Il Piccolo
- The antithesis between Italian directives and the plans of international finance
- A letter from Count Volpi to the Head of Government
- The improvement of the franc
This Trieste front page of 22 October 1926 was dominated by money. A Rome dispatch insisted that the Italian bankers and industrialists who signed an international manifesto for freedom of trade had only been asked for formal adherence and had not helped draft it, rejecting Milan reports to the contrary and casting the affair as Italian policy against international finance. Finance Minister Volpi's letter to Mussolini claimed the internal public debt had fallen by almost 5 billion lire in the quarter to 30 September, crediting the transfer of 90 million Treasury dollars to the Bank of Italy and a drop in ordinary Treasury bills, while the external debt stayed tied to the American and British war-debt settlements and the Morgan loan. A Paris dispatch described the franc's sharp rise against sterling and panic selling by holders of foreign currency, adding that the lira had moved ahead of the franc on the road to revaluation.
Translation
The antithesis between Italian directives and the plans of international finance
… Italy, per quarter L. 20; … subscription … In Trieste … send money orders … No. 6, II … returned … Piazza degli Studi 2 … BIBLIOTECA CIVICA TRIESTE … Pellico No. 6, 1st floor; Administration: 2nd floor … and subscriptions: Piazza Carlo Goldoni No. 1. … of trade … French signatories … between the Italian directives … of international finance
ROME, 21 — The reservation made by the majority of the Italian signatories of the bankers' and industrialists' manifesto already states clearly that the Italians took no part whatsoever in drafting the text of that manifesto, for which only their formal adherence was requested … Some Milan papers, however, have published reports according to which the Italian group took part in composing the appeal. From precise information, it emerges that no such participation, either direct or indirect, took place. The text of the appeal remains, for Italy, exclusively the work of foreigners.
… Comm. Nicola Pavoncelli, … among the Italian signatories, has ins… in these … judicious … have followed … to lighten. The financial policy … the close of the fourth year … will …, as can now be seen; it is now a matter of demonstrating … awaited is not a … a manoeuvre conducted … corresponds to the economic reality … financial set-up … its industry. The … all the quotas is not … evil and necessary, and if … manoeuvre reign … part other than that … for it is clear that the … between the national Government … exploiter of the victory … national, bent on … regaining the ground … that among so many … voices … consortia, the firm will … precisely in these days … game of an independence … will allow one to say a … economic manoeuvres … Europe.» The … debt … [?]
A letter from Count Volpi to the Head of Government
ROME, 21 — The Minister of Finance, Count Volpi, has sent the following letter to the Head of Government:
«Dear President. I refer to the Treasury account for the month of September and add a few figures. The general position of the internal public debts (including the bank circulation and State notes), which on 30 June 1926, that is, at the close of the 1925-1926 financial year, amounted to …9 million, has been reduced in a single quarter, to 30 September 1926, by almost 5 billion. On 1 October it stands at 86,414 million. The position of the external public debt shows no change. It relates almost entirely to the commitments towards America and England for the settlement of the war debts, to which the German reparations are being assigned, and to the amount of the Morgan loan raised in America in November 1925.
The most important reductions in the internal debt are represented by 2,500 million in the bank circulation on behalf of the State, following the well-known operation transferring to the Bank of Italy 90 million dollars previously owned by the Treasury; by 1,618 million in the stock of ordinary Treasury bills (which at 30.6 stood at 16.21 … million in the cons… 4.75 per cent … in advance at par, with … Treasury. These operations … million, holdings … reduced today to … The month of … month for … has represented … the soundness and … Very large … made. The … gold exchange at the … of the … towards England … drawn from the Fund … now works … thinking of … the reparations … instalment of … of 100 million … the Morgan fund … the other payments … portfolio for … State …, constitute … more than 108 m… this while … is in continual … of the Treasury … of hard currencies … made … greetings: Volpi»
… regulating trade, called for by the Hon. Rossoni. ROME, 21 — Edmondo Rossoni, in the Lavoro d'Italia … The improvement … provokes panic … In these days … considerable improvement
The improvement of the franc
… 2,500 … the well-known … of Italy … State …, taken together constitute more than 108 million dollars. And all this while the exchange situation is continually improving and the Treasury's coffers have been amply replenished with hard currencies after the said payments made abroad. With the most cordial greetings: Volpi».
… trade … 21 … Italy … Edmondo … trade … life under … to understand … 4 … regimes and … new … -ism … every …
The improvement of the franc provokes panic among holders of foreign currencies
PARIS, 21 — In recent days the franc has improved considerably, and if against the lira it has kept more or less the same distance, that is because the lira has run ahead of it on the road of revaluation against sterling and the dollar. In just 48 hours the franc has gained more than 10 points on sterling, which was quoted this evening at a little over 159, whereas until the day before yesterday it hovered around 170. As always happens in such circumstances, there has been a strong upward rush, which can easily be explained. All the merchants and all the private persons who a few months ago, at the time of the monetary crisis, had hastened to protect themselves by buying foreign currencies, now convinced that there is no prospect of a speedy fall of the franc, are reselling those currencies at a loss so as not to incur greater losses. There is thus a great crush on the market, and the swings in quotations would be even more considerable if …
… admonished … Turati … the rank and file … approves … the general fact … in the Hon. … of his … his position … difficult … mounted … broad … to measure … document … Fascists … page … a name … revolution … IV. F. … The … liquidation … In lire … increases … to all … 7,980,0… same
Context
Why the Italian press distanced itself from the trade manifesto
The Rome dispatch responds to an international manifesto in which bankers and industrialists called for freer trade, and to which Italians had added their names. Il Piccolo insists that the Italian signatories were asked only for formal adherence, that Milan papers were wrong to report Italian participation in the drafting, and that the text was entirely foreign work; its headline casts the affair as a clash between Italian policy and the plans of international finance. The Economist's Turin correspondent, writing on 7 November 1926, confirms that the manifesto did not have an enthusiastic reception in Italy and that, apart from a favourable comment in the Turin Stampa, the press unanimously condemned it as an endeavour of rich countries to capture world trade at the expense of poor, industrially new countries such as Italy. The same report names Agnelli, Gualino, Conti and Pirelli, perhaps the greatest captains of Italian industry, among the signatories. That context explains the dispatch's line: the press rejected the manifesto's ideas while presenting such prominent Italian signers as passive adherents rather than authors.
The war-debt settlements and the Morgan loan behind Volpi's external debt
Volpi's letter says the external debt was unchanged and consisted almost entirely of the commitments to America and England under the war-debt settlements, plus the Morgan loan raised in America in November 1925. Those obligations were recent. A note in the U.S. Foreign Relations papers records that the settlement of the Italian debt was reached at Washington on 14 November 1925, and Volpi as finance minister negotiated Italy's First World War debt repayment with both the United States and the United Kingdom. On 18 November 1925 J. P. Morgan & Co. informed the Secretary of State that it had been discussing with the Italian Minister of Finance a loan of $100,000,000, whose proceeds were to be used for stabilization purposes, and that the contract had been executed that day. The fragments of the letter mentioning 100 million and the Morgan fund appear to refer to this stabilization loan behind the lira. The transfer of 90 million Treasury dollars to the Bank of Italy, which Volpi credits with a 2,500 million cut in the circulation on the State's account, is his own account; the sources used here do not document that operation.
Why shrinking Treasury bills mattered, and what followed in November 1926
Among the reductions Volpi lists is a fall of 1,618 million in ordinary Treasury bills. Short-term bills worried the government because they could always, when due, be exchanged for cash and force the Treasury to increase the note circulation; The Economist's Turin correspondent reported that Volpi himself called them a continuous menace to the circulation. The letter therefore presents the decline in bills as a gain for the currency as well as for the debt. Within about two weeks of this page, the government went further. The same correspondent reported that the Cabinet Council sanctioned a decree of consolidation in early November 1926, under which all ordinary, five-year and seven-year Treasury bills were forcibly consolidated, and that Volpi described the consolidation as a logical sequence to Mussolini's Pesaro speech. The optimistic figures of the October letter were thus followed within weeks by a compulsory conversion of short-term debt.
Quota 90 and the Paris dispatch on the franc
The Paris dispatch measures the franc's rise against the lira and claims that the lira had run ahead of the franc in revaluing against sterling and the dollar. That framing reflects Italy's own currency campaign. The lira had declined as far as 150 to the pound in 1926, and Mussolini's Pesaro speech of 18 August 1926 confirmed the revaluation policy that was given the name Quota 90. Ten days before that speech he had written to Volpi that the fate of the regime was tied to the lira. Volpi himself preferred a rate of 120 or 125 to the pound and considered the quota a drastic overvaluation. Against that background, Volpi's closing assurance that the exchange situation was continually improving, and the Paris report of panic among holders of foreign currency, both supported a policy on which the regime had staked its prestige. The French figures in the dispatch, a pound at just over 159 francs after hovering around 170, are the paper's report from Paris.
Original
L'antitesi fra le direttive italiane ed i piani della finanza internazionale
lia, per tri stre L. 20; bbonamento A Trieste g inviare va o N. 6, II restituisco Piazza degli Studi 2 BIBLIOTECA CIVICA TRIESTE Pellico N. 6, I p.; Amministrazione: II p. o e abbonamenti: Piazza Carlo Goldoni N. 1. Tr à dei commerci firmatari francesi si fra le direttive italiane iani della finanza internazionale ROMA, 21 serva fatta dalla maggioranza dei italiani del manifesto dei banndustriali è detto già chiaramente taliani non hanno in alcun modo to alla redazione del testo di tale, per il quale fu richiesto solo a e, la loro formale adesione. Alcuni di Milano tuttavia hanno pubblizie, secondo le quali ci sarebbe staartecipazione del gruppo italiano per la composizione dell'appello. informazioni precise, risulta che partecipazione nè diretta, nè indiavvenuta. Il testo dell'appello rii per l'Italia esclusivamente opera eri. ito, il comm. Nicola Pavoncelli, a tra i firmatari italiani, ha insai in questi giudizios hanno seguito al setter alleggerire. La politica finanziar chiusura del quarto an darà, ormai lo si vede, si tratta ora di dimost no attesa non è un f una manovra condotta sponde alla realtà eco impostazione finanziari sua industria. Il ripi tutte le quote non è c male e necessario, e se manovra regnano e parte che non sia quel chè è chiaro che la par tra il Governo nazional sfruttatore della vittor nazionale accanitasi in riguadagnare il terreno che fra tante voci min consorzi, la ferma vol proprio in questi giorni giuoco di un'indipenden permetterà di dire una manovre economiche a ropa». Il debito i [?]
Una lettera del conte Volpi al Capo del Governo
a lettera del conte Volpi l Capo del Governo ROMA, 21 ministro delle Finanze conte Volpi mandato la seguente lettera al Capo Governo: aro Presidente. Mi riferisco al conel Tesoro per il mese di settembre e aggiungo qualche dato. La situae generale dei debiti pubblici interni nprensiva della circolazione bancae dei biglietti di Stato) che al 30 no 1926, alla chiusura cioè dell'eserfinanziario 1925-1926 ascendeva a 9 milioni, in un solo trimestre, al ettembre 1926, è ridotta di quasi 5 ardi. Essa è al 1. o ottobre di 86. 414 oni. La situazione del debito pubo esterno non ha variazioni. Si lia quasi per intero agli impegni verso nerica e l'Inghilterra per la sisteione dei debiti di guerra, destinanle riparazioni tedesche, ed all'amtare del prestito Morgan acceso in rica nel novembre 1925. e più importanti riduzioni del deinterno sono rappresentate da 2. 500 oni nella circolazione bancaria per o dello Stato a seguito della nota razione di passaggio alla Banca d'Ia di 90 milioni di dollari già di protà del Tesoro; da 1. 618 milioni nella sistenza dei buoni ordinari del Tesoro (che sono al 30. 6, a 16. 21 ni nella cons 4. 75 per cento anticipatament alla pari, con soro. Dette o lioni, consiste ridotte oggi a Il mese di rico mese per ha rappresenta la saldezza e Ingentissimi s fettuati. L'ac visa aurea all mento della se so l'Inghilterr tratti dalla Ca funziona orma pensando di le riparazioni ma rata di a di 100 milion la cassa Mor gli altri pagam tafoglio per c statali, costit più di 108 m questo mentr è in continuo del Tesoro si di valute preg ti effettuati saluti: Volpi» gi disciplinatrici del commercio invocate dall'on. Rossoni ROMA, 21 dmondo Rossoni, nel Lavoro d'Italia Il miglior provoca panico In questi gio tevole migliora
Il miglioramento del franco
de2. 500 per nota d'Iproella Testatali, costituiscono nel loro insieme più di 108 milioni di dollari. E tutto questo mentre la situazione dei cambi è in continuo miglioramento e le casse del Tesoro si sono largamente rifornite di valute pregiate dopo i detti pagamenti effettuati all'estero. Coi più cordiali saluti: Volpi». rcio 21 talia ondo rcio. vita sotto ntendere di er 4 serial egimi e di vecuovo lismo ogni mermerienti constuIl miglioramento del franco provoca panico fra i detentori di divise estere PARIGI, 21 In questi giorni il franco ha subito un notevole miglioramento, e se di fronte alla lira ha conservato su per già la ctessa distanza, è perchè la lira lo ha precorso sulla via della rivalutazione rispetto alla sterlina e al dollaro. In sole 48 ore il franco ha guadagnato più di 10 punti sulla sterlina, che era quotata stasera poco più di 159, mentre fino all'altro ieri si aggirava sui 170. Come avviene sempre in circostanze simili, si è verificata una forte corsa al rialzo che può essere facilmente spiegata. Tutti i commercianti e tutti i privati che pochi mesi addietro, al momento della crisi monetaria, si erano affrettati a premunirsi con l'acquisto di divise estere, convinti ormai che non vi era alcuna prospettiva di un sollecito ribasso del franco, rivendono quelle divise in perdita, per non andare incontro a perdite maggiori. Vi è così una grande ressa sul mercato, e gli sbalzi delle quotazioni sarebbero ancora più considerevoli se Da all moniato Turati ra, il t gregari approva il fatto generale della po della m nell'on. della su suo pos difficile. montato ampia dente, rie o a misura; mo. Di cumenta scisti l pagina un nom rivoluzi IV. F. t Gli all In m boni, l ' cidazion te comp In lir ni nell ' aumenti a tutto glio d 7. 980. 0 stessi
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