722 



SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



scale Sweden is becoming a competitor of the 

 United States. The chief source of national in- 

 come is the lumber export trade. The forest area 

 in 1894 was 46.663,404 acres, of which 14,300,000 

 acres, valued at about $1 an acre, belong to the 

 Crown and yield a net income of about $335.000 a 

 year. The Grown preserves arc managed with scru- 

 pulous care on the principle that the increase, alone 

 may be cut and that the forest shall stand forever 

 on all Crown lands unsuitable for cultivation. The 

 Government has, moreover, entered upon an exten- 

 sive and practical system of planting forests upon 

 desolate and uncultivated areas. These measures 

 have influenced the owners of private forests, es- 

 pecially the large proprietors, to manage their tim- 

 ber lands also as permanent sources of income. It 

 is probable, therefore, that the vast forests of Swe- 

 den, on which considerable inroads have been made 

 heretofore, will be henceforth preserved and main- 

 tained substantially as they stand to-day. 



The commerce with the different countries in 

 1894 is shown in the following table, giving the 

 values in kroner : 



Navigation. There were 30,092 vessels, of 

 6,339,000 tons, entered at Swedish ports during 

 1894, of which 12,014, of 2,890,000 tons, were with 

 cargoes; the number cleared was 30.019, of 6.351,- 

 000 tons, of which 19,943, of 4,854,000 tons, were 

 with cargoes. The number entered included 13,- 

 509 steamers, of 4,909,000 tons ; of those cleared 

 13,497, of 4,917,000 tons, were steamers. Of the 

 total number entered, 14,510, of 2,156,000 tons, 

 sailed under the Swedish flag, 2,383. of 735,000 tons, 

 under the flag of Norway, and 13,199, of 3,448,000 

 tons, under foreign flags. 



The merchant navy in 1894 consisted of 2,914 

 sailing vessels, of 371,097 tons, and 1.248 steamers, 

 of 179,253 tons. 



Communications. The railroads in operation 

 at the end of 1895 had a total length of 6,057 miles, 

 of which 2,030 miles belonged to the Government 

 and 4,027 miles to companies'. 



The post office in 1894 carried 51,398.000 internal, 

 13,534,000 foreign, and 263,000 transit letters, 6,236,- 

 000 internal, 914.000 foreign, and 23,000 transit post- 

 al cards, 12,669,000 internal, 6,354.000 foreign, and 

 72,000 transit newspapers and pamphlets, and 2,623,- 

 000 internal, 294,000 foreign, and 2,000 transit 

 money letters of the respective values of 710,719,000 

 55,157.000, and 392,000 francs. The receipts were 

 8,273,600 kroner ; expenses, 7,620,583 kronor. 



The state telegraphs had a length of 5,434 miles 

 in 1894, with 15,430 miles of wire. The railroads 

 had 2,623 miles of line, with 9.550 miles of wire. 

 The number of internal dispatches sent was 1,017,- 

 360; of international dispatches, 699,264; dis- 

 patches in transit, 232,127; official dispatches, 102,- 

 161. The receipts were 2,100,203 and expenses 

 1,933,074 francs. 



Political Affairs. The Riksdag was opened on 

 Jan. 18. The matter most urgently piosented to 

 the Legislature was the improvement of the na- 

 tional defenses, to which the Government proposed 

 to devote the surplus in the treasury. For arma- 

 ments and defenses for the maintenance of the 

 country's neutrality in the event of warlike develop- 

 ments an extraordinary grant of 16,800.000 kronor 

 was asked: 11,800,000 kronor to be expended in 

 two years on the construction of 2 ironclads. 4 tor- 

 pedo cruisers, and 6 torpedo boats ; 3.000,000 kronor 

 on the fortresses of Waxholm. Oscar Frederiks- 

 borg, and Gothland ; and 2.000,000 kronor for com- 

 missariat purposes. The King, in his speech from 

 the throne, said that his anxiety respecting the union 

 between Sweden and Norway had diminished, and 

 expressed the hope that the causes which provoked 

 discord would be permanently set aside, for, as 

 things stood on every side, it had become more 

 necessary than ever for the maintenance of the se- 

 curity, the liberty, and the independence of the 

 Scandinavian peninsula that both nations should 

 hold fast together. 



In the elections for the Second Chamber, which 

 terminated on Oct. 1, the Free-trade majority was 

 cut down from 42 to 26, the strength of the parties 

 remaining about the same as before on all questions 

 except the tariff. The Country party secured 127 

 seats ; the New Center, 25 ; the Free-trade Center, 

 20 ; the People's party, 32 ; and Independents, 26. 



Norway. The legislative power is exercised by 

 the Storthing, containing 114 members elected for 

 three years, 38 by the towns and 76 by the rural 

 districts. The Storthing elects one fourth of its 

 members annually to form the Lagthing, which sits 

 and votes separately from the Odelsthing. composed 

 of the remaining three fourths, and exercises a veto 

 power over the acts passed by the Odelsthing. The 

 Council of State in the beginning of 1896 was com- 

 posed as follows : Minister of State, Dr. George 

 Francis Hagerup: Minister of Public Worship 

 and Education, Jacob Liv Rested Sverdrup: Min- 

 ister of Justice, Dr. G. F. Hagerup ; Minister of the 

 Interior, Thomas von Westen Engelhart : Minister 

 of Public Works, Peder Nilsen ; Minister of Finance 

 and Customs, Birger Kildal ; Minister of National 

 Defense, Lieut.-Col. Christian Wilhelm Engel Bredal 

 Olsson ; Secretary of the Department of Revision 

 of Accounts, Fredrik Stang-Lund ; delegation to 

 Stockholm, Gregers Winther Wulfsberg Gram, Min- 

 ister of State, and Bard Madsen Hangland and 

 Harald Smedal. 



Area and Population. The area of Norway is 

 124,445 square miles. The population present on 

 Jan. 1, 1891, when the last census was taken, was 

 1,988,674 ; the domiciled population was 2,000,917, 

 comprising 965,911 males and 1,035,006 females. 

 The number of marriages in 1894 was 12.966 ; of 

 births, 60,450 ; of deaths, 34,355 ; excess of births, 

 26.095. The number of emigrants in 1895 was 

 6,207, compared with 5,642 in 1894, 18,778 in 1893, 

 17,094 in 1892, and 13.341 in 1891. Christiania, the 

 capital, had 148.213 inhabitants in 1891. 



Finances. The revenue for the financial year 

 1895 was 57,384,600 kroner, including 190,800 kroner 

 of local subscriptions for the construction of rail- 

 roads and a loan of 2,581,500 kroner. The ordinary 

 receipts were 54.612.300 kroner, of which 2,782,700 

 came from direct taxation, 21,796.600 from customs, 

 3.947,100 from the tax on spirits, 2,741,300 from the 

 malt tax, 695,000 from stamps on playing cards, 

 989,400 from legal fees, 560,100 from the succession 

 duty, 398,100 from domains and forests, 458,600 

 from mines, 1,803,200 from active capital, 3,432,600 

 from the post office, 1,311,700 from telegraphs, 

 8,107,300 from railroads, 1,607,900 from educational 

 fees, 283,300 from products of prisons, 958,400 from 



