CONDITIONS IN ITALY
Stu,—I think it unfortunate that Signor Franzero should have opened hiS article on Italy with a picture of his friends eating gigantic meals and finding amusement in the austerities of Britain. Most Italians, bewildered that Britain, one of the victorious nations and with the resources of the Empire on which to draw, should be reduced to such an economic state, show a lively and very sympathetic concern for our difficulties. At the same time they know Drily too well that the condition of their own economy gives no cause for merriment. The stringent financial measures begun by Corbino and continued by Einaudi, while restoring confidence in the lira, and staving off further inflation, have virtually stopped recon- struction and caused widespread unemployment. The reasons for such measures are not appreciated by people with empty stomachs. A truer picture of Italy, not only on the eve of the elections, but con- tinuously since Italy enthed the war, would be to show the average man struggling to make ends meet 'on £5 a week, with the cost of food approxi- mately twice that of England. Only the foreign, fortunate, favoured and resourceful (a term I would use to cover the unscrupulous borsa neristi as well as those made rich by the war in other ways) can afford to eat gigantic meals.—I am, Sir, yours sincerely,
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