bills, holding the proposed plan to be impracticable. A royal commission would be appointed to inquire into the subject, and in the meanwhile the Government introduced and carried a bill giving increased facilities to an aggrieved consumer to obtain redress from a water company that fails to provide an adequate supply. A Scotch congesteddistricts bill and a public-health bill for Scotland were finally enacted.

The Duke of Devonshire had in his hands a bill for the conversion of the University of London into a teaching university. It was a compromise measure, dealing with a matter that has been long the subject of public discussion and of negotiations between the various interests involved and the advocates of educational reform in the metropolis. The influence of the defenders of the existing system of examinations was still strong enough to cause the postponement of the measure. The Duke of Devonshire expected also to bring in a bill to promote the organization of secondary education, a subject of still wider discussion, as it is of more general interest; but this bill was not produced. The foreign prison-made-goods bill, prohibiting the importation of goods made in foreign prisons that compete with any products of British industry, was placed on the statute book to please the trade unionists, who had demanded such a measure.

The house affirmed the principle of female suffrage by its division on the second reading of the bill for the extension of the parliamentary franchise to women possessing the same qualifications as men, which obtained a majority of 71. The bill got no further, and later in the session a petition signed by many ladies was presented, setting forth that the petitioners viewed with indignation and alarm the existing procedure that reduced legislation to a game of chance and permitted the repeated and insulting postponement of the consideration and satisfaction of the just claims of women to citizenship, and praying that the house would reform its procedure so as to secure in future the fair consideration of all public questions with some regard to their relative importance. The cause of this indignant outburst, so different from the customary humble petitions as to strike aghast the sticklers for the dignity of Parliament, was that the opponents of woman suffrage in the House of Commons, alarmed at the ease with which the bill reached the second reading, no one on the front benches venturing to oppose it, prevented it from proceeding further by deliberately prolonging discussion on the verminous-persons bill, which provides for washing unclean tramps at the public expense. Parliament was prorogued on Aug. 5. Labor Questions. In the early part of the year a local trade dispute was going on in Wales that was of national importance in its political bearings. There was a protracted strike in the slate quarries of Lord Penrhyn, who refused to recognize the trade union. The President of the Board of Trade finally attempted to mediate between the parties to the dispute, acting on the authority conferred by the conciliation act. For this he was fiercely assailed by Tories in Parliament, who were applauded by the majority of their party, while the Oppo

sition sat silent.

The trade unionists found much fault with the Government for its failure to carry out in the naval and military workshops the fair-wages resolution of Feb. 13, 1891, and for retaining on the list of contractors for Government work persons who employed blackleg labor. The use in public offices of American typewriting paper, Bavarian pencils, and similar foreign goods was also objectionable to the unionists, who asked that only goods of British manufacture or production should

be supplied. The fair-wages resolution prescribed that Government and Government contractors should pay the wages current in the trade. The officials were inclined to dispute the contention that the trade-union scale determined the current rates in all localities. A select committee was appointed in 1896 by the House of Commons to report on the manner in which the fair-wages resolution was observed in Government contract work. The committee made its report in July, 1897. It recommended that a common form of contract be used by all the Government departments. As regards the administration of the resolution, it reached the conclusion that the departments had, as a whole, loyally endeavored to carry out its provisions, though in the case of some of them there was a lack of confidence in their ability or desire to enforce the spirit and letter of the resolution, and it was alleged that there was no uniformity of interpretation or of administration. The departments generally interpreted it as meaning the rate of wages generally accepted as current in the district where the work is carried on, and in this the committee upheld them, believing that in no trade is there a general current rate of wages prevailing throughout the country. In regard to other points complained of, such as the undue employment of women, boys, apprentices, and improvers, walking time, etc., the committee stated that the decision must depend on whether the contractor is enforcing conditions not recognized in the trade or departing from the usual conditions of employment. Subcontracting is held to be legitimate where the form of contract is customary in the trade, or where the contractor in the ordinary course of his business sublets that particular part of the work. The committee thought that it would be advantageous if a list of the Government contractors, together with the nature of their contracts, were laid before Parliament from time to time and published, so that the public would know the names of firms doing Government work.

One of the most determined trials of strength between workmen and capitalists ever known in England began early in July. The masters in the engineering trade had formed an Employers' Federation for the purpose of emancipating themselves from the conditions imposed by the Amalgamated Engineers, one of the strongest and richest of the trades unions, having a membership of 90,000 and a fund of £350,000 available for fighting purposes. A contest was inevitable, and the men chose a time when the employing firms had many orders to fill and a prospect of brisk trade ahead. The engineers of London made a demand for an eight-hours day, raising a popular issue which the Employers' Federation could not meet with good grace, especially in that particular locality, for in London a number of them had already granted the eight-hours day without detriment to their business. The employers were aware that the demand for London was the prelude to a general movement, and they took prompt and strong measures. They posted not only in London, but on the northeast coast, and at Glasgow and Greenock, and on the whole west coast, notices for the discharge of 25 per cent. of the men, hoping thus to cut off the supply for the maintenance of the strikers in London. The unions soon retaliated by calling out the remaining 75 per cent. The strike embraced the whole country, stopping the building of ships and most of the dependent trades. The boilermakers, however, refused to take part in the struggle. Both men and employers were confident of victory. The strike and lockout lasted till the close of the year, with disastrous effects on the commercial and industrial business of the country. At first 80,000 men were thrown out

of employment, but in the course of the dispute other trades were involved and many thousands more were affected. The funds of the union and money contributed from other quarters, though well husbanded, at length ran low. Then offers of mediation, previously rejected, were received with favor by the men, but the employers were not disposed to accept any compromise either in substance or in form. The struggle gave new force to the political demand for the compulsory and universal enforcement by law of the eight-hours system, which was upheld by the Trade Union Congress, sitting in Birmingham in September, by the representatives of 923,000 workers against 141,000. The trade unionists confessed to no fears of the power of federations of capital against them, for their own powers of federation were unlimited.

The Trade Union Congress, besides the legal eighthours day, put forth demands for the payment of jurors and the inclusion of workingmen in jury panels, the payment of members of Parliament, the removal of civil disabilities consequent on the receipt of poor relief, the special taxation of ground values, the limitation of the time during which shops are kept open, regulation of the hours of labor for girls and women employed as domestic servants, the abolition of child labor under the age of fifteen and of night labor under the age of eighteen, the prohibition of repairs in paper and textile mills on Saturday afternoon and Sunday, an amendment of the conspiracy acts setting forth the rights of workers in terms that it would be impossible to misconstrue, the insertion of the fair-wages clause in all Government contracts, a bill for the regular inspection of steam boilers by qualified experts, the recognition of waiters as members of a regular trade, a measure empowering school boards to supply food to starving and underfed children, the abolition of half time, and the raising of the school age to sixteen, the provision by the state of such maintenance as will bring secondary education within the reach of all, better training for teachers, the democratic administration of educational grants and endowments, a graduated income tax on all incomes above £300 a year, and graduated death duties.

Colonies and Dependencies.-The British Empire has a total area of 11,334,391 square miles and a total population of 383,488,469. Notices of the minor colonies and naval stations not elsewhere described are given below.

Gibraltar has an area of 2 square miles, with 20,528 inhabitants; revenue, £61,928; expenditures, £55,411; registered tonnage, 5,512; tonnage entered and cleared, 9,078,256.

The area of Malta and Gozo is 119 square miles, and the population 176,231, excluding the military. The imports in 1896 amounted to £885,315, consisting mainly of articles of food. The revenue, which is derived largely from customs, was £313,681 in 1897, the largest ever collected. The expenditure was £308,903. The language of the courts is Italian, but in 1896 an exception was made for British subjects, not native or naturalized Maltese, who on application may be tried in English. The public debt is £79,168. The registered tonnage is 9.365. The tonnage entered and cleared in 1896 was 7,034,207. There is a railroad in Malta 8 miles long. Cyprus is nominally a Turkish island, and is administered by Great Britain under a convention concluded with the Sultan on June 4, 1878. The area is 3,580 square miles; population, 209.286. Over a fifth of the inhabitants are Mohammedans and the rest belong to the Greek Church. revenue in 1896 was £167,777: expenditure, £113,851. Revenue is derived mainly from tithes, which are paid in kind, and taxes on buildings, trade

The

profits, military exemption, domestic animals, customs, and the salt monopoly. The sum of £92.000 is paid annually to the Porte. The imports in 1895 were £276,318; exports, £308,716; shipping entered and cleared, 598,295 tons. The chief exports are wheat, barley, carobs, wine, cotton, raisins, silk, cocoons, hides and skins, wool, cheese, live animals, fruit, and vegetables. Under British administration some progress has been made in reafforestation. The British Government has contributed £30,000 or £40,000 a year toward the Turkish tribute. The silk culture was carried on successfully till 1894, when the silkworms were affected by a fatal disease. Irrigation works are in contemplation, which will promote the growth of cotton, linseed, and anise, for which the soil is peculiarly adapted.

For British Guiana is claimed an area of 109,000 square miles, with 276,233 inhabitants. The revenue in 1896 was £567,749, and the expenditure £596,493. The debt is £932,704. The imports in 1895 amounted to £1,443,553, and the exports to £1.769,500. The registered tonnage of the colony is 6,339. The vessels entered and cleared during 1895 had an aggregate tonnage of 539,155. There are 23 miles of railroad.

The area of British Honduras is 7,562 square miles, and the population 33,353. The revenue is £52,389, and the expenditure £56,535. The public debt is £34,736. The imports in 1895 were valued at £151,266, and the exports at £244,335. The tonnage registered in the colony is 5,304. The tonnage entered and cleared in 1895 was 315,186.

The area of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia is 7,500 square miles, with a population of 1,953. The revenue is £12,519; expenditure, £13,159. Imports in 1895 were £71,826; exports, £122,988: registered tonnage, 248; tonnage entered and cleared, 70,212.

Mauritius has an area of 705 square miles, with 378,041 population. The revenue in 1895 was £827,362; expenditure, £848,874. The debt is £1,278,535. The imports in 1896 amounted to £1,111,190, and exports to £1,504,300. The registered tonnage is 7,614. The tonnage entered and cleared in 1896 was 687,014. There are 105 miles of railroad. This colony has suffered like the West Indies from the depression of the sugar industry.

St. Helena is 47 square miles in extent, with 3,921 inhabitants. The revenue is £9,762, and expenditure £8,063. The imports in 1896 were £33,744, and exports £4,313. The tonnage entered and cleared in 1896 was 73,888.

Ascension has an area of 35 square miles, with 140 inhabitants.

Aden and Perim have an area of 80 square miles and 41,910 inhabitants. The imports were valued at £27,895,861 in 1895, and exports at £7,147,787. The vessels entered and cleared had a tonnage of 2,682,693.

Ceylon has an area of 25,365 square miles, and a population of 3,298,342. The revenue in 1895 was £1,158,426, and the expenditure £1,187,877. The debt amounts to £3,723,522. The imports were £4,668,213 in value, and the exports £4,278,401. There are 297 miles of railway. The registered tonnage is 13.239. The tonnage entered and cleared in 1895 was 6,543,197. The military contributions from Ceylon has been fixed at 74 per cent. of the gross revenue. Trade and revenue have steadily increased. Tea exports have risen to nearly 1,000,000 hundredweight, and coffee is recovering an important position among the exports.

The Straits Settlements have an area of 1,472 square miles and 550,145 population. The revenue in 1895 was $4,266,064, and expenditure $3,957,262. The imports were valued at $21,060,695, and ex

ports at £18,378,590. The registered vessels have a tonnage of 45,032; tonnage entered and cleared, 11,610,444. The native states occupying the greater part of the Malay peninsula are under British protection. The exports of tin, gambier, and pepper have lately declined, while those of gutta-percha, copra, rattan, and timber have increased. The production of tin is likely to decline further, surface mining being no longer possible.

Hong-Kong has an area of 29 square miles, with 263,514 population. The revenue in 1895 was £517,964; expenditure, £580,292. The debt is £640,375. The registered tonnage is 24,228. The vessels entered and cleared in 1896 numbered 80,463, of 16,515,963 tons, of which 6,454, of 8,758,294 tons, were British, 2,893, of 3,575,102 tons, were foreign, and the rest were junks. The Imperial Government proposes to levy a tax of 17 per cent. on the gross revenue of the colony for military defense.

Labuan has an area of 30 square miles, with 5,853 inhabitants. The revenue is £4,791; expenditure. £7,032; imports, £68,589; exports, £56,662; tonnage entered and cleared, 141,411 tons. The colony is under the administration of the British North Borneo Company. Coal is mined and exported.

North Borneo is administered by a chartered company under British protection. The area is 31,106 square miles, and the population is about 175.000, consisting of Mohammedan settlers on the coast and native tribes in the mountainous interior, with some Chinese traders and artisans. Tobacco is cultivated extensively, and the coffee culture is increasing. Other products are copra, pepper, sago, rice, gums, gambier, gutta-percha, dried fish, and woods. The imports in 1895 amounted to $1,962,350, and exports to $1,663,906. The revenue was $348,947 and expenditure $324,206. The neighboring territories of Brunei and Sarawak are under British protection. Brunei has an area of 3.000 square miles. Sarawak, ruled by the Rajah Sir Charles Johnson Brooke, has an area of about 50,000 square miles, and a population of 300,000. The revenue in 1895 was $453,800; expenditure, $462,382. The imports in 1895 amounted to $3,089,393; exports, $3,141,932.

The natives of North Borneo have been turbulent of late. On July 10, 1897, the rebels, under Mat Salleh, burned the town of Gaja, after which the rebellion spread among other tribes.

GREECE, a kingdom in southeastern Europe. The Constitution of 1864 vests the legislative power in the Boule, a single chamber of 207 members, elected by universal male suffrage for four years. The reigning King is Georgios I, born Dec. 24, 1845, son of King Christian of Denmark, elected by the National Assembly in 1863. He married, in 1867, the Princess Olga, daughter of the Russian GrandDuke Constantine. The heir apparent is Prince Konstantinos, Duke of Sparta, married to Princess Sophia of Prussia, sister of the German Emperor. The ministry constituted on June 10, 1895, was composed as follows: President of the Council and Minister of Finance, Theodore Delyannis; Minister of the Interior, Kyriakoulis Mavromichalis; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alexander Skouzes; Minister of Justice, Philip Varvoglis; Minister of Marine, Nicholas Levides; Minister of War, Col. Smolenski; Minister of Public Instruction, Demetrius Petrides. Area and Population. The area of Greece is 25,041 square miles, including 5,073 miles, consisting of a large part of Thessaly and a part of Epirus, ceded to Greece by a treaty extracted from Turkey by the powers and concluded on June 14, 1881. The population of the annexed provinces in 1889 was

344,067, and the population of the whole Hellenic Kingdom 2,187,208. A census taken in 1896 makes the total population 2,430,807. The people are a mixture of races, Hellenes, Italians, Goths, Slavs, and Albanians, but their language is Hellenic. The Greeks in the Turkish dominions are much more numerous than those in the kingdom, 400,000 in the islands, 3,500,000 in European Turkey, and 2,000,000 in Asia Minor. The capital of Greece is Athens, with a population of 128,000.

Finance. The estimated revenue for 1896 was 90,894,541 drachmai, or francs, of which 19,491,074 drachmai came from direct taxes, 31,024,895 drachmai from customs and excise, 17,872,464 drachmai from stamps and dues, 11,760,378 drachmai from monopolies, 3,624,730 drachmai from state property, 972,400 drachmai from sales, 1,044,600 drachmai from repayments, 2,355,000 drachmai from arrears of taxes, and 1,750,000 drachmai from other sources. There are four state monopolies, of which salt yielded 2,454,221 drachmai, petroleum 5,488,380 drachmai, matches 1,035,743 drachmai, and playing cards 274,213 drachmai. The disbursements were estimated at 90,222,347 drachmai, of which 21,892,058 drachmai were for the public debt, 5,491,700 drachmai for pensions, etc., 1,325,000 drachmai for the civil list, 862,920 drachmai for the Boule, 2,129,140 drachmai for foreign affairs, 5,341,060 drachmai for justice, 13,147,385 drachmai for the interior, 5,063,245 drachmai for instruction, 15,999,585 drachmai for the army, 5,599,300 drachmai for the navy, 1,494,017 drachmai for the costs of collection, and 2,885,380 drachmai for various purposes. For 1897 the revenue was estimated at 95,343,939 drachmai, and expenditure at 93,752,569 drachmai, not including 650,000 drachmai of supplementary credits.

The national debt on Jan. 1, 1896, amounted to 655,128,897 drachmai in gold and 167,988.781 drachmai in paper. Negotiations with the foreign creditors for a resettlement of the gold debt were carried on, with many interruptions. Meanwhile the Greek Government, acting under the financial law of March 19, 1894, had suspended the sinking fund and refused to pay more than 30 per cent. of the interest. For 1896 the interest on this basis was 9,411,700 drachmai in gold, while on the paper debt it was 12,280,359 drachmai.

The National Bank had 106,800,000 drachmai of notes in circulation on Sept. 1. 1896, with a reserve in gold and silver of only 1,800,000 drachmai. There was a premium of 7 per cent. or more on coin. Small notes began to be issued in June, 1896. In December, 1884, the Government called in the forced paper currency, but owing to the military preparations against Turkey the notes were reissued in September, 1885, and have never been redeemed.

Commerce and Production.-Agriculture and horticulture are almost the only occupations of the people. It is carried on in a primitive fashion, but the soil is very productive. There are about 350,000,000 pounds of dried currants produced annually, with 16,000,000 pounds of tobacco, 66,000,000 gallons of wine, 15,000,000 pounds of olives, 20,000,000 bushels of wheat and other grain, and 60,000,000 pounds of figs and other fruit. Sheep raising, the silk culture, soap making from olive oil, weaving, and lead mining are considerable industries. Not half enough grain is raised to feed the population. The imports in 1895 were valued at 106,777,050 drachmai in gold, and the exports at 69,054,775 drachmai. The values of the chief exports were as follow: Currants, 21,906,600 drachmai: ores, 18,626,900 drachmai; wine, 4.475,925 drachmai; olive oil, 3,182,775 drachmai; fruit, 3,861,175 drachmai; tobacco, 2,010,925 drachmai. Other exports are silk and cocoons, sponges, olives, cognac, soap, and

hides. The imports, consisting of wheat, textiles, coal, timber, metals, hides, sugar, coffee, rice, etc., come mainly from Great Britain, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, Austria, Germany, and France. Great Britain, the principal market for dried currants, receives nearly a third of the exports, and the rest go to France, Egypt, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Italy, Holland, and the United States. There were 3,123,400 drachmai of imports from the United States in 1894, and 2,104,500 drachmai of exports to the United States. The exports of Greece to her nine principal customers have steadily fallen from 110,443,501 drachmai in 1891 to 62,761,981 drachmai in 1895. Exports to Great Britain declined from 49,800,487 to 16,833,009 drachmai. The exports to Germany increased from 2,801,210 to 5,068,449 drachmai, the increase being in wine, cognac, and silk. In 1896 the merchants prospered, although there was little increase in the total value of the exports and imports. Exports of currants, fruits, and wine increased, while those of silk, olives, oil, and cognac decreased. Imports of machinery, hardware, glass, chinaware, and other articles that formerly came from Great Britain are now furnished by Germany, France, and Belgium.

Navigation. In the mercantile navy of Greece there were 613 sailing vessels on Jan. 1, 1895, of the aggregate tonnage of 167,015, and 107 steamers, of 87,620 tons. Including vessels below 100 tons, there were 6,303 in all, of 320,917 tons.

The total number of vessels entered at Greek ports during 1895 was 5,444, of 2,590,101 tons; the number cleared was 4,888, of 2,541,627 tons. Of those entered, 2,645, of 501,083 tons, were Greek. The trade of the Levantine ports and of the Black Sea is, to a considerable extent, carried on under the Hellenic flag.

Communications.-The railroads in operation in 1896 had a length of 578 miles, and there were 310 miles building, including the line from Athens to Larissa, which was intended to join the European system at Salonica. There were 4,781 miles of telegraphs in 1895, with 5,836 miles of wire. During 1894 there were dispatched 865,870 internal and 197,569 international telegrams. The postoffice traffic consisted of 4,124,000 internal and 4,776,000 international letters and postal cards, and 5,031,000 internal and 2,823,000 international newspapers, samples, etc.

The Army. Every able-bodied Greek is liable to be called into military service from the age of twenty-one till he is fifty years old. The period of active service is supposed to be two years, but after eight months or a year the recruits are allowed to return home on leave of absence. For seven or eight years the men are attached to the reserve after they have completed their time of service with the colors, and after that they belong to the Landwehr. The nominal strength of the army in 1896 was 1,880 officers and 23,453 men, with 3,294 horses and mules and 180 field guns. The strength of the different branches of the service was as follows: War Office, 204 officers and 36 noncommissioned officers and men; infantry, 857 officers and 15,182 men; cavalry, 93 officers and 1,509 men; artillery, 222 officers and 2,065 men; engineers, 101 officers and 1.112 men; departmental services, 206 officers and 295 men; military schools, 54 officers and 168 men; gendarmerie, 143 officers and 3,086 men. The effective peace strength was 15 or 20 per cent. lower than that given in the estimates. The strength of the army mobilized for war with the reserves was estimated at 82,000, and that of the Landwehr, or territorial militia, at 96,000 men; but the territorial army and its reserve exist only on paper. and the war strength of the army never exceeded 66,250 trained men. The infantry company

is 250 men; 4 companies make up a battalion, and 2 battalions form a regiment. On mobilization 15 battalions are added to the 15 existing ones. There are in addition 6 battalions of euzonoi, rifles or light infantry. The infantry are armed with the single-loading Gras rifle of 0433-inch caliber, sighted up to 1,300 yards, with the sword bayonet. The cavalry is organized in squadrons of 150 men, 4 squadrons forming a regiment, of which there are 3 in peace; on mobilization 3 squadrons more are raised. The cavalrymen are armed with swords and the Gras carbine. The artillery batteries are of 6 guns. There are 3 regiments, 2 of them composed of 4 field and 3 mountain batteries, the third having a field battery less. The artillery is armed with Krupp guns, 2 batteries with 12-pounders, the rest with 9-pounders. The guns for the artillery reserves are of old pattern. The engineers include a regiment of 2 field battalions, each of 4 companies, 1 railroad and telegraph company, and 1 pyrotechnic company. A third battalion is formed on mobilization. The war organization was intended to be in 3 corps, each of equal strength. The corps is composed of 5 regiments of infantry in 2 brigades, 5 squadrons of cavalry, 7 field and 3 mountain batteries, a battalion of engineers, a train battalion, and a medical-service company. In 1895 the financial condition of the Government led to a decision to abolish 1 cavalry and 1 artillery regiment. The horses are Hungarian and Algerian, and for the full war footing there was a deficiency of 4,000. The law provides a period of forty days' training for the reserves, but it has never been strictly enforced. Nearly two thirds of the reserve had no training. The kingdom is divided into 3 military districts-Larissa, Missolonghi, and Athens. Four infantry battalions, 1 cavalry regiment, and the bulk of the artillery were stationed at Athens, and there was an equally strong garrison at Larissa, while the rest of the regiments were usually quartered singly in different stations. There were not more than 160,000 Gras and Chassepot rifles in store and in the hands of the troops at the end of 1896. The army was therefore deficient in armament, and was equally so in mobility, as well as weak in its untrained reserve. In December, 1896, when the warlike ambition fomented among the people rendered imminent a war against Turkey, the King proposed the formation of a permanent camp at Thebes and the calling out of the reserves, so that a force of 12,000 men, efficient in all particulars, might be ready to take the field instantly.

99.66

The Navy. The "Basileus Georgios," of 1.770 tons, is an old-fashioned ironclad, built in 1867, armed with 2 10-ton Krupp guns, 4 small cannon, and 2 machine guns, and having a speed of 12 knots. The "Basilissa Olga," an armored wooden vessel of 2,060 tons, built in 1869, is also suitable only for port defense, having a speed of 10 knots, with an armament consisting of 4 54-ton and 2 34ton Krupp guns. Of comparatively modern type are the armored steel cruisers "Hydra," "Spetsai," and "Psara," built in France in 1889 and 1890, each protected by a belt of 11.8-inch steel armor at the water line and a thinner belt above, and armed with 3 10-6-inch and 4 5·9-inch Canet cannon, 7 quickfiring 6-pounders, and 18 lighter cannon and machine guns. Still more modern is the fleet of torpedo boats, of which there are 17 over 86 feet in length, 10 of smaller size, and 2 Nordenfeldt submarine boats, with the torpedo depot and schoolship "Kanaris." Two unprotected cruisers, of 1,000 tons were launched in 1884 and 1885. There are also 2 corvettes, the "Nauarchos Miaulis," of 1,800, and the "Sfaktirea," of 1,300 tons, and 12 gunboats, of which 6, the English-built "Acheloos," "Alphios," "Eurotas," and Pinios," carrying 2

guns, and the single-gun "Ambrakia" and "Aktion," were built between 1881 and 1884, and the others earlier, besides 3 revenue cutters, a steel yacht, an iron transport steamer, and other craft. The navy was manned in 1896 by 3,165 men, including 185 officers. The men are raised partly by conscription and partly by enlistment.

War with Turkey.-Ever since the war of independence, when Greece was delivered after three centuries of Turkish rule and the kingdom of the Hellenes was established by the London protocol of Feb. 3, 1830, under the protection of England, France, and Russia, the statesmen and people of Greece have aspired to the deliverance of the millions of people of Greek language, religion, and nationality still subject to the Sultan, the overthrow of Ottoman rule in Constantinople, and the restoration of Greek power and civilization throughout the extent of the old Eastern Empire. Military and naval armaments disproportionate to the resources of the nation have been kept up in rivalry with the Balkan states, since whose rise and expansion the Greeks have seen their hopes fading. Overwhelmed by financial embarrassments in consequence of these armaments, forbidden by the powers to strike when the Roumelian revolution reopened the Eastern question and shifted the balance of power in the Balkans, the Greeks concluded that they must take a bold initiative and display a heroic spirit if they would reawaken the sympathy of Europe for their aspirations. The Armenian massacres had roused the indignation of the Christian world, especially the Mediterranean powers, England, France, and Italy, on whose good will Greece chiefly relied, when the political conflict in Crete started anew the movement for the annexation of that island. The patriotic fever inflamed the whole country and excited the old hopes of expansion. The Greeks considered that the whole of Thessaly and Epirus had been promised them, and that the clause in the Treaty of Berlin had not been fairly carried out. The national enthusiasm had been fomented and directed by a powerful patriotic secret society, the Ethnike Hetairia, which for years had been collecting large sums of money from Greeks in all parts of the world, and which was recruited from the wealthy and official classes as well as the peasantry, and was able to exercise a dominating influence over the Cabinet and the royal court and finally to combine the Government, the King, and the people in a common policy that led inevitably to war with Turkey. King George, who had long resisted the demand for the dispatch of a fleet and troops to Crete, was in the end compelled to place himself at the head of the national movement for fear of losing his crown.

The Ethnike Hetairia, or National Society, was formed at Athens by men of position there in 1895 with the avowed object of promoting and protecting Greek interests in the Hellenic provinces of Turkey and of disseminating literature on the subject. Agents were appointed at various places in Turkey, and large subscriptions were obtained. Military officers and Government officials at Athens joined the society, the secret object of which was to foster an insurrectionary movement among the Greeks of Turkey. In 1896 the leaders of the society determined upon active operations, believing that the time had come for a vigorous attempt to restore to Greece her unredeemed provinces. A secret inner ring was formed and amply provided with pecuniary means by special subscriptions. The society attained such importance that by the end of 1896 neither the King nor his ministers ventured longer to oppose its designs. An irregular force of 1.500 to 2,000 men was formed and equipped, insurrection was organized in the Hellenic provinces,

and a policy of coercing the Government to go to war with Turkey was adopted.

When the powers formally condemned the Greek policy and course of action in Crete and blockaded the coasts of the island, yet still allowed Greek forces to land and organize the rebellion, and when the proposals of the central powers for coercive measures were vetoed by England, France, and Italy, the Greeks had grounds for believing that they would not lack moral support in a military enterprise against Turkey, that in no case would the powers permit the Turks to invade Greece, still less to seize any portion of Greek territory or exact an indemnity. The dissensions among the powers led them to hope that, with the existing feeling in regard to Turkish rule over Christians, a political combination might take form that would compel the Porte to hand over to Greece the territories that she expected to get after the Russo-Turkish War and England virtually promised that she should have. As soon as the powers interdicted, in February, the intervention of Greece in Crete (see CRETE) the Government began to call out the reserves. The Turkish Government summoned the active reserves to arms and prepared to mobilize the redifs. The Turks began to construct fortifications at Arta, contrary to the stipulations of the Berlin Treaty, and Greece protested to the powers. The Greek fleet was used to transport troops to the frontier, and simultaneously Turkish forces were moved up to strengthen the garrisons in the frontier provinces. A Turkish army corps was stationed at Salonica. The bands of the Ethnike Hetairia crossed the frontier, and in conjunction with insurgent Epirotes and Macedonians skirmished with the Turkish redifs. Col. Smolenski, the Minister of War, whose advice to send re-enforcements to Crete had been rejected by the Cabinet, resigned, to take an active command in the army, and on March 3 M. Metaxas was appointed in his stead. The remaining classes of the Greek reserves were called out, which was calculated to give a total force of 129,500 men, including 25,000 in the standing army. The Greek war ships sailed in two squadrons to cruise in the Gulf of Arta and among the islands. The torpedo fleet, under the command of Prince Georgios, was ordered to cruise between Milo and Crete. The vessels in Cretan waters departed when the blockade of the powers was put into force on March 16. A Turkish transport was attacked by a revenue cutter while landing troops and stores at Douro. The Turkish army of precaution concentrated in Monastir was placed under the command of Edhem Pasha, who completed arrangements that would enable him to move 75,000 men over the frontier within a few weeks. including 21 batteries of artillery and 10 squadrons of cavalry. Ricciotti Garibaldi raised 3 regiments of Italian volunteers for service in the Greek army, and English and other foreigners offered their services, while Greek volunteers flocked home from distant countries. A bill was passed by the Boule on March 16 to permit the enrollment of Greek volunteers and the formation of a foreign legion. Two bands of Thessalians, one of 1,000 and the other of 300 men, entered Macedonia from the Larissa and Volo districts, while the Greek forces continued massing on the line within sight of the Turkish blockhouses. The Porte complained to the powers that there were Greek regulars in these bands. The first collision took place between the band of Alexis Takia and the advanced post of Turkish troops at Grevena on March 28. The German Emperor proposed to the powers a joint blockade of the Piræus and Volo, but Great Britain and France declined to take part. The Turkish army, 55,000 strong, moved up to the border, with headquarters at Elassona. On March 30 the Crown