GREECE. 



345 



population, according to the census of 1879, 

 is 1,679,775.* 



The movement of population was as fol- 

 lows: 



In the budget for 1880 the receipts were es- 

 timated at 46,716,857 drachmas, and the ex- 

 penditures at 52,655,455 drachmas (1 drachma 

 = 19-3 cents). 



The foreign debt, in 1880, amounted to 

 196,293,611 drachmas, and the home debt to 

 118,906,400 drachmas in all, 315,200,011 

 drachmas. 



The strength of the army on a peace footing, 

 according to a law passed in 1877, is to be as 

 follows: 



Infantry 16,186 



Chasseurs 4,032 



Cavalry 845 



Artillery 1,959 



Engineers 1,104 



Sanitary troops 800 



Total. 



24,876 



There is in addition a corps of gendarmes com- 

 prising 2,508 men. 



According to a statement made by Minister 

 Trikoupis, the army can be raised within twen- 

 ty days to 35,000 men. The total number of 

 men capable of bearing arms amounts to 228,- 

 649 men. The fleet in 1880 consisted of two 

 ironclads, six screw-steamers, three schooners, 

 two cutters, and one royal yacht ; total, four- 

 teen vessels. 



The only railroad is the line connecting 

 Athens with the Pira3us, which was built in 

 1868, and has a length of twelve kilometres. 

 The telegraphic lines were of a total length of 

 3,068 kilometres in 1878, and carried 315,771 

 telegrams. Of post-offices there existed 145 

 in 1877. The number of letters carried was 

 2,683,000, of postal cards 4,600, of newspapers 

 1,867,000. 



The negotiations with Turkey concerning 

 the territorial cession to be made to Greece, 

 in accordance with the Treaty of Berlin, did 

 not lead to a satisfactory result. In February, 

 M. Delyannis, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 stated in the Chamber that they had failed. 

 The claims of Greece were warmly supported 

 by France and Italy, and the accession of the 

 Liberal party to power in England also gave 

 them the powerful patronage of the latter 

 country, which even took the lead in new 

 measures for coercing the Turks to come to 

 terms with the Greeks. When the Turkish 

 Government continued to yield to the joint 

 representations made by the great powers, a 



* For a table showing the area and population of each 

 of the nomarchies into which the kingdom is divided, see 

 "Annual Cyclopaedia" for 1879. 



conference of plenipotentiaries met at Berlin 

 on June 15th, which unanimously agreed upon 

 a new line of demarkation between Turkey 

 and Greece. By the adoption of this line, 

 Greece would receive an accession to her ter- 

 ritory of 8,500 square miles, with 535,000 in- 

 habitants. The Greek Government at once 

 accepted the decision of the Conference, and 

 addressed a note to that effect to the powers, 

 at the same time paying a tribute to the spir- 

 it of justice by which they had been guided. 

 At Athens there were three days' festivities 

 in honor of the decision of the Conference. 

 The ancient monuments, the surrounding hills, 

 and the city were illuminated, and enthusias- 

 tic demonstrations made before the legations 

 of the six powers whose plenipotentiaries at- 

 tended the Conference. Hundreds of tele- 

 grams were received, expressing the universal 

 joy and gratitude of all classes of the people. 

 As the Turkish Government showed a reso- 

 lute resistance to the decision of the Confer- 

 ence, the King of Greece in July signed a de- 

 cree ordering the mobilization of troops. The 

 population of the districts to be ceded intimated 

 that, if Greece would not move very soon, they 

 would be obliged to withdraw their offers of 

 assistance. The King personally visited the 

 sovereigns of Russia, England, Germany, Aus- 

 tria, and Italy, in order to secure their further 

 assistance in the Greco-Turkish dispute. The 

 army was rapidly increased, and at the begin- 

 ning of September 42,000 men of the active 

 army were reported to be under arms. On 

 September 21st the King, in opening the new 

 session of the Chamber of Deputies, stated in 

 his speech from the throne that the execution 

 of the decision of the powers imposed action 

 upon the Government, and that he was firmly 

 resolved to effect as speedily as possible the 

 object for which he had made great naval and 

 military preparations. A decree was issued at 

 the same time, ordering the formation of fifty 

 battalions of infantry each of nine hundred 

 and sixty men. The extraordinary reserves 

 were to number 10,000 men, and their time 

 of service was to be a year and a half. At a 

 council of war held in Athens in October, 

 under the presidency of M. Coumoundouros, it 

 was resolved to send an army of 24,000 men 

 against Thessaly, and another of 36,000 against 

 Epirus. There were to be, further, 20,000 

 troops held in reserve. On December 4th the 

 Prime Minister, M. Coumoundouros, stated that 

 the Government intended to continue the mil- 

 itary and naval preparations, so as to be able 

 to execute the decisions arrived at by the Ber- 

 lin Conference; at the same time, he would 

 endeavor to attain this object with the help 

 of the European concert, but would, in every 

 case, reserve his liberty of action. 



The strife of parties in the Chamber of Dep- 

 uties, proceeding mostly from personal, not 

 political, differences of opinion, continued to 

 be as violent and unceasing as in tormer years. 

 At the beginning of January, the Ministry was 



