HUNGARY.

The Hungarian Parliament is composed of two Houses, the Upper. House of Magnates and the Lower House of Representatives. The House of Magnates is composed of hereditary and 'life peers, including ecclesiastical and State dignitaries and has about 300 members. The House of Representatives (Reichstag) consists of 453 members, elected for five years on a property qualification franchise by male citizens over 30 years of age. Members each receive $6,500 per annum.

In this "free" nation, controlled by "Liberals," the laws governing organization and assembly are so reactionary that it has been impossible to create a Socialist organization. The labor union members who desire to support a Socialist movement pay their Socialist dues into a special sub-organization of their trade union. Thus the labor unions, are the backbone of the Socialist Party, because without their assistance even the most elementary organization would be an impossibility. It is, of course, difficult to determine the party membership for this reason. In 1914, there were 61,300 members, against 59,623 in 1913, and 52,738 in 1912. In 1913 there were 111,966 labor unionists; in 1914 their number had increased to 134,600.

The vote, in Hungary, is confined to the propertied classes, and is divided between the great feudal landowners and the liberal bourgeoisie. The farmworker is absolutely and the industrial working class almost wholly without political rights. Thus the Social Democracy, with 136 representatives in municipal offices, polled a vote of only 85,000 at the last national election, and was unable to send a representative to Parliament. But the reactionary character of Hungarian political conditions does not mean that revolutionary activity is impossible. The party has for over ten years fought with admirable vigor and tireless energy for greater political freedom. In fact it was due to its frequent public demonstrations and protest meetings that the Tisza Administration finally in 1914 consented to consider a so-called election reform, which was, however, anything but a real improvement. According to the new election laws, in the city every man who is over thirty years of age, can read and write, and fulfill a number of other exceedingly complicated conditions fixed by the provisions of the new election laws, shall have the right to vote. In Budapest, with over 100,000 workers past thirty years of age, hardly 40,000 are eligible to vote. The labor vote, therefore, is but an unimportant factor in Hungarian politics. So far there has been no election under this apology for election reform.

Hungary also has its nationalistic question, though it has not lead to the fierce conflict that arose in Austria. The Hungarians (Magyars), although they are not in the majority among the other races of Hungary, maintain a privileged

position, which has embittered the Germans, the Slavonians and the Roumanians and has led them to organize as national entities.

The attitude of the Hungarian Social-Democracy towards the war could not be brought officially before the people, as there is no Socialist in the Reichstag, and the censors suppress all unpalatable criticism of the government. The press and the carefully worded publications of the party executive show that the party is in sympathy neither with the majority in Austria or in Germany nor with the majority in the allied nations. At any rate there has been no sign of "harmonious co-operation" on the part of the party and labor union forces with the reactionary "liberal" government.

The Hungarian party press includes one Hungarian central organ, a daily paper called Nepszava, the weekly German organ, Volksstimme, one Roumanian, one Serbian and one Slovak organ and a number of local newspapers in Kassa, Pecs, Temeswar, Pozsony, and Fiume (Italian). The scientific socialist organ Socialismus is published monthly.

In 1913 the party consisted of 66 party-labor union organizations in Budapest and 234 in the rest of the country. The Hungarian Woman's and Young People movements have shown a gratifying development in recent years, not only in industrial sections, but also among the agrarian proletariat. The labor union movement is, considering the comparatively undeveloped industrial state of the nation, very good. In 1909 there were 85,266 members; on January 1, 1914, their number had increased to 134,600 (110,300 men and 24,300 women). The number of organized women rose much more rapidly than that of the men. The growth of the labor union movement is shown by the following:

The marked loss in membership in 1909 and the slow growth since that year are attributed to a severe industrial crisis and to a period of exceptionally brutal persecution of labor unions and Socialists. The organization of the agrarian workers was particularly promising. They were not permitted to organize until 1906 when they began with 13,814 members, which had increased to 48,616 members in 1907. Then, because extensive strikes were threatened among the farm

workers the government at the urgent request of the feudal landholders so actively persecuted these organizations that they have almost gone out of existence.

The co-operative movement in Hungary has developed rapidly during the last decade. Large co-operative societies in the country as well as in the city, and also a few co-operative manufacturing concerns are preparing the way with ever increasing success for the future.

The Secretary of the Hungarian Social Democratic Labor Party is E. Buchenberger, Conti-utca 4 Budapest viii.

The Secretary of the Ungarlaendischer Gewerkschaftsrat is: Samu Jaszai, Conti-utca 4, Budapest viii.

ITALY.

Constitutional monarchy; senate and chamber of deputies. Senate consists of persons who have attained high office or dignity in the public service, or distinction in art, science or letters, or who pay at least $600 a year in taxes; nominated for life by King on recommendation of Ministry. At present 400 members; number unlimited. Chamber of Deputies: consists of 508 members, one to every 71,000 population. Suffrage granted to every man 21 years old, but is denied to those younger than 30 who have neither done their military service nor learnt to read and write. Deputies receive $400 a year. At last election (October 1913) the Chamber of Deputies consisted of 318 Constitutionalists, 70 Radicals, 16 Republicans, 77 Socialists, 3 Syndicalists and 24 Catholics.

The Socialist Party of Italy has since. the first day of the war been practically unanimous in opposing all intervention and participation in the world war. It severely criticized the attitude of the German Social-Democracy and emphatically condemned the Austrian Party because it supported the "Burgfrieden" doctrine-without even the excuse of a representative Parliament. But it was no less emphatic in its opposition to the French and English Socialists, who supported the war. The Italian Party immediately and unanimously joined the movement to reunite the international forces of the Socialist movement. It was the only large Party which signed and supported the decisions of the first Zimmerwald Conference.

When in 1912 the official party organization opposed the Tripoli adventure, Bissolati, one of the cleverest Socialist speakers in Parliament, and Podrecca, the editor of the influential humorous paper L'Asino, with two other representatives, openly favored the governmental policy and were, in consequence, expelled from the Party by its Congress in July, 1912. The Party now faced a severe crisis. Of 38 deputies, 16 joined the Reformist Party, which, though it has since gained considerably in membership and Parliamentary influence, has not grown nearly as fast as the Socialist Party,

which to-day is more united and more powerful than ever before. The Reformist Party, in the Ministerial reorganization in May, 1916, succeeded in placing Bissolati and three other members in the Cabinet, where they were the wildest and the most ardent supporters of Italian intervention.

The Party suffered for years from internal strife and differences on questions of principle and tactics, which explains the slow growth of its organization. The differences were not of a purely political nature. The struggle between the Trade Unionist and the Syndicalists in the labor movement, had an important influence upon the Party. The following shows the increase in Party membership:

In 1913 the Reformists polled 200,000 votes for their candidates, and elected 21 representatives. There had been 29 Socialist deputies in the Chamber after the Reformists broke away from the Party.

The Industrial Movement is divided into two distinct groups, one, the so-called Reformist group; the other, the Syndicalist organizations. Each of these groups possesses its own central organization. The Confederazione Generale Idi Lavoro is the older federation. It stands in close touch with the Socialist Party, and indorses its war-position, while the Unione Sindicale, an organization patterned after the French General Confederation of Labor, condemns all political action and sees in the general strike the chief weapon of the working-class. Like the French organization, also, it stands for intervention and for "Burgfrieden." The Confederazione Generale di Lavoro counted 321,000 members in 1912, after it had lost 63,000 members through the railwayworkers' organization joining the Syndicalist centre-organization. Since then, however, there has been a marked upward growth. In 1914, 420,000 members were enrolled under its banner, while the Unione Sindicale numbered only 120,000.

The movement of the farmhands is an important factor in the life of the Italian labor movement. They are organized as the National Federation of Rural Workers and number over 165,000 members. Italy still has over ten million farm workers, against five million industrial workers.

Since the war began, there has been an extraordinary decrease in the number of emigrants. In 1914, 245,897 persons left Italy for European, and 233,144 for American countries. In 1913 they numbered 313,132 and 559,566 respectively. The number of emigrants was reduced by more than one half in the first half year of the war. Sicily, Venice and Lombardy furnish the greatest number of emigrants.

The Secretary of the Socialist Party of Italy is: C. Lazzari, Via Del Seminario 87, Rome.

The Secretary of the Labor Federation is R. Rigola, Via Manfredo Fanti 2, Milano.

NORWAY.

Constitutional monarchy; government by one house only. Storthing consists of 123 members who are elected by universal suffrage. Since 1913 men and women over 25 years of age eligible to vote. In 1916, women were granted suffrage.

Norway is one of the most democratic countries of the world. The King, the present ruler, who was elected by the people, is hardly more than a mouthpiece of the popular will, as expressed by the Parliament.

The Social-Democratic Party was founded in 1887 and participated in an election for the first time in 1894 when it polled 732 votes. On May 1, 1915, it reported 53,800 members, 36,500 of these living in the cities, 17,300 in the country districts. The increase in the vote is shown by the following Parliamentary election returns:

The Party lost representatives in the last election, although its vote was increased by 70,000. Of these 25,000 were women, voting for the first time; the remainder, however, represents a true gain. Although the Socialist vote is one third of the total vote cast, the Party is the second largest party in the Storthing. It has relatively fewer elected representatives because the farming population elects two thirds of the representatives. In spite of the middle class