380 



GREECE. 



The merchant navy on December 31, 1871, 

 consisted of 6,135 vessels, of 419,350 tons; 

 among them there were 7 steamers, of about 

 3,000 tons, and more than 4,000 coasting-ves- 

 sels. 



The first Greek railroad, which connected 

 Athens with the port of Pirasus and Phalerits, 

 was opened in 1869, and is 12 kilometres long 

 (1 kilom. = 0.62 m.). In 1872 the railroad 

 from the Pirasus to Lamia, which is to be in 

 length 220 kilometres, was begun, and a char- 

 ter was granted for another road, which is to 

 connect Athens with Kalamate, a distance of 

 275 kilometres. A company which had ob- 

 tained the right to build seven railroads in the 

 Peloponnesus, forfeited the concession in 1874, 

 as it had failed to comply with the contract. 

 The aggregate length of the electric telegraph- 

 lines is 1,600 kilometres; that of the wires, 

 1,800 kilometres. 



On February 19th the Cabinet Deligeorgis 

 tendered its resignation, because at the elec- 

 tion of a President of the Chamber the candi- 

 date of the Opposition, Zaimis, had been elect- 

 ed by 87 votes against 71 which were given 

 to the ministerial candidate. The resignation 

 was accepted, and Bulgaris charged with form- 

 ing a new cabinet, which consisted of the fol- 

 lowing members: Bulgaris, President and 

 Minister of the Interior; Delijannis, Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs; Vlassafulos, Minister of 

 Finances; Trindetta, Minister of War; Zalo- 

 nis, Minister of the Navy ; Papamichailopulos, 

 Minister of Justice ; and Nicolopulos, Minister 

 of Worship. The leaders of the Opposition, 

 Zaimis and Kumunduros, refused to accept a 

 place in the ministry, but appeared to be will- 

 ing to support it, and induced the Chamber 

 to disapprove, by 127 against 29 votes, of the 

 republican programme of the deputy Lom- 

 bardos. 



On April 28th Bulgaris tendered his resig- 

 nation, on the ground that there was no ma- 

 jority in the Chamber on which the ministry 

 could rely. The King called on Zaimis, subse- 

 quently on Kumunduros, and, when both de- 

 clined, on Deligeorgis, to form a new cabinet. 

 When the latter likewise found it impossible 

 to surmount the difficulties, Bulgaris agreed 

 to remain in office. The political programme 

 of Kumunduros is explained in a letter ad- 

 dressed by him, on the 29th of April, to the 

 King, which a few months later was published. 

 He demanded that in the foreign relations 

 every thing be avoided which would be apt 

 to undermine the friendship and the confi- 

 dence between Greece and Turkey, as well as 

 the other nations of the East, or which might 

 throw a doubt on the gratitude of Greece tow- 

 ard the three protecting powers. The policy 

 pursued by Deligeorgis since July, 1872, he 

 regarded as injurious to the interests of the 

 country. In home affairs, Kumunduros de- 

 manded an honest management of constitu- 

 tional laws, by which the too frequent disso- 

 lutions of the Chamber would become un- 



necessary. He also demanded a thorough 

 change of the electoral law, a removal of the 

 evils which inevitably followed a centraliza- 

 tion of the administration, and absolute free- 

 dom in selecting the members of the cabinet. 

 The reply from the King to this letter was as 

 follows: "The foreign policy is one either of 

 peace or of war ; I am determined to pursue 

 a policy of peace. I can decide nothing with 

 regard to laws concerning which the opinion 

 of the Chamber is not yet known. All the 

 ministers which thus far have succeeded each 

 other have been entirely free. This freedom 

 of action will also exist in future within the 

 limits prescribed by existing laws, provided 

 that the public safety and order be disturbed 

 neither in Athens nor in the provinces." 



In order to give to the country an oppor- 

 tunity to express a preference for one of the 

 four statesmen who for years have repeatedly 

 dislodged one another as heads of the min- 

 istry, the Chamber was dissolved, and a new 

 election took place on July 4th. The result 

 was very favorable to Bulgaris. Among the 

 185 members of the Chamber, about 25 were 

 regarded as adherents of Kumunduros, 20 as 

 adherents of Zaimis, 10 as friends of Deligeor- 

 gis, 10 as belonging for the present to no 

 party, and all the others as either stanch ad- 

 herents of Bulgaris and the so-called court 

 party, or as followers of Grivas, who would 

 support any administration. The fifth party, 

 consisting of Lombardos, whose republican 

 sentiments had been rebuked by the preceding 

 Chamber, and his friends, was totally extin- 

 guished, as not one of the party was reelected. 

 Several other prominent politicians besides 

 Lombardos were defeated ; among them Deli- 

 georgis, Theodore Delijannis, and Trikupis. 

 The latter was arrested for using offensive lan- 

 guage toward the King, but soon released. 

 The ministry was charged by its opponents 

 with having interfered in many places with 

 the freedom of the election. At Zante, where 

 Lombardos enjoys an unbounded popularity, 

 the polling-places were said to have been sur- 

 rounded by soldiers, who prevented Lombar- 

 dos, and all who were known to be in his 

 favor, from casting their votes. An electoral 

 riot of considerable magnitude occurred at 

 Corfu. According to the Greek papers, the 

 riot arose from some person accidentally tread- 

 ing upon a drunken soldier's dog. The soldier 

 drew his sword, and struck at not only the 

 person who had innocently made his dog yelp, 

 but everybody else at hand. Several persons 

 were severely wounded. The outrage was re- 

 ported to the commandant of the garrison, a 

 certain DemitrakarakosJ who, instead 'of put- 

 ting the soldier under arrest and ordering an 

 inquiry, allowed him to go at large. The next 

 day the soldier, taking some comrades with 

 him, repaired to the spot where the previous 

 scene had occurred, and began to fall upon 

 the unarmed citizens. The latter massed to- 

 gether and drove the soldiers back into the 



