The next morning, Umberto discussed the land issue with Minister of Agriculture Ettore Rossi and Ferdinando Marchesi.
Land reform was an important foundational policy for stabilizing public sentiment and strengthening the country, so Umberto gave it high priority.
Moreover, the promises made by the prewar government had still not been fulfilled, leaving large numbers of discharged soldiers without livelihoods and deeply dissatisfied.
All of this needed to be resolved.
Otherwise, suppressing one Fascist movement would only lead to the rise of another similar organization.
“Tell me about the situation,” Umberto said to Ettore Rossi.
As the Crown Prince, before taking control of the Cabinet, he had never possessed a complete understanding of the country’s land situation.
He therefore needed the two men to consolidate the available national data.
“Very well, Your Highness.” Ettore Rossi handed Umberto two sheets of paper containing the key statistics.
“According to census data from last December, the total domestic population, including the newly returned provinces, is approximately 38.84 million.
Of these, around 23 million belong to the agricultural population, while 15.84 million live in urban areas.
“The total cultivated area is approximately 18 million hectares, with another 5 million hectares of arable land potentially available for reclamation.
“One percent of large landowners control sixty percent of the land.
Middle and wealthy peasants own around thirty percent, while eighty-five percent of farming households possess only ten percent of the land.
Meanwhile, landless agricultural workers account for roughly half of the entire agricultural population.
“The north is dominated by the Po Valley, where mechanization is relatively advanced and irrigation infrastructure is well developed.
As a result, wheat, corn, rice, and animal husbandry are all highly developed, and farmers are comparatively prosperous.
“The central region is dominated by small and medium landowners as well as Church estates.
Sharecropping is widespread, while owner-farmers account for only a relatively small proportion.
“It is also a region where the Socialist Party is influential and where peasants frequently occupy land.
“Large areas of marshland remain in the central region, giving it considerable development potential.
“The south is highly polarized and dominated by large landowners.
Landless peasants there account for approximately seventy percent of the country’s total landless agricultural population.
“Compared with the central and northern regions, agricultural land in the south is extremely fragmented and relatively barren.
Irrigation infrastructure is inadequate, and droughts occur frequently.
“Large stretches of land in the south are left abandoned, yet the owners are unwilling to distribute them to peasants for cultivation.
As a result, the south has become one of the regions most severely affected by emigration.
“In addition, inheritance and the continual subdivision of land are also major reasons why independent farmers are becoming increasingly impoverished.” Ettore Rossi continued.
“Combining historical data from the Ministry of Agriculture with information gathered during our nationwide investigations over the past two years, the average annual income of a landless peasant household in the south is around 2,000 lire.
“The north is somewhat better, with an average annual household income of roughly 5,000 lire.
“Tenant farmers, sharecroppers, and smallholders are somewhat better off, but the north-south income gap remains enormous.
“Taking a family of five as an example, living expenses in the south require at least 3,000 lire per year just to survive.
Anyone earning below this level is essentially living at the starvation line and is forced to rely on high-interest debt year after year.
“Compared with urban workers, their standard of living is indeed extremely low.” After listening, Umberto frowned deeply.
He had known that Italian farmers were poor, but he had not expected the situation to be this severe.
Italy was, after all, considered a second-rate power, yet in many respects it was still practically an agricultural country where large numbers of peasants lived close to starvation.
Reform.
Reform was imperative.
Only by solving the survival problems of half the population could society be stabilized, the foundations of reform strengthened, and the country’s economic potential fully released.
Of course, Umberto understood very clearly that nationwide land reform was completely different from the land distribution carried out in New Rome City.
The scale and difficulty were not even comparable.
When building New Rome City, he had purchased land and then redistributed it.
The hills, mountainous regions, and plains together amounted to only around 20,000 hectares, which had been distributed among 4,000 farming households, mainly to support agricultural research and the development of agricultural machinery.
“Using five hectares per household as the standard, distribute both mountainous and flat cultivated land, balancing fertile and poorer soil.
“In municipalities where the available land falls below this standard, encourage land reclamation.
“Would there be any problem implementing the reform this way?” Umberto wanted to reclaim Italy’s available arable land on a large scale and make full use of the country’s land resources.
Once the first stage of reform was completed, Italy would gradually move toward a fully industrialized society, and demand for agricultural land would eventually decline.
“Your Highness, equal distribution itself is not the problem.
“The real difficulty is how to obtain the land from the large landowners.” Ferdinando Marchesi believed that the large landowners would not willingly sell their estates.
Otherwise, so much land would not have remained abandoned in the first place.
Ettore Rossi added, “Your Highness, you have also forgotten that the royal family and its relatives are among the largest landowners in the country, not to mention those ancient noble families that have held estates for hundreds of years.” “This…” Umberto immediately felt a headache coming on.
Reforming others was easy enough.
Reforming oneself first was much more difficult.
He would first have to persuade his father to surrender part of the royal estates.
Only then could he persuade the other nobles to do the same, and after that, put pressure on the large private landowners.
“I will find a way to solve that problem.
“You two should formulate the reform plan based on the country’s overall land situation.
“Do not purchase the land with cash.
Issue government land bonds instead.
“When drawing up the reform plan, coordinate with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Treasury regarding financing costs, interest rates, and related matters.” “Your Highness, government bonds are already everywhere.
What if the landowners refuse to accept them?” Ettore Rossi was somewhat worried.
At present, government bonds were little better than pieces of paper that could not easily be redeemed for cash.
Umberto sneered.
“Hmph.
Whether they want to accept them or not, they will have to.
“What benefit would they gain if the national economy collapsed?
“Once the country recovers and the economy regains vitality, the government bonds in their hands will naturally appreciate in value.” Besides, if they stubbornly refused to surrender their excess land, Umberto had plenty of other ways to deal with them.
“Since Your Highness is so determined, the reform will certainly succeed.” Ferdinando Marchesi clenched his fist.
He preferred a strong Crown Prince.
A hesitant leader could never push through major reforms.
“Enough flattery.
“In addition to drafting the reform plan, notify the agricultural machinery companies in the experimental zone in advance and have them begin producing different types of agricultural equipment.
“After the reform is implemented, distribute the machinery to farmers through lease-to-own arrangements to ensure that next year’s spring planting proceeds efficiently.” Umberto had already made extensive preparations.
This was especially true for small agricultural machinery designed for mountainous terrain, much of which was already suitable for widespread use.
There were also reserves of diesel fuel for agricultural machinery, and the experimental zone had its own oil-refining company, so fuel supply itself was not a major concern.
In 1922, agricultural diesel in Italy cost around 4.5 lire per liter, which meant very few ordinary farmers could afford to use it regularly.
Subsidies would therefore be necessary.
Of course, Umberto had another financial tool available: Low-interest agricultural loans.
These loans could ease the financial burden faced by farmers after receiving land.
Naturally, the prerequisite was solving the government’s funding problem.
Otherwise, the banks themselves would have no money to lend.
“Rest assured, Your Highness.
We will also notify the seed companies in advance and instruct them to begin stockpiling crop seeds.
“If domestic supplies are insufficient, we can purchase additional seeds from France and Germany.
“The agricultural nitrogen fertilizer plants and the experimental chemical plants are already increasing fertilizer production.
After the spring planting season begins, the fertilizer can be promoted nationwide and sold at low prices.” Ettore Rossi and Ferdinando Marchesi had managed the agricultural administration of New Rome City for many years and had also personally visited other regions.
They therefore possessed a deep understanding of agricultural conditions.
“Alright.
We’ll proceed that way.
“Prepare your respective plans.” Umberto ended the discussion and summoned Minister of the Interior Silvano Berti to discuss the household registration issue next.