GERMANY. 



313 



ment testifying before Europe the energy and intel- 

 ligence with which Germany has wrung, in a thirteen 

 years' combat, from the refractory elements, this 

 achievement or a great national object. In the lively 

 and diligent sympathy with our maritime interests, 

 which actuates the population of the^North-German 

 coast region, I have recognized, with joyous^ satis fac- 

 tion, the expression of national feeling which, with 

 increasing power, pervades all parts oi the common 

 Fatherland, and ripens the germs which we in com- 

 mon have laid in our Bund Constitution. I therefore 

 confide willingly in the prospect that the allied Gov- 

 ernments, in their endeavors to fortify and perfect 

 our common institutions, may further find that en- 

 couragement which the Keichsrath has heretofore ex- 

 tended to them. 



The harmonious action of the allied Governments 

 and the people's representatives in the common labor 

 for the welfare of Germany shall, in future as here- 

 tofore, with the aid of God, enhance the assur- 

 ance with which Germany calculates upon the pres- 

 ervation and strengthening of its internal and exter- 

 nal peace. "With this confidence, gentlemen, I ex- 

 press the hope of greeting you again, next year, 

 and even soon after its commencement, in this same 

 place. 



The imports into the Zollverein in the first 

 half of 1869 compared, on the whole, favor- 

 ably with the corresponding period of 1868, 

 as the following resume will show: Of the 

 important articles the following quantities paid 

 duty or were admitted duty free : raw cotton, 

 1,191,252 centners (compared with the pre- 

 ceding year, 2.9 per cent, less); twist, 163,327 

 cntnrs. (8 per cent, less); dye-woods, 339, 784 

 cntnrs. (1.5 per cent, more); indigo, 21,796 

 cntnrs. (3 per cent, more); raisins, 1,488,429 

 cntnrs. (42 per cent, more) ; steel, 28,900 cntnrs. 

 (18 per cent, more); coarse hardware, 140,717 

 cntnrs. (124 per cent, more) ; iron ore, 2,237,857 

 cntnrs. (43 per cent, more); flax and hemp, 

 519,379 cntnrs. (21 per cent, less); grain, 

 13,217,077 scheffels (43 per cent, less) ; green 

 concave glass, 12,393 cntnrs. (169 per cent, 

 more) ; raw hides, 314,682 cntnrs. (30 per cent, 

 more) ; machines, principally of cast iron, 

 84,000 cntnrs. (33 per cent, more) ; do., chiefly 

 of malleable iron, 17,023 cntnrs. (41 per cent, 

 more) ; raw linen thread, machine spun, 81,266 

 cntnrs. (97 per cent, more) ; gray packing linen, 

 50,399 cntnrs. (11.7 per cent, more); un- 

 bleached linen, 28,789 cntnrs. (31 per cent, 

 more); wine, 308,294 cntnrs. (49 per cent, 

 more) ; dried fruit, 127,363 cntnrs. (54 per 

 cent, more); 171,283 tons herrings (28 per 

 cent, more) ; coffee, 808,501 cntnrs. (4.3 per 

 cent, more) ; salt, 429,104 cntnrs. (13 per cent, 

 less); raw tobacco, 296,910 cntnrs. (45 per 

 cent, less) ; tea, 7,756 cntnrs. (12.4 per cent, 

 more) ; olive-oil for machinery, 80,082 cntnrs. 

 (63 per cent, more) ; linseed oil, 195,217 

 cntnrs. (69 per cent, more); tallow, 95,030 

 cntnrs. (28 per cent, more); raw silk, 15,967 

 cntnrs. (8.6. per cent, less) ; coal, 15,996,208 

 cntnrs. (7 per cent, more); turf, 224,365 

 cntnrs. (9 per cent, more) ; petroleum, 710,520 

 cntnrs. (2 per cent, more) ; horses, 21,748 (9.9 

 per cent, less) ; oxen, 45,307 (20 per cent, 

 more) ; cows, 28,007 (9.9 per cent, more) ; pigs, 

 273,018 (29 per cent, more) ; raw wool, 363,729 



cntnrs. (22 per cent, less) ; raw woollen yarn, 

 127,502 cntnrs. (4.6 per cent, less); woollen 

 articles, 35,097 cntnrs. (21 per cent. more). 



The North-German merchant navy consisted 

 in 1869 of 5,110 ships, with a united tonnage 

 of 1,299,984.17 tons, of which 146, with 102,- 

 149.40 tons, are steamers. Of these, 3,272 

 with 642,805.79 tons (including 60 steamers 

 with 9,659,190 tons), belong to Prussia; 440, 

 with 89,585.04 tons (including 1 steamer of 210 

 tons), to Mecklenburg; 565, with 64,264.42 

 tons, to Oldenburg; 45, with 111,642 tons (in- 

 cluding 21 steamers with 65,385 tons), to Lu- 

 beck ; 483, with 255,456.60 tons (including 40 

 steamers with 39,513 tons), to Hamburg, and 

 305, with 236,230.50 tons (including 24 steam- 

 ers with 47,228 tons), to Bremen. 



The North-German North Sea merchant 

 fleet consisted, in 1869, of 2,982 ships, with a 

 total tonnage of 760,309.67 tons, including 75 

 steamers, with 87,871.52 tons, and the Baltic 

 fleet as containing 2,128 vessels, with 539,674 

 tons, including 71 steamers, with 14,277.88 

 tons. These ships are classified as follows : 

 coasters, under 30 tons, 331 Prussian, 2 be- 

 longing to Mecklenburg, 192 to Oldenburg, 

 and 2 to Hamburg, together 527 ; from 30 to 

 100 tons, 1,056 Prussian, 17 belonging to 

 Mecklenburg, 180 to Oldenburg, 11 to Ham- 

 burg, 20 to Bremen, together 1,284 ; of 100 

 tons and upward, 1,885 Prussian, 421 belong- 

 ing to Mecklenburg, 193 to Oldenburg, 45 to 

 Lubeck, 470 to Hamburg, 285 to Bremen, to- 

 gether 3,299 vessels. Of the 130 great North- 

 German ships of more than 1,000 tons, 14 are 

 Prussian, 37 belong to Hamburg, and 79 to 

 Bremen. 



According to a table compiled from official 

 sources showing the telegraphic communica- 

 tion of the North-German Confederation, there 

 were, at the end of December, 1868, 3,180 

 German miles of telegraphic lines in actual 

 operation, 10,400 miles of telegraphic wires, 

 and 993 telegraphic stations in the territory 

 of the Confederation. Of these stations 237 

 were in charge of government telegraph-offi- 

 cers, 683 were combined with post-offices, and 

 73 were conducted by private persons. Be- 

 sides these, there were 676 railway telegraph- 

 stations in localities where there were no gov- 

 ernment stations. At the end of the year the 

 number of telegraphic machines amounted to 

 2,058. In the government telegraph service 

 there were 3,052 employes and 551 messengers 

 and assistants. In the course of the year 

 4,304,600 telegraphic dispatches were sent in, 

 and of these 3,544,650 were for the interior, 

 435,051 belonged to the Telegraph Union, and 

 324,909 were international. The number of 

 dispatches which arrived was 4,343,757; 3,- 

 883,235 were delivered, 3,893,081 telegraphed 

 farther, and 1,049,083 transferred, so that the 

 entire amount of all the dispatches which 

 passed through the hands of the officials was 

 17,474,756. Out of this number about 432,000 

 were through-dispatches. The entire proceeds 



