Co-operation, for the various purposes of credit, distribution, production and labour, has attained great development in Italy. Credit co-operation is represented by a special type of association known as People's Banks (_Banche Popolari_). They are not, as a rule, supported by workmen or peasants, but rather by small tradespeople, manufacturers and farmers. They perform a useful function in protecting their clients from the cruel usury which prevails, especially in the south. A recent form of co-operative credit banks are the _Casse Rurali_ or rural banks, on the Raffeisen system, which lend money to peasants and small proprietors out of capital obtained on credit or by gift. These loans are made on personal security, but the members of the bank do not contribute any quota of the capital, though their liability is unlimited in case of loss. They are especially widespread in Lombardy and Venetia.
Distributive co-operation is confined almost entirely to Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Venetia, Emilia and Tuscany, and is practically unknown in Basilicata, the Abruzzi and Sardinia.
Co-operative dairies are numerous. They have, however, much decreased in number since 1889. More numerous are the agricultural and viticultural co-operative societies, which have largely increased in number. They are to be found mainly in the fertile plains of north Italy, where they enjoy considerable success, removing the cause of labour troubles and strikes, and providing for cultivation on a sufficiently large scale. The richest, however, of the co-operative societies, though few in number, are those for the production of electricity, for textile industries and for ceramic and glass manufactures.
Co-operation in general is most widely diffused, in proportion to population, in central Italy; less so in northern Italy, and much less so in the south and the islands. It thus appears that co-operation flourishes most in the districts in which the _mezzadria_ system has been prevalent.
_Railways._--The first railway in Italy, a line 16 m. long from Naples to Castellammare, was opened in 1840. By 1881 there were some 5500 m. open, in 1891 some 8000 m., while in 1901 the total length was 9317 m. In July 1905 all the principal lines, which had been constructed by the state, but had been since 1885 let out to three companies (Mediterranean, Adriatic, Sicilian), were taken over by the state; their length amounted in 1901 to 6147 m., and in 1907 to 8422 m. The minor lines (many of them narrow gauge) remain in the hands of private companies. The total length, including the Sardinian railways, was 10,368 m. in 1907. The state, in taking over the railways, did not exercise sufficient care to see that the lines and the rolling stock were kept up to a proper state of efficiency and adequacy for the work they had to perform; while the step itself was taken somewhat hastily. The result was that for the first two years of state administration the service was distinctly bad, and the lack of goods trucks at the ports was especially felt. A capital expenditure of £4,000,000 annually was decided on to bring the lines up to the necessary state of efficiency to be able to cope with the rapidly increasing traffic. It was estimated in 1906 that this would have to be maintained for a period of ten years, with a further total expenditure of £14,000,000 on new lines.