A Prehensile Monarch
The contest between King Umberto and the Italian Government as to when (rather than whether) the King shall leave the country may have ended by the time these lines appear. The verdict of the electorate was decisive, but not as decisive as might be desired. According to the official figures, 12,672,767 electors voted for a republic and 10,688,905 for the retention of the monarchy. A majority of under 2 million out of over 21 million who voted is too small for comfort, just as the existence of a minority of nearer it than io millions is too large for comfort. But the verdict has gone against Umberto, and attempts at temporising—on such flimsy grounds as that the Court of Cassation, with which the final verdict rests, has only announced the figures, not the findings it bases on the figures, or that there may prove to be enough blank papers to
affect the result—can do him no good. Meanwhile -they may do Italy much harm, for feeling is running high on both sides and is unlikely to subside till the dethroned king has departed. If the departure is delayed, the Cabinet may be compelled to take strong action in the interests of the national security.
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