370 



GEEECE. 



000,000), the exports to 75,764,000 drachmas 

 (about $13,000,000). The following were the 

 principal imports: cereals, 28,851,000 drach- 

 mas; manufactures, 23,531,000 ; hides, 9,760,- 

 000 ; sugar, 5,546,000 ; wood, 5,297,000 ; iron, 

 3,358,000 ; cattle, 2,959,000 ; salted meats, 

 2,913,000; coal, 2,659,000; coffee, 2,411,000; 

 rice, 1,941,000; sulphur, 1,851,000. The chief 

 articles of export were the following : Zante 

 raisins, or dried currants, 37,813,000 drachmas ; 

 olive-oil, 12,933,000; hides, 5,274,000; lead, 

 4,214,000; figs, 4,009,000; gall-nuts, 1,749,- 

 000; wines, 1,197,000; tobacco, 1,178,000; 

 cotton, 971,000 ; silk, 964,000 ; soap, 856,000. 

 The following table shows the extent of the 

 trade with different countries : 



The number of vessels entering Greek ports in 

 1875 was 10,089, of 1,783,180 tons, engaged in 

 foreign commerce, and 63,465, of 2, 2 10, 9 68 tons, 

 in the coasting-trade. The merchant navy num- 

 bered 5,437 vessels, of 262,032 tons, employing 

 26,760 seamen, including 4,303 vessels of less 

 than 60 tons, and 27 steamers aggregating 

 8,241 tons. 



ARMY AND NAVY. By the law of 1879 every 

 able-bodied man of the age of twenty-one or 

 over is required to serve three years in the 

 active army, six in the reserve, and ten in the 

 militia. The strength of the army on the peace 

 footing was fixed at 24,076, and on the war 

 footing at 35,188 men. The force provided for 

 in the budget for 1879 was 14,061 of all arms. 

 By the royal decree of January 8, 1881, the 

 effective was raised to 82,077 men. After the 

 evacuation of the ceded provinces by Turkey, 

 it was reduced to 27,500 men, by the decree of 

 August 31, 1881, but the enlarged organization 

 was preserved. 



The fleet consisted in 1880 of fifteen vessels, 

 two of which were small iron-clad turret-ships 

 carry ing 12-ton guns, two were steam- corvettes, 

 and six gunboats. There were added in 1881 

 two wood-sheathed iron gunboats and an effi- 

 cient torpedo service. 



FINANCES. The budget for 1880 was in- 

 creased by extraordinary votes from 52,655,- 

 455 to 105,056,618 drachmas. (Greece be- 

 longs to the Monetary League, the coined 

 drachmas being identical with francs; but 

 they have been driven out by an inconvertible 

 paper currency, which is at a discount, usually 

 about 10 per cent.) The war budget was in- 

 creased from 11,100,586 to 54,280,101 drach- 

 mas, and the navy budget from 2,111,230 to 

 11,361,879. There was, consequently, a defi- 

 cit which, on the basis of the budget of receipts, 



amounts to 58,368,761 drachmas. The budget 

 for 1881 places the total revenue at 49,051,560 

 drachmas, and the expenditures at 124,155,- 

 139, leaving a deficit of 75,103,579 drachmas. 

 The military expenditures are 71,323,580 

 drachmas, the naval expenditures 5,282,680 

 drachmas. The domestic debt requires 19,- 

 751,000, the foreign debt 1,272,000 drach- 

 mas. There were 3,800,000 drachmas voted 

 for the construction of roads. Of the esti- 

 mated revenue, 10,596,000 drachmas are de- 

 rived from direct taxes, 6,011,000 coming from 

 the land-tax and tithes, 1,900,000 from a tax 

 on live-stock, 1,300,000 from licenses, and the 

 rest from a house-tax, a tax of 3 per cent on 

 joint-stock companies, and one on pastures. 

 The indirect taxes yield 24,800,000 drachmas, 

 of which 18,620,000 come from customs, and 

 5,300,000 from stamps. The revenue from the 

 post-office and telegraphs is 1,350,000; from 

 the domains and public property, 2,780,360 ; 

 from sales of public property, 4,128,000 drach- 

 mas. Keceipts of arrears are estimated at 

 3,000,000 drachmas. 



The public debt in March, 1881, amounted 

 to 490,407,309 drachmas. The foreign debt 

 was made up as follows : 



FOREIGN LOANS. Drachmai. 



Loans of 1824 and 1825, compromised in 1878. . . . 26,462,826 

 Loan of 1832, 60,000,000 francs, guaranteed by 



England, France, and Eussia 93,457,458 



Indemnity to heirs of King Otho 3,751,792 



Loan of 1879, 60,000,000 francs 62,543,600 



Loan of 1 881, 124,000,000 francs 134,000,000 



Total foreign debt 320,215,176 



The domestic debt of 170,192,133 drachmas 

 was contracted since 1862, except 18,000,000 

 drachmas given as indemnity to the inhabi- 

 tants of Hydra, Spezzia, and other isles, for sac- 

 rifices in the revolution. Loans amounting to 

 119,980,000 drachmas were negotiated with a 

 syndicate of French and Greek bankers in 1880 

 and 1881, to provide for a probable war with 

 Turkey, of which something over 80,000,000 

 drachmas had been raised at the end of March. 



POLITICS. Politics in Greece have hereto- 

 fore been of a personal character, hinging 

 upon the rivalries and coalitions between the 

 leaders of factions which were attached to 

 their chiefs from personal considerations. De- 

 bauchery of the public service, nepotism,bribery 

 and peculation were the inevitable concomi- 

 tants of this low stage of political development. 

 The accession of Tricoupis to power in March 

 was the result of a national revolt against the 

 old methods. The educated youth aspiring to 

 better ideals, the more intellectual and patriot- 

 ic elements, under the leadership of Tricoupis, 

 Lombardos, Kehaya, and Petmezas, first or- 

 ganized a reform party in 1870. The late 

 Prime Minister, Coumoundouros, was a skill- 

 ful political tactician, not without claims to 

 statesmanship; but the scandals which oc- 

 curred during his ministry were no longer 

 condoned, and his influence had greatly de- 

 clined long before his retirement. The Oppo- 

 sition dictated the foreign policy of the late 



