754 SWEDEN AND NORWAY. 



SWITZERLAND. 



from railroads. The expenditure amounted to 

 42,500,300 kronor. The budget for the year 

 1886-'87 estimated the revenue at 43,450,000 

 kronor, and the expenditure at an equal amount. 

 The national debt, which was contracted for 

 the construction of public works, chiefly rail- 

 roads, amounted, on June 30, 1886, to 105,329,- 

 500 kronor, while the value of the railroads 

 and other assets was 139,919,600 kronor. 



The Army. The troops of the line number 

 750 officers and 18,000 soldiers, which number 

 must not be exceeded even in time of war with- 

 out the consent of the Storthing. The land- 

 vsern and landstorm are democratic organiza- 

 tions, which can only be called on for the de- 

 fense of the country. 



The Navy. The fleet in July, 1887, consisted 

 of 4 monitors, 42 other steamers, and 50 sailing- 

 vessels. 



Commerce. The total value of the imports in 

 1886 was 135,169,000 kronor, equivalent to 

 $36,495,000 ; the value of the exports, 102,844,- 

 000 kronor, equivalent to $27,567,000. Of the 

 imports 38,039,000 kronor came from Germany, 

 34,472,000 kronor from Great Britain, 16,- 

 691,000 kronor from Sweden, and 11,933,000 

 kronor from Russia. Of the exports, 34,021,- 

 000 kronor went to Great Britain, 14,255,000 

 kronor to Sweden, and 12,818,000 kronor to 

 Germany. The imports from the United 

 States were valued at 5,950,000 kronor, and 

 the exports to the United States at 540,000 

 kronor. 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at Norwegian ports in 1885 was 11,049 of 

 2,359,600 tons, of which 5,732 of 1,334,160 

 tons had cargoes. The number cleared was 

 11,911, of 2,378,149 tons, of which 10,462, of 

 1,883,575 tons, were with cargoes. The num- 

 ber entered that carried the Norwegian flag 

 was 6,387, of 757,271 tons; the number 

 cleared, 6,408, of 1,524,003 tons. 



The mercantile marine, in the beginning of 

 1886, comprised 7,664 vessels, of 1,563,020 

 tons, employing 58,624 men. The steam-ves- 

 sels numbered 510, of the aggregate burden of 

 114,108 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The length of 

 the railroad lines in operation in 1887 was 

 1,562 kilometres. 



The post-office in 1886 forwarded 20,776,622 

 letters and 20,718,555 newspapers. The re- 

 ceipts were 2,258,936 kronor; expenses, 2,310,- 

 263 kronor. 



The state telegraph lines at the close of 1886 

 had a total length of 7,487 kilometres, with 

 13,933 kilometres of wires. The number of in- 

 ternal dispatches was 479,091, and the total 

 number of dispatches 850,959. The receipts 

 were 888,155 kronor, and the expenses 1,062,- 

 233 kronor. The railroad companies possessed 

 1,583 kilometres of lines, and 2,531 kilometres 

 of wires. 



Ministerial Crisis. The Democratic Prime Min- 

 ister, Sverdrup, has not satisfied by his course 

 a great section of his party, although, by in- 



sisting on a compromise measure giving to Nor- 

 way more of a voice and more representation 

 in the common diplomacy of the two king- 

 doms, he offended tlie governing circles in 

 Stockholm. The defection of Democratic mem- 

 bers of the Storthing was made up by the ad- 

 herence of the Conservatives, who supported 

 Sverdrup in order to avert a more radical re- 

 gime under Judge Qvam and Prof. Sars. The 

 rejection of an ecclesiastical bill that was pre- 

 sented by Jakob Sverdrup, while he was Min- 

 ister of Worship, brought on a protracted Cabi- 

 net crisis. The opponents of tt;e Prime Minis- 

 ter demanded the resignation of his nephew, 

 but Sverdrup declared that the question was 

 not of a nature to require the retirement of the 

 defeated minister, and that the whole Cabinet 

 would retire if the matter were pressed to an 

 issue, and his view should not be sustained. 

 Besides his nephew, only Councilors Haug- 

 land and Stang among the members of the 

 Cabinet supported the Premier on this ques- 

 tion. The members who held the opposite 

 view were not entirely true to the principle of 

 parliamentarism which they championed, be- 

 cause Councilor Blix, the actual chief of the 

 Department of Ecclesiastical Affairs, who be- 

 longed to the opposition clique in the Cabinet, 

 was as fully committed to the rejected project 

 of church reform as Jakob Sverdrup. The 

 question of diplomatic administration was set- 

 tled by an agreement that foreign affairs should 

 be brought before a council composed of Swed- 

 ish and Norwegian representatives, in which 

 the King should be the presiding officer, and 

 the Swedish Foreign Minister should have the 

 initiative. This was far from satisfactory to 

 the Norwegian Democrats, who insisted on 

 Sverdrup's original demands. In the Storthing 

 a resolution was offered by Qvam in favor of 

 the creation of a separate Norwegian Ministry 

 of Foreign Affairs, a proposition which has been 

 adopted by the Democratic party in its pro- 

 gramme for the elections of 1888. The ques- 

 tion of the viceroyalty has been brought for- 

 ward by Bjornstjerne Bjornson and other up- 

 holders of the parity of Norway. The articles 

 of union provide that a viceroy of Norway shall 

 be appointed, who must be a Swede. This 

 dignity has been uniformly conferred on either 

 the crown prince or his eldest son. The Nor- 

 wegians now complain that the office is a 

 badge of subjection, and that it should either 

 be abolished or filled by a Norwegian. 



SWITZERLAND, a federal republic in central 

 Europe. The legislative authority of the con- 

 federacy is vested in the State Council, in which 

 each of the twenty -two cantons is represented 

 by two members, and the National Council, 

 chosen by direct suffrage in the proportion of 

 one member to every 20,000 inhabitants. The 

 executive authority is in the hands of the 

 Federal Council. The members of this body, 

 elected on Dec. 15, 1886, are as follow : Numa 

 Droz, President for 1887; W. F. Hertenstein, 

 Vice- President for 1887 and President for 1888 ; 



