SWEDES' AND NORWAY. 



753 



$91,800,000; the value of the exports, 246,- 

 271,000 kronor, equivalent to $66,492,000. Of 

 the imports 100,718,000 kronor came from 

 Germany, 84,650,000 kronor from Great Brit- 

 ain, 50,470.000 kronor from Denmark, 29,870,- 

 000 kronor from Russia, and 23,736,000 kronor 

 from Norway. Of the total value of the ex- 

 ports 121,796.000 kronor went to Great Brit- 

 ain, 30,856,000 kronor to Denmark, 24,479,000 

 kronor to France, 19,122,000 kronor to Ger- 

 many, and 10,311,000 kronor to Norway. The 

 imports from the United States were valued at 

 8,644,000 kronor and the exports to the United 

 J^tates at 822,000 kronor. The principal im- 

 ports are textile manufactures, grain and flour, 

 sugar, coffee, coal, and metal goods. The 

 principal article of exports i.s timber, the export 

 amounting to 103,452.000 kronor in 1884, after 

 which come iron, live animals and animal food, 

 and grain. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at the ports of Sweden in 1885 was 28,761, of 

 4,536,000 tons. Of these, 14,256, of 1,653,000 

 tons, were Swedish ; 2,276, of 551,000 tons, 

 Norwegian; and 12,229, of 2,332,000 tons, 

 foreign vessels. The number of steamers en- 

 tered was 11,174, tonnage 2,917,000. The 

 total number of clearances was 26,890, ton- 

 nage 4,481,000. The vessels entered with car- 

 goes numbered 11,782, of 2,273,000 tons; 

 cleared, 18,985, of 3,394.000 tons. 



The merchant navy on Jan. 1. 1886, num- 

 bered 3,163 sailing-vessels, of 436.437 tons, and 

 898 steam vessels, of 109,566 tons. 



Railroads. The length of railroads open to 

 traffic at the close of 1886 was 7,277 kilo- 

 metres, of which 2,469 kilometres belonged to 

 the state and 4,808 kilometres to companies. 



The Post-Office. The number of letters and 

 post-cards forwarded in 1885 was 50,007,058; 

 circulars and printed matter, 5,272,895; news- 

 papers, 36,435,449. The receipts were 6,013,- 

 641 kronor. and the expenses 5,753,062 kronor. 



Telegraphs. The length of the state tele- 

 graph lines in 1886 was 8,512 kilometres; 

 length of wires, 21,351 kilometres. There 

 were transmitted 560,764 internal. 448,664 in- 

 ternational, and 162,314 transit dispatches. 

 The receipts were 1,246,528 kronor and the 

 expenditures 1,242,545 kronor. 



Politics and Legislation. The Thempander 

 ministry has received its principnl support 

 from the Farmer party ; yet it resisted a de- 

 mand for a duty on grain, and, when it was de- 

 feated by a vote of 111 to 101 in the lower 

 Chamber on this question, it dissolved the 

 Chamber on March 5, 1887. In the newly- 

 elected Chamber there was a large majority 

 against protection. The position of the minis- 

 try, however, was precarious, because it had 

 broken with the party with which it was in a 

 large measure identified. The result of the 

 regular elections, which took place in the au- 

 tumn, rendered the position of the ministry 

 more insecure. In the first Chamber the Pro- 

 tectionists obtained the majority, and in the 

 VOL. xxvn. 48 A 



lower Chamber the Free-Traders lost so many 

 seats that on a joint vote the Government 

 could count on a majority of ten votes only. 

 The twenty-two members for Stockholm, who 

 supported the Government on the tariff ques- 

 tion, stood in danger of losing their seats, as 

 their election was annulled by the civic au- 

 thorities, and the matter had to be decided by 

 the supreme court. 



NOEWAY. The Grundlov, or Constitution, 

 adopted Nov. 4, 1814, and modified by various 

 amendments, the last of which was passed 

 in 1884, vests the legislative authority in the 

 Storthing, or Great Court, over the acts of 

 which the King possesses a limited right of 

 veto. The Storthing contains 114 members, 

 two thirds of whom represent rural districts, 

 and the other third towns. One fourth of the 

 members separate from the others to form the 

 Lagthing, which passes upon laws that have 

 originated in the larger Chamber, called the 

 Odelsthing. When the two houses do not 

 agree, the matter is decided by a joint vote. 

 The ministry is composed of two Ministers of 

 State, one of whom resides at Stockholm, and 

 seven councilors, two of whom sojourn at the 

 Swedish capital, alternating every year. Since 

 July, 1884, the ministers and councilors of 

 state are required to answer interpellations in 

 the Storthing and may take part in its pro- 

 ceedings. The present ministry, constituted 

 June 26, 1884, is composed as follows: Minis- 

 ter of State residing at Christiania, Johau 

 Sverdrup; Education and Ecclesiastical Af- 

 fairs, Elias Blix; Justice and Police, Hans 

 Georg Jakob Stang ; Revision of Public Ac- 

 counts, Jakob Liv Rested Sverdrup; Interior, 

 Sofus Anton Birger Arctander ; Customs and 

 Finance, Bard Madsen Hauegland ; Public 

 Works, Birger Kildal ; Minister of State re- 

 siding at Stockholm, Ole Richter ; Councilors 

 of State at Stockholm, Hans Rasmus Astrup, 

 appointed Aug. 3, 1885; and Aimar August 

 Sorenssen. The Department of National De- 

 fense is presided over by Johan Sverdrup, the 

 Prime Minister. 



irea and Population, The area of Norway is 

 325,422 square kilometres. The population at 

 the last decennial census, taken in 1875, was 

 1,806,900, divided into 876,762 males and 

 930,138 females. The population at the end 

 of 1880 was estimated at 1,913,000. The 

 number of marriages in 1885 was 13,024; 

 births, 61.052; deaths, 32,111 ; excess of births, 

 28,941. The number of emigrants in 1886 was 

 15,158, as compared with 13,981 in 1885, 14,- 

 776 in 1884, 22,167 in 1883, 28,804 in 1882, 

 25,976 in 1881, 20,212 in 1880, 7,608 in 1879, 

 4.SC.3 in 1878, 3,206 in 1877, and 4,355 in 

 1876. The population of Christiania in 1885 

 was 128,302. Bergen, the next largest city, 

 had 46,552 inhabitants. 



Finances. The receipts of the Government 

 for the year ended June 30, 1885. were 43,540,- 

 800 kronor, of which 20,117,500 kronor were 

 derived from customs, and 6,000,200 kronor 



