On Friday week Signor Fortis, the Italian Premier, announced to
both Houses the resignation of his Ministry. The simplest explanation of the event is that neither the Premier nor his predecessor could count on a working majority in their own party. Signor Giolitti was returned to power by a majority which included many diverse elements, and the defeat on the Spanish modus vivendi showed the state of his following. The Cabinet which Signor Fortis created was too composite in its elements to satisfy any of the groups into which his majority had-broken up. The task of forming a new Ministry has been entrusted to Baron Sonnino, the leader of the Centre, and it is said that Signor Giolitti when consulted by the King gave this advice, which was acquiesced in by the Marquis di Rudini, the leader of the Right. The new Cabinet, in which the two Ministers of War and Marine are unchanged, is especially strong on the financial side, an important consideration at the present juncture, while the appointment of Count Guicciardini to the Foreign Office is regarded as a reassuring guarantee of continuity in foreign policy.
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