GREECE. 



B69 



pay the coupons falling due and redeem 60,000,- 

 (KM) drachmai of superfluous currency, secured 

 mi tin- revenues payable in gold the collection to 

 be supervised by 1 French uncl .'i Knglish directors. 

 The French objected to Egyptianiiing (Jreece in 

 this manner, and their financiers were willing 

 to aid in a conversion of the debt at a lower rate. 



The Army and Navy. Service in the army 

 is compulsory. The term of service is nineteen 

 years, of which two years are spent in the active 

 army, seven years in the reserve, and ten years 

 in the militia. The peace footing of the army 

 in 1892 was 28,114 officers and men, of which 

 16,861 belonged to the infantry, 1.008 to the cav- 

 alry, 8,882 to the artillery, 1,4(59 to the engineers, 

 8,759 to the gendarmerie, and 1,535 to adminis- 

 trative and special services. The war effective 

 was 350.500 men, of whom 100,000 were in the 

 standing army, 104,500 in the reserve, and 146,- 

 000 men in the territorial army. 



The navy consists of 3 armorclads, besides 3 

 more building, 29 torpedo boats and launches, 

 including 2 Nordenfeldt submarine torpedo 

 boats, and 41 unarmored vessels. The navy was 

 manned in 1892 by 3,478 officers and men. 



Commerce. The special commerce in 1891 

 amounted to 140,359,675 drachmai for imports, 

 and 107,489,700 drachmai for exports. The im- 

 ports of cereals were valued at 38,688,395 drach- 

 mai; yarn, 26,383,070 drachmai; minerals and 

 metals, 13,945,434 drachmai; timber, 7,274,611 

 drachmai. The exports of currants amounted 

 to 66,502,353 drachmai ; ores, 15,208,488 drach- 

 mai ; olive oil. 8,711,689 drachmai ; wine, 6,241,- 

 648 drachmai ; tobacco, 2,054,799 drachmai ; 

 sponges, 1,953,480 drachmai; figs, 1,760,952 drach- 

 mai ; olives, 1,013,012 drachmai. 



The following table shows the trade with the 

 principal foreign countries in 1891, in drachmai : 



49,774,500 

 25,554.025 

 8,178,450 

 8,404,400 

 7,228,625 

 2.797,926 

 4,026,725 

 L88&800 

 926,800 

 2,998,400 

 777,000 



The merchant navy of Greece numbered 88 

 steamers, of 60,376 tons, and 1,334 sailing ves- 

 sels, of 281,024 tons, in 1892. 



Communications. The railroads in 1892 

 open for traffic had a length of 560 miles, and 

 270 miles were under construction. At the end 

 of 1891 there were 4,686 miles of telegraph lines, 

 with 5.563 miles of wire. During that year 821,- 

 2:!:: inland and 346,559 international dispatches 

 went over the wires. The receipts amounted to 

 1,122,518 drachmai, and the expenses to 1,924,640. 



The post office in 1891 handled 8.189,000 let- 

 ters, 271,000 postal cards, and 6,560,000 news- 

 p.-ipcrs, samples, etc. The receipts amounted to 

 1 .:::i-J,037 drachmai, and the expenses to 2,029,533 

 drachmai. 



Change of Ministry. Tricoupis and Theo- 



tokos contracted with the banking house of 



Itarnbro, of London, for the issue of a loan of 



109,500,000 francs on the terms suggested by 



VOL. XXXHI. 24 A 



Maj. Law. They believed that they had power 

 to conclude the arrangement under the act 

 passed by the Chamber, but. when Ikilli and his 

 followers raised an outcry against such a sale of 

 the independence of the Government to foreign- 

 ers without the consent of Parliament, winch 

 had been adjourned for a couple of months, the 

 King wished the Chamber to ue called in order 

 that it might decide the question. The minis- 

 ters communicated their intention of submitting 

 the loan convention to the Chamber to the Kn^- 

 lish financiers, who would not agree to such a 

 proceeding. The King still insisted OH a di-- 

 cussion of the arrangement by the representa- 

 tives of the people, but Tricoupis, though his 

 majority in the Boole had been 170 to 87, would 

 not consent, and on May 10 offered his resigna- 

 tion, which the King accepted. 



The King commissioned Soteropoulos, an ex- 

 Minister of Finance who shared the views of 

 Ralli, but was not a member of the Chamber, to 

 form a new Cabinet, which was completed on 

 May 15, 1893, as follows: Prime Minister and 

 Minister of Finance, Soteropoulos; Minister of 

 the Interior. Ralli: Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Kontostavlos ; Minister of Justice, Kanakares; 

 Minister of War, Lieut.-Col. Korpa: Minister of 

 Marine, Capt. Kriezis; Minister of Education, 

 Marin Eutaxias. The new Prime Minister was 

 a member of no political party ; most of the rest 

 belonged to Ralli's third party. The financial 

 programme was based on the principle of a 

 prompt and full payment of external obliga- 

 tions, which necessitated the raising of 11,000,- 

 000 drachmai for coupons falling due on June 

 15. The chief feature was the creation of a to- 

 bacco monopoly. The new Government re- 

 sumed negotiations with Greek financiers of 

 western Europe. On June 11 a preliminary con- 

 vention was signed with C. J. Ilambro & Son, 

 the Constantinople Bank, and others, for a loan 

 of 14,000,000 sterling at 6 per cent., the proceeds 

 of which would provide for the redemption of 

 the floating debt, the payment of coupons for 

 two and a half years, and the reduction of the 

 forced currency by 12,000,000 drachmai yearly, 

 the loan to be secured on the gold receipts of the 

 treasury, which should be transmitted through 

 the national and Ionian banks, the obnoxious 

 stipulation of a foreign control having been 

 withdrawn. No provision having been made for 

 the coupons falling due in 1898, the Government 

 was compelled to pass them. This circum- 

 stance aggravated the financial situation and in- 

 creased the gold agio, which rose, with frequent 

 fluctuations, to 60, and then to 70 per cent., 

 causing a commercial panic. Although the cur- 

 rant crop was abundant and excellent in quality, 

 purchasers were shy and prices were lower than 

 ever before. The crops of wheat and olives were 

 also fine, and yet Government bonds declined 

 and the premium on gold continued to rise. 



The Return of Triconnis. The Boule was 

 opened on Nov. s \>\ the King, who announced 

 the scheme for funding the interest on various 

 loans that had boon rendered necessary by the 

 failure of the negotiations in London. This 

 convention would grant a respite until a settle- 

 ment of the public debt could !K> effected that, 

 in conjunction with the retirement of the re- 

 dundant paper currency, would restore econom- 



