Italy's Finances Under the pressure of war and sanctions, Signor
Mussolini has done what Socialists would have this country do in peace. The Italian Council of Ministers has decided to nationalise Italy's credit and banking institutions and to transfer ownership in them from private investors to " semi-national " trusts.. This decision, drastic though it is, is but another step on Italy's advance to complete totalitarianism, and it is one which both the U.S.S.R. and Germany have long ago found necessary. Indeed, it is a step which every country must take in defence against the strain of war and isolationism. It may also be taken as a tribute to the efficacy of the League's financial sanctions, though it is doubtful whether in any case anyone would wish to lend to Italy'in her present economic and political condition. The war has already forced her to mobilise all her financial resources, but it has been, calculated that, under present conditions, they will be exhausted in the course of next year. Signor Mussolini has not long in which to wage his war. No doubt he will repre- sent his latest act as another manifestation. of the will to power, but, like most of his acts, it is only a recognition of the necessities in which his headstrong: policy has involved him. It marks a stage in his course ; the next will probably be a large increase in the inflation of Italy's currency.
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