368 



GREECE. 



country in March, but through the efforts of 

 Gov. Carter the hostile camps were evacu- 

 ated and tranquillity restored. In August the 

 Colonial Secretary concluded a treaty with the 

 Ibadans, by which they agreed to receive a British 

 Resident and a force of constabulary in their 

 country, to provide land for the occupation of 

 the officers, and to provide land for a railway. 



GREECE, a constitutional monarchy in south- 

 eastern Europe. The legislative authority is 

 vested in one chamber, the Boule, elected for the 

 term of four years by direct manhood suffrage. 

 The reigning sovereign is Georgios I, born Dec. 

 24, 1845 ; elected King of the Hellenes by the 

 National Assembly at Athens, March 18, 1863. 

 The heir apparent is Prince Konstantinos, Duke 

 of Sparta, born Aug. 2, 1868. 



The ministry in the beginning of 1893 was 

 composed of the following members : President 

 of the Council and Minister of Finance, C. Tri- 

 coupis ; Minister of Foreign Affairs, E. Dra- 

 goumis; Minister of Justice, A. Simopoulus; 

 Minister of the Interior, G. Theotokis ; Minister 

 of Public Worship and Instruction, K. Kassona- 

 kos ; Minister of War, N. Tsamados ; Minister 

 of Marine, St. Skouloudis. 



Finances. The budget for 1892 estimated the 

 revenue at 103,550,792 drachmai or francs, and 

 the expenditure at 99,986,128 drachmai. The 

 revenue for 1891 was 96,541.462 drachmai, of 

 which 12,845,129 drachmai were derived from 

 the land tax. 3,040,000 drachmai from trade 

 licenses, 2,375,000 drachmai from the cattle tax, 

 2.218,500 drachmai from the house tax, 430,000 

 drachmai from the tax on joint-stock companies, 

 23,328,900 drachmai from customs, 3,728,295 

 drachmai from tobacco, 350,000 drachmai from 

 spirits, 10,565,500 drachmai from stamps, 2,445,- 

 000 drachmai from posts and telegraphs, 1,098,000 

 drachmai from exemption from military service, 

 560,000 drachmai from consular dues, 2,277,710 

 drachmai from other dues, fines, etc., 10,722,500 

 drachmai from state monopolies, 3,330,321 drach- 

 mai from national establishments, 2,920,869 

 drachmai from the sale of lands, and 21,515,068 

 drachmai from other sources. The total expen- 

 diture was 100,411,479 drachmai, of which 33,- 

 516,566 drachmai were for the public debt, 4,911,- 

 156 drachmai for pensions, 1,325,000 drachmai for 

 the civil list, 774.113 drachmai for the Chamber 

 of Deputies, 130,399 drachmai for subventions, 

 2,135,134 drachmai for the Ministry of Foreign 

 Affairs, 4,883,534 drachmai for the Ministry of 

 Justice, 7,482,958 drachmai for the Ministry of 

 the Interior, 4,888,088 drachmai for the Ministry 

 of Public Worship, 16,638,375 drachmai for the 

 Ministry of War, 6,445,653 drachmai for the 

 Ministry of Marine, 5,045,690 drachmai for the 

 Ministry of Finance, 8,139,463 drachmai for the 

 administration, and 3.720,000 drachmai for vari- 

 ous other purposes. The public debt on Jan. 1, 

 1892, amounted to 582,119.958 gold drachmai 

 and 168,209,773 paper drachmai. The consoli- 

 dated debt, bearing from 4 to 5^ per cent, inter- 

 est, amounted to 155,000,000 gold drachmai and 

 31,847,750 paper drachmai. The amortizable 

 loans, bearing 4 and 5 per cent, interest, amount- 

 ed to 393,766,500 gold drachmai and 37,750.258 

 paper drachmai ; while the floating debt amount- 

 ed to 33,353,459 gold drachmai and 98,611,765 

 paper drachmai. The foreign debt, raised main- 



ly in London and Paris, amounts to 564,000,000 

 francs, not including 73,000,000 francs dup to 

 France, Great Britain, and Russia since the war 

 of independence, and involving a charge on the 

 revenue of 600.000 francs per annum. 



The military demonstrations made on the 

 Turkish frontier raised the war expenditure from 

 22,000,000 drachmai in 1884 to 41,000,000 in 1885 

 and 51,000,000 in 1886. In addition to this the 

 Government borrowed largely in London and 

 other financial centers, increasing the perma- 

 nent charges of the debt, and -at the same time 

 issued an excessive amount of inconvertible 

 paper money, causing a progressive rise in the 

 premium on gold. As most of the debts are 

 payable in gold, this premium added nearly an 

 equal percentage to the annual charges of the 

 debt. The Government, with a view to increas- 

 ing the taxpaying capacity of the country, in- 

 vested some of the borrowed funds in public 

 works, which did not prove productive. The 

 imposition of new taxes increased the revenue, 

 but not sufficiently to offset the loss by exchange 

 on the debt charge. The additions to the navy 

 had augmented the expenditure under this 

 head to 6,500,000 drachmai from 2,500,000 or 

 3,000,000 drachmai. Tricoupis, in the elections 

 of 1892, was confirmed in his position as Prime 

 Minister, obtaining an enormous majority in the 

 Boule. The people believed him capable of deal- 

 ing with the financial situation. In his budget, 

 by reducing the standing army he cut down the 

 military expenditure by 4,000,000 drachmai, 

 and in like manner effected a reduction of 2,500,- 

 000 drachmai in the naval expenditure, while a 

 saving of the same amount was effected in the 

 department of public works, and other branches 

 of expenditure were reduced. The monetary 

 disturbance and economic depression were rather 

 increased than lessened by these economies, and 

 a rise in the premium on gold to 40 per cent, 

 swelled the debt charge, while revenue fell 

 off. The actual receipts for 1890 were taken as 

 the estimates for 1893, though taxes on petro- 

 leum, beasts of burden, stamps, etc., had been 

 raised and the budget showed a surplus of 6,000,- 

 000 or 7,000,000 drachmai on this basis, but did 

 not take account of the premium on gold ; so 

 that either a foreign loan or a temporary advance 

 was necessary to enable the Government to pay 

 the next coupons. Being authorized by the 

 Chamber, Tricoupis applied in London and Paris 

 for a loan of 100,000,000 drachmai to carry out 

 his plan for the regeneration of Greek finances, 

 which was to pay off the advances of 16,800,000 

 drachraai in gold recently obtained, and retire 

 within two years 88,000,000 drachmai of bank- 

 notes. Theotokos. the Minister of Finance, was 

 unable to obtain the desired assistance in Lon- 

 don. Tricoupis then invited the English and 

 French governments to send experts to examine 

 into the solvency of Greece. The experts came, 

 and after a couple of months reported their con- 

 clusions, which differed essentially. Maj. Fitz- 

 gerald Law, the English agent, reckoned the 

 revenue at 3,000,000 drachmai less than the con- 

 servative estimate of Tricoupis, but thought 

 that Greece would be able to meet all her en- 

 gagements by a more thorough collection of the 

 taxes, in which there was laxity due to party 

 politics, and recommended a loan that would 



