

GERMANY. 



255 





creased from 27,851 miles in 1893 to 30,093 in 1898. 

 in the beginning of 1899 there were 31,150 miles 

 in operation, of which 2,945 miles belonged to 

 companies, and of these 120 miles were operated 

 with the Government system. The narrow-gauge 

 railroads were only 861 miles in length, of which 

 412 miles belonged to the state. The capital ex- 

 penditure up to 1898 was 11,935,490,000 marks; 

 gross receipts, 1,684,730,000 marks ; expenses, 957,- 

 074,000 marks; net earnings, 6.09 per cent.; num- 

 ber of passengers, 692,354,000, paying 454,979,000 

 marks; metric tons of freight, 285,586,000, paying 

 1,092,227,000 marks. 



The number of letters forwarded by the imperial 

 post office during 1898 was 1,306,423,560, by the 

 Bavarian 144,323,680, by the Wurtemberger 59,- 

 337,330; total, 1,510,804,570. The number of postal 

 cards was 612,729,814 in the imperial postal dis- 

 trict, 40,240,320 in Bavaria, and 26,666,406 in 

 Wurtemberg; total, 679,636,540. The number of 

 circulars, etc., was 658,119,006 in the imperial dis- 

 trict, 61,799,603 in Bavaria, and 32,322,997 in 

 Wiirtemberg; total, 752,241,606. The number of 

 samples in the imperial district was 45,556,782, in 

 Bavaria 3,819,820, in Wurtemberg 1,326,208: total, 

 50,702,810. The number of newspapers was 1,029,- 

 841,514 in the imperial district, 214,874,063 in 

 Bavaria, and in Wurtemberg 51,062,147; total, 

 1.295,777,724. The value of money remitted was 

 22,371,535,916 marks in the imperial postal dis- 

 trict, 2,164,069,745 marks in Bavaria, and 995,- 

 200,790 marks in Wurtemberg; total, 25,530,806,451 

 marks. The receipts of the imperial post cilice 

 from postal, telegraph, and telephone services were 

 349,150,754 marks, and expenses 311,361,262 marks, 

 leaving a surplus of 37,789,492 marks; receipts 

 of the Bavarian services were 31,837,149 marks, 

 and expenses 27,133,608 marks, leaving 4,703,541 

 marks; receipts in Wurtemberg were 14.571,653 

 marks, and expenses 12,078,434 marks, leaving 

 2,493,219 marks. The telegraph lines of the im- 

 perial post office had a length in 1898 of 64,136 

 miles, with 245,528 miles of wire; the Bavarian 

 lines a length of 9,557 miles, with 25,948 miles of 

 wive ; the Wurtemberg lines a length of 2,725 miles, 

 with 6,935 miles of wire; total length of lines, 

 76,418, and length of wire, 278,411 miles. The 

 number of internal telegrams sent in the imperial 

 district was 27,242,694, in Bavaria 2,383,023, and 

 in Wiirtemberg 1,226,661; total, 30,852,378. Of 

 foreign telegrams in the imperial district 10,441,372 

 were sent, 619,662 in Bavaria, and in Wiirtemberg 

 213,947 ; total foreign telegrams, 11,274,981. There 

 were 212,121 telephone connections in 900 towns 

 of the German Empire in 1898, with 18,521 miles 

 of line and 220,104 miles of wire, and the number 

 of conversations was 490,788,565; of long-distance 

 circuits there were 1,251, with 13,400 miles of line 

 and 80,004 miles of wire, and the number of con- 

 versations during 1898 was 72,339,266. 



Dependencies. The German possessions over 

 sea have all been acquired since 1884. In Africa 

 the German protectorates have an estimated total 

 area of 930,760 square miles and about 14,200,000 

 inhabitants (see EAST AFRICA, WEST AFRICA, 

 and German Southwest Africa under CAPE 

 COLONY). In Asia, Germany holds under a lease 

 from the Chinese Government the naval station 

 of Kiaochau, on the Shantung peninsula. The 

 leased area is about 200 square miles, with 60,000 

 inhabitants. The neutral zone over which the 

 German Imperial Governor has control is 30 miles 

 broad, having an area of 2,500 square miles and 

 a population of 1,200,000. The cost of the admin- 

 istration for 1901 is 9,780,000 marks. A garrison 

 of 1,500 marines is stationed in the fort. The 

 town will be a free port. The Government offers 



inducements to German colonists to settle in the 

 protectorate on land it has purchased from the 

 Chinese owners, who are not at liberty to sell to 

 individual Europeans. The coal fields of Wiehsien 

 and Pashan, within 100 miles of Kiaochau, will 

 be worked by German capitalists, who have an 

 option on all mining and railroad enterprises to 

 be undertaken in the Shantung province. The 

 first section of 25 miles of a railroad from Kiaochau 

 Avas completed early in 1900 after interruptions 

 caused by the opposition of the inhabitants, who 

 attacked the Germans near Kaumi. 



The German possessions in the Pacific were in- 

 creased in 1899 by the annexation of the two 

 largest of the Samoan islands, Great Britain and 

 the United States withdrawing from the tripartite 

 control and relinquishing their rights in respect to 

 these islands; and by the acquisition from Spain 

 of the Caroline and Pelew groups and of the Mari- 

 anne Islands with the exception of Guam, previ- 

 ously ceded to the United States. The cession, on 

 the other hand, of Choiseul, Isabel, and other 

 islands of the Solomon Archipelago to Great Brit- 

 ain diminished the total land area, which after 

 these changes amounts to about 96,160 square 

 miles, with a population of 427,000. The north- 

 eastern part of New Guinea was declared a German 

 protectorate in 1884, under the name of Kaiser 

 Wilhclm's Land. The area is about 70,000 square 

 miles, tue population 110,000. There were 58 Eu- 

 ropeans in 1899, of whom 53 were Germans. There 

 are over 36,000 cocoanut palms, which are taken 

 care of for the production of copra. Cotton, to- 

 bacco, and coffee have been cultivated experimen- 

 tally. Besides copra, the natives sell trepang and 

 mother-of-pearl for trade goods. The areca and 

 sago palms, bamboos, and ebony and other woods 

 are found in the forests, and recently gold has 

 been discovered in the Bismarck mountains. The 

 administration was formerly in the hands of the 

 New Guinea Company, but on April 1, 1899, it 

 was assumed, together with that of the Bismarck 

 and Solomon Islands, by the Imperial Government, 

 which appointed as Governor R. von Bennigsen. 

 The local revenue for 1899 was estimated at 75,000 

 marks, and expenditure at 732,000 marks; im- 

 perial subvention, 657,000 marks. 



The Bismarck Archipelago includes Neu Pom- 

 mern (formerly New Britain), Neu Mecklenburg 

 (formerly New Ireland), Neu Lauenburg (formerly 

 the Duke of York Islands), Neu Hanover, the Ad- 

 miralty, the Anchorite, the Hermit, and other 

 islands. The aggregate area is estimated at 20,000 

 square miles, the population at 188,000. There 

 were 200 Europeans in 1899, of whom 96 were 

 Germans, and there were 64 Chinamen and 68 

 Samoans and Fijians. The imports for 1899 were 

 valued at 1,060,000 marks; exports, 939,110 marks, 

 of which 726,400 marks represent copra and 120,800 

 marks trepang. 



The Solomon Islands are divided between Ger- 

 many and Great Britain. The northern part of 

 the group is the German portion, the area of which 

 was decreased from 9,000 square miles, with 89,000 

 inhabitants, to 4,200 square miles, with 45,000 

 inhabitants, by the transfer to Great Britain on 

 Nov. 14, 1899, of islands south and east of Bou- 

 gainville. The products are tortoise shell and 

 sandalwood. 



The Marshall Islands have an area of 150 square 

 miles and 15,000 inhabitants, besides 79 Europeans, 

 of whom 50 are Germans engaged in the copra 

 trade. There are plantations of cocoanut trees 

 that produced 2,729 tons of copra in 1899. The 

 total imports were valued at 465,700 marks. 



Savaii and Upolu, of the Samoan group, became 

 German by virtue of the Anglo-German agreement 



