inistry a special
commission of nine members was created to study "the timeliness, the
method, and the extent" of the proposed reforms. December 5, 1910,
this commission brought in an elaborate report, written principally by
Senator Arcoleo, a leader among Italian authorities upon
constitutional law. After pointing out that among European nations the
reconstitution and modernization of upper chambers is a subject of
large current interest, the commission proposed a carefully considered
scheme for the popularizing and strengthening of the senatorial body.
The substance of the plan was, in brief; (1) that the chamber
henceforth should be composed of 350 members; (2) that the membership
should be divided into three categories, designated, respectively, as
officials, men of science and education, and men of political or
economic status; and (3) that members of the first category, not to
exceed 120, should be appointed, as are all members at present, by the
crown; but members of the other two should be elected by fifteen
special colleges so constituted that their membership would represent
actual and varied groups of interests throughout the nation. The
professors in the universities, for example, organized for the purpose
as an electoral college, should be authorized to choose a contingent
of thirty representatives. Other elements to be admitted to a definite
participation in the elections should include former deputies, larger
taxpayers, provincial and communal assemblies, chambers of commerce,
agricultural societies, and workingmen's associations. The primary
idea of those who propounded the scheme was that through its adoption
there would be established a more vital contact between the Senate and
the varied forces that contribute to the life of the nation than can
subsist under the existing order. Unfortunately, as many consider, the
Senate voted not to approve the commission's project. It contented
itself, rather, with a vote in favor of an enlargement of the classes
of citizens from which senators may be appointed by the king,
although, in February, 1911, it went so far as to request the ministry
to present new proposals, and, in particular, a proposal to vest in
the Senate the choice of its presiding officer. Toward a solution of
the problems involved there has been (to 1912) no further progress. It
is not improbable, however, that upon some such plan of modernization
as was prepared by the commission of 1910 agreement