1922, was 20.9 lire; during 1923, the Fascist year, 21.7 lire. 2. The Balance of Trade. The war had gravely affected the balance of foreign trade, but from 1920 onwards there was a steady movement in the direction of a return to pre-war conditions-once more with no aid from miracle-workers. (It should be mentioned that after June, 1921, there was a change in the method of valuation, tending to reduce the figures.) 1 That is, to half of its pre-war value, instead of about onequarter .-T,ans. 2 Biblioteca Gino Bianco
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