THE AGRICULTURAL CRISIS IN NORTH ITALY

In the last days of the Carnival of 1885, at Commessaggio, in the Mantovano, the peasant proletariat got up a masquerade which was to be seen by anyone passing through the public place of that village. Part of the peasants, dressed up in imitation of gentlefolks, sat at a table eating, drinking, and merrymaking. Then, of a sudden, a crowd of other peasants, barefoot and in rags, rushed on the scene, chased away the revellers with groans, and hisses, and cries of "Death!" and took their places at the banquet.