Though the returns are not yet complete, the published forecast
of the result of the Italian general election has proved correct, and the return of Signor Giolitti's Cabinet is assured. Lovers of omens will not fail to notice that the opening day of the first ballots coincided with the seventieth birthday of Signor Giolitti, the author of the new and practically manhood suffrage, which raises the number of voters from three to eight millions. The newly enfranchized electors include a great number of peasants, and there will probably be more Catholic deputies in the new Chamber, but it is not anticipated that these facts will affect the relations of Church and State as defined by the discreet policy of Signor Giolitti. Signor Giolitti's predominance in Italian politics has made an end of the ordinary party cleavages ; the election has been fought on a personal issue, and the result is a great personal triumph. As a set-off, it has to be borne in mind that composite majorities have a way of crumbling in the face of a crisis, and that the absence of a strong Opposition and the apparent lack of a capable successor to Signor Giolitti are a source of weakness in Italian politics.
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