324 



GERMANY. 



numbers 134 vessels, viz., 1 ship of 2,310 tons, 1 

 tender, 6 dispatch vessels capable of making 

 from 16 to 21 knots an hour, 5 torpedo gunboats 

 with a speed of 21 or 22 knots, 63 torpedo boats 

 of from 75 to 85 tons that can run from 20 to 22 

 knots an hour, 49 torpedo boats of 50 tons capa- 

 ble of making 18 or 19 knots, and 9 small ones. 



Agriculture and Industry. Only 6 per 

 cent, of the soil of Germany is called unproduct- 

 ive. The area devoted to rye in 1890 was 5,801,- 

 889 hectares (1 hectare = 2.47 acres) ; to wheat, 

 1,956,441; to oats, 3.886,627; to barley, 1,685,- 

 000 ; to potatoes, 2,917,720 ; to hay. 5.909,337 ; 

 to vines, 120,935 ; to hops, 45,797. The produce 

 of beet sugar in 1889 was 944,505 tons. Of wine, 

 2,021,569 hectolitres were produced in 1890 (1 

 hectolitre = 22 gallons). The forests cover 34,- 

 347,000 acres, about one quarter of the area of 

 the empire. Iron and coal are produced in West- 

 phalia, Rhenish Prussia, Silesia, and Saxony, 

 coal in Alsace-Loraine, silver in Saxony and the 

 Harz mountains, zinc in Silesia, and copper in 

 the Harz. The quantity of coal raised in 1889 

 was 67,341,307 tons ; of iron ore, 11,001,000 tons ; 

 of zinc ore, 709,000 tons ; of copper ore, 573,200 

 tons. The value of the minerals taken out in 

 1889 was 552,000,000 marks. About 2 per cent, 

 of the population are employed in textile manu- 

 factures, and 1 per cent, in the iron and steel 

 industries. The production of iron 'in the cal- 

 endar year 1890 was 4,563,025 tons. The chief 

 seats of the textile industry are Saxony and some 

 of the Prussian provinces for woolens, Alsace- 

 Lorraine, Baden, and Wilrtemberg for cottons, 

 Westphalia and Silesia for linens, and Rhenish 

 Prussia, Alsace, and Baden for silks. Beer is 

 brewed chiefly in Bavaria, Saxony, and Prussia, 

 the product in 1889 being 46,603,000 hectolitres. 

 The quantity of alcoholic spirits distilled was 

 2,727.000 hectolitres. The growth of national 

 wealth is illustrated by the classified income-tax 

 lists, which show that the number of persons in 

 Prussia paying taxes on incomes of from 48,000 

 to 5,000,000 marks increased from 67 to 2,348 

 between 1869 and 1890, and that those possessing 

 incomes ranging from 32,400 to 48,000 marks 

 increased from 241 to 2,152. These figures in- 

 dicate that the accumulated wealth is becoming 

 massed in few hands, and this conclusion is con- 

 firmed by the fact that 23,221,983 persons paid 

 no income tax in 1890, showing a progressive 

 impoverishment of the middle classes, especially 

 the artisans and small manufacturers. 



Commerce. The general commerce in 1889 

 had a total value of 5,671,240 marks for imports 

 and 4,811,600 marks for exports. The value of 

 the special imports was 4,087,060 marks, and 

 that of the special exports was 3.256,421 marks. 

 The direct transit trade amounted to 1,280,955,- 

 000 marks. The values, in marks, of the special 

 imports and exports of the various classes of 

 merchandise in 1889 are given in the accom- 

 paning table. 



The values of the chief imports were : Wool, 

 279,744,000 marks; cotton, 270,744,000 marks; 

 coffee, 199,282,000 marks ; raw silk, 129,231,000 

 marks; rye, 113,444,000 marks; woolen yarn, 

 112,629,000 marks; barley, 91,454,000 marks; 

 raw hides 89,486,000 marks ; petroleum, 81,337,- 

 000 marks; horses. 78,616.000 marks; wheat, 

 75,389,000 marks. The exports of greatest value 



were : Sugar, 162,842,000 marks ; mixed silk and 

 cotton goods, 157,926,000 marks ; woolen goods, 

 152,854,000 marks ; ribbons and trimmings, 121,- 

 930,000 marks ; leather goods, 117,379,000 marks ; 

 coal, 110,410,000 marks; hosiery, 108,518,000 

 marks; cotton cloth, 53,971,000 marks; paper, 

 53,358,000 marks ; wood manufactures, 52,144,- 

 000 marks ; aniline dyes, 38,144,000 marks ; hops, 

 23,022,000 marks. The imports of the precious 

 metals were 71,988.000 marks in 1889 and the 

 exports were 89,766,000 marks. 



The receipts from customs in the year ending 

 March 31, 1888. were 270,368,000 marks, equal 

 to 7'7 per cent, of the total value of the imports. 

 Since the adoption of the protective tariff in 

 1879 the external commerce of Germany has 

 grown from 5,806,108,000 marks in 1880 to 7,343,- 

 481,000 marks in 1889, an increase of 26-4 per 

 cent. The imports have increased from 2,859,- 

 928,000 to 4,087,060,000 marks, an increase of 

 42-9 per cent., and the exports from 2.946.180,000 

 to 3,256,421,000 marks, an increase of 10'5 per 

 cent. In 1880 Austria-Hungary furnished 14-3 

 per cent, of the imports, Great Britain and her 

 colonies 12'3 per cent., Russia 11'8 per cent., 

 France 8'7 per cent., Belgium and Holland each 

 G'8 per cent., the United States 6'2 per cent., and 

 Switzerland 5 per cent. In 1889 the imports 

 from Great Britain and British colonies consti- 

 tuted 16-5 per cent, of the total, 13'4 per cent, 

 came from Russia, 13'1 per cent, from Austria- 

 Hungary, 8'2 per cent, from Belgium, 7'7 per 

 cent, from the United States, 7 per cent, from 

 the Netherlands, 6'9 per cent, from Prance, and 

 4'4 per cent, from Switzerland. Of the total ex- 

 ports, 15 per cent, in 1880 and 20 per cent, in 

 1889 went to Great Britain, 10 per cent, in the 

 former and 10 - 5 per cent, in the latter year to 

 Austria-Hungary, 6*1 per cent, in 1880 and 12'1 

 per' cent, in 1889 to the United States, 7'7 per 

 cent, in 1880 and 7'9 per cent, in 1889 to the 

 Netherlands, 9 - 9 per cent, in 1880 and 6'4 per 

 cent, in 1889 to France, 7'7 per cent, in 1880 and 

 6 per cent, in 1889 to Russia, 6 per cent, in 1880 

 and 5'4 per cent, in 1889 to Switzerland, and 5'6 

 per cent, in 1880 and 4'2 per cent, in 1889 to 

 Belgium. During the protectionist era the 

 manufactures of Germany have developed won- 

 derfully, and the population has rapidly in- 

 creased, notwithstanding the large emigration ; 

 while the domestic production of food and raw 



