loss in that period, the arm of the law was invoked against dozens of· "subversives"; and the heaviest sentences were inflicted, with or without proof of guilt, often with doctored ·evidence, and above all without the least consideration for the conditions of suggestion and environment which modified the criminality of the offence committed. 1 Precisely these cases have been excluded from all benefit from the amnesty. Mercy and j1.1sticehave thus been converted into a party weapon. 1 In the Province of Bologna alone, in seventeen prosecutions of so-called "subversives," sentences totalling 1,125 years of penal servitude were inflicted. In the Assizes at Trani, in two single prosecutions, 700 years of imprisonment were inflicted on 40 peasants. X.-SCHOOLS. The decrees promu~gated by the Fascist Minister of Education, profiting ·by the plenary powers of the Government, have thrown the educational system of the country into confusion. Universities. There were too many Italian Universities-seventeen-and they were insufficiently financed. 1 The new Government added two ne,v ones (Milan and Bari), augmented the faculties of others, increasing the existing duplication, and is reducing· the financial support accorded, which is already insufficient in several cases. As to organisation, the universities are becoming free -to seek means of existence ; but they are losing the right to elect their Rectors, governing bodies and Pro1 On June 14, 1922, the Chamber of Deputies adopted the following resolution, moved by the Socialist group: "The Chamber invites the Government to take steps for the reorganisation of the numerous Italian universities, reducing to the indispensable minimum the number of complete universities and converting the smaller ones into specialised institutions, so permitting more serious organisation and better endowment." Biblioteca Gino Bianco
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