GREECE. 



339 



e King, all whose public acts are on the ad- 

 vice of responsible ministers, is Georgios I, born 

 Dec. 24, 1845. He is a son of Christian IX, the 

 present King of Denmark, and was elected by 

 the Boule King of the Hellenes on March 18, 

 1863. 



The ministry, constituted Nov. 11, 1893, is 

 composed as follows : President of the Council 

 and Minister of Finance, C. Tricoupis ; Minister 

 of the Interior, Bouphidis ; Minister of Foreign 

 Affairs, Stephanou ; Minister of Public Worship 

 and Instruction, Kalliphronas ; Minister of War, 

 Col. Tsamados ; Minister of Marine, Bouboulis ; 

 Minister of Justice, Stephanou. 



Area and Population. The kingdom has 

 an area of 25,041 square miles, of which 5.073 

 square miles, forming the greater part of Thes- 

 saly and a part of Epirus, were ceded by Turkey 

 in 1881, at the dictation of the great powers, in 

 pursuance of a provision of the Treaty of Berlin. 

 The population in 1889, the time of the last cen- 

 sus, was 2.187,208, composed of 1,133,625 males 

 and 1,053,583 females. The average rate of in- 

 crease since 1879 had been 1-05 per cent. The 

 number of marriages in 1890 was 19.899; of 

 births, 78,226; of deaths, 55,813; excess of 

 births, 22,413. Athens, the capital, had 107,846 

 inhabitants in 1889. There is a compulsory 

 education law insufficiently enforced in rural 

 districts. The percentage of total illiteracy 

 among recruits for the army is 15, while 30 per 

 cent, are unable to write. 



The Army and Navy. The Minister of Wai- 

 fixes the annual contingent of recruits for the 

 army, and all Greeks at the age of twenty-one 

 are summoned to draw lots. The conscripts 

 serve two years in the active army, and those 

 who escape pay a tax of from 100 to 1,000 drach- 

 mai, and are enrolled in the reserve and receive 

 three months' military instruction. The peace 

 footing in 1894 was 1,880 officers and 22,997 

 men, with 2,490 horses and pack animals. The 

 effective war strength of the army is 54,000 

 infantry, 2.250 cavalry, 4,000 artillery, 3,000 

 engineers, and 3,000 train, etc.; in all, 66,250 

 men of all ranks, with 180 field pieces. 



The most powerful vessels in the navy are 3 ar- 

 inor-clad turret.ships, built in France in 1889-'90, 

 each having a displacement of 4,885 tons, pro- 

 tected by a belt of steel armor 11-8 inches thick, 

 and carrying 3 10'6-inch and 5 5'9-inch Canet 

 guns, 7 6-pounder quick-firing and 18 smaller 

 guns. There are 2 old armorclads, suitable for 

 coast defense, 3 first-class cruisers, 20 small 

 cruisers, 1 torpedo vessel, and 42 torpedo boats, 

 of which 6 are first class and 6 second class. 



Commerce. The special imports in 1892 

 were valued at 119,306,000 drachmai or francs, 

 and the exports at 82,261,000 drachmai. The 

 imports of cereals were 23,575,000 drachmai in 

 value ; of tissues, 22,804,000 drachmai ; of met- 

 als and minerals, 12,186,000 drachmai ; of chem- 

 icals and drugs, 6,870,000 drachmai ; of timber, 

 5,608,000 drachmai; of metal manufactures, 

 5,555,000 drachmai ; of fish. 5,037,000 drachmai. 

 The exports of Zante currants were 40,749,000 

 drachmai in value ; of iron, galena, manganese, 

 lead, zinc, and other ores and minerals. 17,491,000 

 drachmai ; of wine, 3,276,000 drachmai ; of figs, 

 2,510,000 drachmai ; of olive oil, 2,510,000 drach- 

 mai ; of tobacco, 2,174,000 drachmai. Minor ex- 



ports are sponges, silk, gallnuts, and olives. 

 The largest trade is with Great Britain, which 

 takes lead, zinc, and silver ores, currants, olive 

 oil, and sponges in return for cotton and woolen 

 fabrics, coal, iron, and machinery. The exports 

 to France are large also, and usually greatly in 

 excess of imports from that country ; while from 

 Russia, the chief source of the grain supply, the 

 imports are heavy, though exports to Russia are 

 small, and the same is true in a less degree of 

 Turkey. 



The merchant marine in 1892 numbered 1,185 

 sailing vessels, of 184,639 tons, and 105 steamers, 

 of 239,617 tons. 



Communications. There were 568 miles of 

 railroads in operation in 1893, of which 92 miles 

 belonged to the Government, while 310 miles 

 were building, and 230 miles more surveyed. A 

 connection with the Turkish line at Larissa will 

 bring Greece into railroad communication with 

 the European systems. 



The telegraphs in 1892 had a total length of 

 4,751 miles, with 5,630 miles of wire. There 

 were transmitted in that year 817,034 internal, 

 347,829 international, and 11,028 official dis- 

 patches ; receipts, 987,132 drachmai. The postal 

 traffic for the year was as follows: Internal 

 service, 4,024,000 letters, 160,000 post cards, 

 5,170,000 papers and circulars, and 78,000 postal 

 orders, representing 11,220,000 drachmai; ex- 

 ternal service, 5,226,000 letters, 135,000 post 

 cards, and 2,517.000 circulars and journals. 



Finances. The revenue for 1893 was esti- 

 mated at 111,701,939 drachmai, and the ordinary 

 expenditure at 105,701,939 drachmai, of which 

 35,468,596 drachmai were for the service of the 

 debt. The new taxes were not as productive as 

 they were expected to be, and the customs reve- 

 nue fell off; moreover, the negotiations for a 

 new loan had broken down, the bonds were in 

 default, and Tricoupis in framing the budget 

 for 1894 was interested in obtaining a compro- 

 mise at 30 per cent., not in showing an elastic 

 revenue. The total revenue for 1894 was com- 

 puted to be 87,134,169 drachmai, of which 

 18,236,900 drachmai are from direct taxes, 

 24,218,400 drachmai from octrois, 19,916,500 

 drachmai from customs and other duties, 10,916,- 

 500 drachmai from monopolies, 3,535,796 drach- 

 mai from domains and state property, and 1,320,- 

 119 drachmai from sales of state property. The 

 total expenditure is reckoned at 86,370,249 drach- 

 mai, of which 22,479,815 drachmai are for the 

 public debt, 14,420,432 drachmai for the army, 

 9,808,622 drachmai for the Interior Department, 

 8,766,540 drachmai for cost of administration, 

 7,218,320 drachmai for Public Instruction and 

 Worship, 5,390,968 drachmai for Justice, 5,292,- 

 209 drachmai for the navy, 5,261,495 drachmai 

 for pensions and subventions, 2,072,985 drach- 

 mai for the Ministry of Finance, 1.390,968 

 drachmai for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 

 and 1,325,000 drachmai for the civil list. 



The national debt on Jan. 1, 1893, amounted 

 to 569,220,353 drachmai of gold obligations and 

 161,758,822 payable in paper, including 83,338.- 

 234 drachmai of paper currency and 11,000,000 

 drachmai of treasury warrants. The principal 

 foreign loans were 105,220,000 drachmai out- 

 standing of the loan of 1880, at 5 per cent. ; 

 92,000,000 drachmai, raised in 1884, at 5 per 



