462 



GREECE. 



GUATEMALA. 



treated with the King regarding the forma- 

 tion of a ministry. The King was opposed to 

 the dissolution of the Chambers, Delyannis 

 could not accept office with a majority against 

 him, and Trikoupis would not retain office 

 without an appeal to the country. The diffi- 

 culty was arranged by the ministers resuming 

 their portfolios and dissolving the Chambers. 



The general election was held in April, and 

 resulted in the return of only 85 Ministerial- 

 ists, in a Chamber of 244 members. Instead 

 of waiting, as Was formerly the practice, until 

 the Chamber formally deposed the ministry by 

 electing a hostile Speaker, Trikoupis resigned 

 at once, and Delyannis was called upon to form 

 a Cabinet. The Trikoupis ministry lasted three 

 years, while the duration of previous adminis- 

 trations averaged as many months. The cause 

 of the unpopularity of Trikoupis, notwithstand- 

 ing his successful management of the finances 

 and his high reputation for political honesty, 

 was the imposition of a tax on wine and spirits 

 and the monopolies of petroleum and tobacco. 

 The new Cabinet was composed of former as- 

 sociates of Coumondouros. T. Delyannis, the 

 Premier, had previously held the portfolios of 

 Foreign Affairs and Finance. Papa Michalo- 

 poulo was appointed Minister of the Interior ; 

 Antonio Mavromichalis, Minister of War, a 

 post which he had held under Coumondouros ; 

 Antanopoulo, Minister of Justice ; Romas, Min- 

 ister of Marine; and Zygornalos, Minister of 

 Education. 



Legislation. The programme of the new min- 

 istry was confined to the repeal of the monopo- 

 lies and measures of retrenchment to make up 

 the loss of revenue. The legations were sup- 

 pressed, and all the ministers to the European 

 courts were recalled. On July 24 a bill was 

 passed regulating the tobacco duties and abol- 

 ishing the monopoly in that article. The mo- 

 nopoly in the manufacture of cards, cigarette- 

 paper, and matches was abolished, but the re- 

 peal of the petroleum monopoly was post- 

 poned. The tobacco duty was reduced from 

 three and a half to two drachmas per kilo- 

 gramme, the wine duty was lessened one half, 

 and the duty on petroleum from 10 to V per 

 cent, ad valorem, while an income-tax was in- 

 troduced, the tax on the profits of joint-stock 

 companies was raised from 3 to 5 per cent., 

 and the stamp duties were increased. Re- 

 trenchments to the amount of 11,000,000 

 drachmas were proposed in the budget. 



Military Preparations. The Roumelian revo- 

 lution deranged the financial plans and pros- 

 pects of the Government. The Greeks had 

 been excited in the earlier part of the year by 

 the ferment in Macedonia, and the difficulties 

 between the Cretans and their governor. The 

 Greek Government took the same ground as 

 King Milan with regard to the union of the 

 Bulgarias, and the Greeks were not less eager 

 for action than the Servians. The mobilization 

 of the army and navy was determined upon, 

 and partially effected. The forces on the Turk- 



ish frontier were greatly strengthened. Tc 

 provide means for mobilization and for large 

 quantities of war material ordered abroad, a 

 temporary loan was obtained, and the forced 

 paper currency was reintroduced. In reply 

 to remonstrances from Great Britain, France, 

 and the other powers, Delyannis said that 

 the Bulgarian union would absorb thousands 

 of Greeks, and recalled the fact that for the 

 sake of preserving peace Greece had lost part 

 of Epirus and Thessaly, which was given her 

 by the Berlin Treaty. The decree calling out 

 the reserves was issued Oct. 11, and within 

 five days 30,000 men were enrolled. The Min- 

 ister of Marine resigned, and was succeeded by 

 M. Bouboulis. Owing to a disagreement with 

 the Minister of War regarding the length of 

 service, the Ministers of Education and Justice 

 resigned, M. Kontoraulis replacing the latter, 

 and also taking charge of the Ministry of Edu- 

 cation provisionally. On Nov. 10, after the 

 reassembling of the Chamber, a war credit of 

 22,000,000 drachmas was voted, and one for, 

 6,600,000 drachmas a few days later. A new 

 advance of 19,000,000 drachmas was obtained 

 from the National Bank, and subsequently 

 16,000,000 drachmas more were raised in the 

 same manner. 



The American School at Athens. The American 

 School for Classical Studies has been presented 

 by the Government with a building- site on 

 Mount Lycabettus. 



GUATEMALA, a republic of Central America. 

 Of its population, 1,276,961 in February, 1884, 

 951,824 are pure whites, and the remaining 

 325,137 mixed and aborigines. 



The republic covers an area of 121,140 square 

 kilometres; it has four seaports, viz., San Jose 

 de Guatemala, Champerico, and the Bay of 

 Oc6s on the Pacific side, and on the Atlantic 

 the port of Livingston, which is a free port 

 for the importation of merchandise. Another 

 port is to be added, Puerto Barrios, on the Bay 

 of Santo Tomas, so soon as the work on the 

 Northern Railway has progressed sufficiently. 

 Besides these there are the landings or smaller 

 ports of Bar of the Rio de los Esclavos, Teco- 

 jate, and San Luis on the Pacific, and Panzos 

 on Potochie river (Alta Verapaz), which flows 

 from Lake Iznbal, and Gualan, on Montagua 

 river, which flows near the southern boundary 

 into the Caribbean Sea. 



Government. The President of the Republic 

 is Gen. Manuel Lizandro Barillas. The Cabinet 

 was composed of the following ministers: For- 

 eign Affairs and Public Instruction, Don Angel 

 Maria Arroyo ; Interior and Justice, Don Man- 

 uel J. Dardon ; Finance and Public Credit, Don 

 Antonio Aguirre ; Public Works, Don Enrique 

 Martinez Sobral ; sub-Secretary of War, Don 

 Pr6spero Morales, the President being Minister 

 of War ad interim. 



The Minister to the United States is S( 

 L. A. Batres; the Consul-General at New 

 York, Sefior J. Baiz. The United States Mm 

 ister to the Central American republics col- 



