GREECE. 



419 



The ministry which was formed March 15, 

 1882, is composed as follows: President of the 

 Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. 

 Tricoupis; Justice, since July 21, 1883, ad in- 

 terim, Mr. Contostavlos ; Finance, Mr. Kalli- 

 gas; Public Worship, Mr. Lombardos; War, 

 Mr. Karaschakis; Navy, Count- Admiral Tom- 

 bazis, since July 21, 1883, ad interim; Inte- 

 rior, Mr. Tricoupis, ad interim. 



The Consul-General of Greece, at New York, 

 is Mr. D. N. Botassi. The United States Min- 

 ister Resident and Consul-General at Athens, 

 is Hon. E. Schuyler, and- the United States 

 Consul at Patras, Mr. E. Hancock. 



Army. The law of June 21, 1882, has thor- 

 oughly reorganized the Greek army. All able- 

 bodied men are required to serve in the army 

 during nineteen consecutive years, of which 

 one is in the active army if the soldier belongs 

 to the infantry, two if belonging to a special 

 arm, eight or seven years in the reserve, and 

 ten in the militia. The army is composed of 

 29,368 officers and men. 



Navy. The fleet consisted in 1881 of two 

 steam ironclads and thirteen other vessels, 

 besides two torpedo-boats and ten coasting 

 craft; and there are building : two gunboats, 

 thirty- six torpedo-boats, and two sloops with 

 torpedo-boats. 



Finances. The national indebtedness of 

 Greece on Jan. 1, 1883, was as follows: 



1824-'25 of 100 .... 3,513 x 25 francs= 8,782,500 



' k 150.... 708x25francs= 2,636,250 



500 843 x 25 francs= 10,537,500 



5,059 21,956,250 



Not yet ascertained 



21,956,250 



,, 

 Loan of 60,000,000 for protecting powers ........ 59,328,000 



Circulation bearing interest 



Loan made from the National Bank 



Loan made from the Ionian Bac 



17,300 



8,104,050 

 Due the heirs of King Otho ..................... 8,460,800 



Total ....................................... 381,631,866 



The 170,000,000 Franc Loan. By a vote of 

 110 against 56, the Greek Chamber of Depu- 

 ties ratified, on Jan. 5, 1884, the agreement 

 which the Government had made with a syn- 

 dicate of members, who assumed a 5 per cent. 

 loan to the amount of 170,000,000 francs. 

 The price fixed was 68 per cent. The net 

 proceeds of this loan the Government proposed 

 to spend in canceling its indebtedness to the 

 National Bank and the Ionian Bank, for the 

 purpose of resuming specie payment; to the 

 extent of 12,000,000 francs in subsidizing rail- 

 roads to be constructed, and various other 

 items. The Government gave as security for 



the loan the balances due for duties by the 

 larger cities and the proceeds of the stamp and 

 tobacco taxes, the latter estimated to amount 

 to 15,000,000 francs in the future. The syndi- 

 cate received as an indemnity for its expenses 

 the sum of 230,000 francs. 



Petroleum Monopoly. The Greek Government 

 has discovered that out of 22,000,000 litres of 

 petroleum annually consumed, only 3,500,000 

 litres actually pay duty, the remainder being 

 smuggled. The extent of coast is such that 

 control is absolutely impossible, hence the Gov- 

 ernment intends transforming the petroleum- 

 trade into a Government monopoly. 



The Latin Union. As Greece forms one of the 

 European states composing the so-called Latin 

 Union, having bimetallism for its basis instead 

 of the sole gold standard, she has been invited 

 by France to attend a preliminary meeting of 

 representatives in 1884, the compact expiring 

 by limitation in 1886, and France apparently 

 wishing to have the arrangement renewed. 



Postal Service. The number of post-offices in 

 1880 was 143. These forwarded altogether in 

 that year 3,828,754 letters and postal-cards, 

 1,206,936 newspapers, and 63,224 sample pack- 

 ages, together 5,098,914 items of mail matter. 

 The postage collected was 646,654 francs, and 

 the expenses were 390,363 francs. 



Telegraphs. There were in operation in 1881 

 100 offices, the length of line was 5,079 kilo- 

 metres, and that of wire 6,316. The number 

 of messages forwarded was 433,547. The re- 

 ceipts amounted to 665,036 francs, and the 

 outlay to 949,759 francs.' 



Railroads. The only lines in operation in 

 1883 were the 12 kilometres from Athens to 

 the Piraeus, and the 61-$- kilometres from Volo 

 to Larissa. 



Commerce. The foreign commerce in 1881 

 was as follows: 



The chief export articles are currants, olive- 

 oil, goat-skins, lead, figs, gall-nuts, silk, soap, 

 tobacco, and cotton fabrics. The exportations 

 from Greece in 1882 and 1883 were : 



Against 90,480 tons in 1881. 



