The president of one of these co-operatives happens to be l\tIussolini 's. secretary. (h) State Subsidy for Shipping Lines. Under decree law No. 1998 of September 10, 1923, the Fascist Government revived this lamentable practice, with a temporary subsidy of 1,610,000 lire for the line from Palermo to Tunis. . (i) Loans to Private Companies. Under decree law No. 1386 of June 17, 1923, the Fascist Government granted Treasury bonds up to 100 million lire to the Societa I taliana per le F. S. del Mediterraneo (Italian Co. for the Mediterranean State Railways). (B) Opportunities Given to Private Speculators. Suppression of the Enquiry into War-time Expenditure. The Fascist programme of 1920 contained a demand for ''the revision of all contracts for war supplies.'' But Fascism was hardly in power before it issued a decree (No. 1487 of November 19, 1922) suppressing the Committee of Enquiry into war expenditure, which had proceeded to the revision of contracts and had restored to the State some hundreds of millions illegitimately extorted from it. Sicilian Railway Concessions. Under two agreeA ments of March 21, 1923 (not published until October 1 1 !) a concession for the construction of Boo kilometres of Sicilian rail ways was granted, one-half to a certain Signor Nicolini and a Signor Romano, on behalf of a Company to be formed, and the other half to a General Public Works and Services Company, of which Signor Biraghi, a member of the Superior Council of Public Works, is consulting engineer. · The cost of the work is about a milliard lire; the concession has none of the usual characteristics : it is not for a definite object (there are no plans; it has not been decided whether the lines are to be of normal or narrow gauge ; the 400 kilometre sections may be reduced or increased; the route is not determined); Biblioteca Gino Bianco
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