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Greece under King George
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GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
JannLa.
LONDON : EICHAED BENTrEY AND SON : 1898.
SzXnaJnn,.
GREECE
UNDER KING GEORGE
R. A. H. BICKFORD-SMITH, M.A.
BARRISTER- AT-LAW
LATE STUDENT OF THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ATHENS
LONDON
RICHARD BENTLEY AND ^S O N
PaiUshas in dDriinaxj) to '^tv JtlajwtS tl« t^nnK'
[All rights reserved] '^
XAPIAAJ2I TPIKOYHH
TIMH2 ENEKA
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
POPULATION.
General Statistics— Towns and Villages— Births and
Deaths — Religion and Nationality i — lo
CHAPTER 11.
AGRICULTURE.
General Statistics — Corn — Stock — Dairy-Farming —
Poultry — Game — Wine — Currants — Olives — Figs —
Other Fruit — Mulberry— Cotton — Valonia — Tobacco
— Vegetables ii — 34
CHAPTER HI.
FORESTS.
Area — Species 35 — 47
CHAPTER IV.
INDUSTRIES.
Mines^Marble — Salt — Factories — ^Fishing 48 — 58
CONTENTS
I'AGE
CHAPTER V.
COMMERCE.
Shipping — Imports and Exports 59 7^
CHAPTER VI.
BUSINESS.
Public Companies — Employment 72 — 79
CHAPTER VII.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION.
Roads — Railways — Steamboats — The Korinth Canal
— The Euripos — Lake Kopais — Lighthouses —
Post-office — Telegraph — Telephone — Weights and
Measures — Coinage 80 — 102
CHAPTER VIIL
FINANCE 103 131
CHAPTER IX.
THE PUBLIC DEBT I32 142
CHAPTER X.
THE FORCED CURRENCY 143 157
CHAPTER XL
FINANCE (concluded).
M. Beckmann's Deductions — ;The 1893 Estimates
Municipal Finance irg 160
CONTENTS vii
CHAPTER XII.
PUBLIC ORDER.
Justice — Crime — Police — Prisons — Bankruptcy— Men-
dicancy i6i— 174
CHAPTER XIII.
EDUCATION.
Elementary — Secondary — The University — Cost — The
Institutions subsidiary to the University — Female
Education — Technical Instruction — Summary 175 — ic
CHAPTER XIV.
CULTURE.
Books — Newspapers — Learned Societies — Fine Arts —
Physical Culture 199 — 21:
CHAPTER XV.
ARCHEOLOGY 2 13 — 224
CHAPTER XVI.
RELIGION.
Organization — Monasteries — Priests — Summary 225 — 239
CHAPTER XVII.
ARMY AND NAVY.
Army — Distribution — Navy — Defence— Attack 240—256
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVIII.
CONSTITUTION.
Articles of Constitution analyzed — Parliaments — Adminis-
trations — Monarchic Democracy 25? — 274
POLITICS
CHAPTER XIX.
275—284
SOCIETY
CHAPTER XX.
285—294
PHILANTHROPY
CHAPTER XXI.
295—3°°
CHAPTER XXII.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Climate — Wind — Rainfall — Earthquakes — Mountains —
Mineral Waters — Flags — Travellers — Travelling 301— 3 1 7
CHAPTER XXIII.
PANHELLENISM
318—336
CHAPTER XXIV.
CONCLUSION.
As regarding Greece — As regarding England 337 — 345
INTRODUCTION.
If a Q.C. is sufficiently interested in a case in
which he is not engaged to read a verbatim
report of it, he probably pays more attention to
the evidence than to the speeches of counsel. It
is true that these gentlemen are present for the
purpose of assisting the Court towards a right
opinion, but the chief help they give consists in
marshalling the evidence ; a great portion of their
addresses is too highly coloured to aid in the
right solution of the problem. At the same time,
it not unfrequently happens that some members
of the jury are more affected by the eloquence of
the Bar than by the facts revealed through careful
examination. The case of Greece has been ably
pleaded by many writers during the last fifty
years, and I do not presume to act as a leader.
But the humbler task of examination- in-chief is
not without its fascinations, or even its difficulties.
On my way to Constantinople in March, 1890,
my skipper- used to constantly assure me that
before I had been a fortnight in Greece all my
b
INTRODUCTION
hopes for the New Greece, and even my admira-
tion of the Old, would have been rudely disturbed.
On my subsequent arrival in Athens, I attempted
to make myself daily remember this unwelcome
prophecy. The daylight portion of the first week
was spent almost entirely on the Akropolis, so
that my studied impartiality was only called into
exercise after sunset. On one of these first
evenings I almost began to think my anti-Greek
friend was right. I had gone to sip my after-
dinner coffee in the Square, and had given the
waiter a napoleon, worth at the time 24 paper-
drachmas, and legal tender. The price of the
coffee was a few sous. The waiter came back
with the change, and produced on his tray 19
drachmas and some odd coppers. I was rather
shy of attempting an expostulation in Greek, and
merely looked at him inquiringly. He thereupon
added a drachma to the other nineteen. By means
of three more separate stares, increasing in severity
in geometric proportion, the other three drachmas
were extracted. I mention this episode, not as
tending to throw any doubt upon the honesty of
the modern Greeks, to which question I shall
refer later, but simply to show how I was brought
towards a proper state of impartial receptivity
with regard to the phenomena of Greek life.
I do not for a moment deny that at first my
mind was more full of the life-surroundings of
^schylos and Plato, and, indeed, of Herakles
INTRODUCTION
and Agamemnon, than of the modern leaders of
men ; nor was it possible that the little incident
of the caf6 could put such bias far from me. But,
as a personal experience, it was of some value in
backing up my already-made determination to
beware of sentiment.
Most Greek travellers whom I have met have
told me that after the first period of admiration
and enthusiasm they had usually experienced a
time of revulsion, generally while travelling in
the interior, which was in turn succeeded by a
more reasoning afterglow which was permanent.
I cannot say that I underwent the revulsive trial
of my faith. Perhaps it was sufficiently curbed
by the warnings J had received and the guile of
the waiter.
At any rate, I made up my mind to observe
facts, and each day I found some new items
which seemed worthy to be added to the stock
from which I might eventually evolve an opinion.
I think the first thing that struck me was the
attitude of the moderns towards the antique. I
am not suggesting that the population at large is
very well acquainted with the uses to which the
different ruined buildings had been put. They
are not ; but the sense of proprietorship is very
strong, and the feeling of reverence very notice-
able. No one could fail to remark the different
tones in which his guide or a passing peasant
would say that some old walls were Hellenic or
INTRODUCTION
Prankish, or the contemptuously silent shrugs
with which he would convey the information that
they were Turkish. The accusation that Greeks
treat their old architectural treasures with destruc-
tive indignity is now quite devoid of truth.
As soon as the archaic spell was loosened
enough to allow of my studying modern life, I
was astonished at the amount of business of
Athens and the ports ; at the trade done in a
country paneguris (equivalent to a Breton pardon) ;
at the number of caiques in the different ports.
It was obvious that, however Eastern the Greeks
might be in some of their customs, they were not
at all Orientally sleepy. The absence of fixed
prices is, of course, no proof of this ; but, taken
in conjunction with their undoubted vitality, it
implies a keen pleasure in bargaining, based as
much on independence of character as on love of
money. Still more surprising were the signs on
every hand of the universality of education. Not
only were schools of every grade plentiful, and
the University open, like them, free to all Greeks,
of whatever station and of whatever country, but
the chances thus offered were promptly, almost
greedily, seized. Parents and still more children
seemed alive to the advantages to be got from
learning. The eagerness of the children in the
Board schools was very different from the rather
listless air so common at home — each one seemed
anxious to be given a chance to show off before
INTRODUCTION xiii
the Strangers. And through the children, as
through the men, there shone the spirit of
democracy. In the great girls' school at Athens,
the cabdriver's daughter sat side by side with the
child of the Secretary of State. Never before
had I heard of, or even imagined, so real a
democracy in working order. There was no
anarchism in it, no jealousy in it — or, at any rate,
only an everywhere accepted jealousy which would
admit of no one rising above another. There
was one, of course, very much above the others
— the King. Certainly, but he was not a Greek ;
and, for the matter of that, in many things he
accepted a position of equality with his subjects.
He was often to be seen on foot in his capital.
His smile was given quite freely to all. He had
never permitted any Court intrigues, never un-
democratically set anyone up or put anyone down.
And the idea of royalty was itself attractive to
these free, equal, brotherly people. The sceptre
being so light, they enjoyed the splendour of the
crown. They appreciated the superior dignity of
a monarchical country in its foreign relationships,
and had a strong personal attachment to their
Sovereign and his philanthropic consort.
That the remote future political result of this
should be hard to foresee one might readily admit.
In the words of Sir Thomas Wyse, 'A free
Government, a free press, and a free University,
existing immediately under the action of European
INTRODUCTION
education and feeling, and yet in juxtaposition
with the landmarks of Byzantine civilization, form
together a force calculated to impel in a very
singular diagonal.' I noticed, too, that whereas
in England patriotism was not generally looked
on as a virtue of quite the front rank, and was,
indeed, treated rather as a vice by our most
advanced school as well as by the little band of
millennial cosmopolitanists, while in one part of
the United Kingdom the accentuation of the word
differed, here in Greece the idea embraced in
the word was the staple of conversation and the
master-soul of all politics. Any crime against
commonplace domestic laws could be forgiven
for its sake. One might tire of an Aristides the
Just, but never of a Kanares the Patriot. And
the feeling was not a vague pride in ancestral
exploits, true and legendary, but connoted a
definite present policy. It said in terms that,
whereas Byzantion was in origin a Greek colony,
and the Byzantine Empire had been a thoroughly
Greek empire, keeping guard for the later Greece
that was to come against the onslaught of the
Hunnish hordes, keeping alive both literature
and law, philosophy and theology, so Byzantion
was by moral right Greek still. It was a lordly
patriotism that could not treat on equal terms the
aspirations of a new little State like Bulgaria, that
looked at the Turk less as an old and mighty
oppressor than as a contemptible barbarian, and
INTRODUCTION
was inclined to show a slightly fretful reserve
when Austria, England, France, Germany, Italy
and Russia were spoken of as ' the Powers.' It
was not a childish patriotism except in its im-
patience, and it had great magnetic power. It
sometimes seemed to puff itself up, yet it was
never bloated, only swollen of its own strength.
And as I constantly came into contact with
Greeks, whether when riding about the country
or caiquing about the islands, or boarding with
a Greek family, I could not fail to be struck with
the predominant traits of the national character.
One can have no dealings with them without
discovering their politeness, which is more graceful
even than that of the French. As soon as you
have taken up your quarters in the house of the
village demarch a bouquet is presented to you.
Your guide is constantly giving you flowers —
always sweet-scented ones. It may, perhaps,
happen that your bedroom is invaded by the
family after you have retired, but, then, we wear
such very funny clothes that a little curiosity on
the subject is not to be wondered at. Of pretty
speeches at going and coming you will hear no
end. The object of every creature, shepherds'
dogs and certain other beings that prowl at night
excepted, seems to be to make your life agreeable.
Sometimes these courtesies — these ceremonies I
had almost called them — threaten to absorb the
time at your disposal, but then, perhaps, that only
INTRODUCTION
proves that It Is more blessed to give than to
receive. It Is an understood thing that every
man's house Is your castle. Nor have you much
to fear for your goods and chattels. If It Is a
mere question of edibles and potables of a cheap
kind, your guide may not be trustworthy, judged
by an English criterion. But that is unfair ; the
Greeks who have money are very free and easy
with their dependents in such matters ; it Is the
custom of the country ; he would help himself to
your paysandu before your eyes, and he would
not feel aggrieved If you annexed some of his
olives. If It was a question of drachmas, or even
such tempting things as knives or firearms, it
would be quite another thing. You might find
his admiring eloquence a more expensive thief
But his honesty does not colour his speech. He
will be truthful where truth or untruth may affect
your welfare ; but If it is indifferent to them, I
should not like to reckon on his truthfulness.
And the odd thing is that you will get to enjoy
the creations of his fancy. That is the secret of
his falsehoods. It Is Oriental and ancient Greek
as well. All the poets and most of the historians,
even Aristotle, are bedaubed with the same
painter's brush. It has in it no attempt, no wish
to deceive. It is a compound of vividness of
imagination and subconsciousness of literary skill.
A cook employed by a party of which I was one
for some weeks had a quite extraordinary genius
INTRODUCTION
for impromptu fabrication. Time after time we
got his nose hard against the truth, but the harder
we pressed the more brilhant the escape. But
intemperance of language is their only intemper-
ance. I never saw a drunken man in Greece.
With good reason do they pity us for having to
fortify ourselves with Bands of Hope ; but there
are no teetotalers. They are fully alive to the
Epikurean pleasure of using without abusing.
Such are a few samples of the observations I
made. While I was in the country, and still
more after I had got back home, I attempted to
see how far my more or less ill-assorted notes
tallied with what could be statistically demon-
strated. In the early days of my visit to Athens,
a foreign diplomat at whose side I sat at the
table d'kSte, and with whom I had many interest-
ing talks about modern Greece, observed to me,
' You are off to study the dead, and I the living ;
but I think you will pay attention to the living
too some day.' I only mention this to support a
proposition which I believe to be almost uni-
versally true — that, however antiquarian the in-
stincts may be that send a traveller to Greece, he
is certain to become infected after a little while by
the patriotism of the Greece before his eyes. Of
course I did not mean to write a book — no one
ever does unless he has written one before, and
not always then.
After a year or two abroad, especially in a
INTRODUCTION
country at once so admittedly interesting and so
unfrequently travelled over— I mean, of course, in
comparison with the countries which lie between
her and us — I found I had to withstand a good
deal of questioning, a process which affects a re-
turned tourist quite differently from the way in
which it affects an unreturned candidate for Parlia-
ment. But the questions proved that the amount
known in an average English circle about the
recent progress of Greece was not very flattering
to that country, or perhaps to ours. I add this
because I think that the ' Hellenic factor in the
Eastern Question ' is a very important one — the
most important one, even. We do not want
Constantinople for ourselves, we are quite deter-
mined that Russia shall not have it, we know that
the Turks cannot keep it much longer, and yet,
outside a strictly diplomatic set, very few people
trouble their heads about the selection of the right
candidate for it. Now that Lord Roseberv has
given a knock-down blow to that don't-care-a-
farthing - about - foreign - affairs bugbear of the
Liberal Party, perhaps we may hope for an
awakening of attention to the Eastern Question.
In that case it must become patent to all that
Greece is, from our point of view, the only
possible grantee of Constantinople.
Of my authorities, I need only mention three,
though it goes without saying that the scores of
books of travel and archaeological exposition that
INTRODUCTION
one reads when one is absorbed by a cause like that
of Greece must have a share in the making of any
book one may attempt on the subject afterwards.
Mr. Lewis Sergeant's ' New Greece ' I have
continually consulted ; I have used his figures for
the times to which they applied, and I think I can
subscribe to almost all his opinions as far as
they regard Greece up to 1879. But a very
important chapter of Greek history has been lived
since then.
For this later period, and, indeed, for all periods,
my chief source of information has been the
' Panhellenic Companion.' This, a sort of Greek
Whitaker, was first published in 1890, and has
been continued annually since. Unfortunately, so
much leeway has to be made up, regular statistics
never having before appeared to any valuable
extent, that the same subjects do not recur each
year. Accordingly, the latest data may be those
of any year from 1889 to 1892. In some cases
I have been able to supplement these figures from
such sources as consular reports and Greek news-
papers.
The most important of my authorities is a
pamphlet by M. Joseph D. Beckmann. His treat-
ment of the present Greek financial situation is
worthy of the proverbially logical French mind.
To the average student, the problem he deals with
appears desperately complex — a very Cretan
maze ; but with this Ariadnean thread we can go
INTRODUCTION
in and out of it, and enjoy its intricacies at our
pleasure.
The system of orthography of place-names
adopted is that of Bishop Wordsworth, not that of
Colonel Leake — I have ' not endeavoured to
suggest to the readers their modern sound, but
their ancient sense.' The map, however, contains
the traditional spelling, as the making of a new
one would have necessitated considerable delay.
Chapters xix. and xx. appeared in substantially
the same form in the Newcastle Daily Chronicle
in May last year.
CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH.*
1814. — Foundation of the Philik^ Hetairia at Odessa.
1815. — The Ionian Islands occupied by Great Britain.
1818.— Removal of i'hilik^ Hetairia to Constantinople.
1821. — All Pasha asks the Greeks to come to his aid against
the Turks, promising them independence.
First exploits of the Suliots and Mark Botzares.
Rising under Mauromichales.
Meeting of the Kalamai Senate.
Archbishop Germanos raises the standard of the Cross at
the monastery of Hagia Laura.
Successful general rising in the Peloponnesos.
Rising in Moldavia ; Prince Alexander Hypsilantes crosses
the Pruth, but in vain.
Massacre of Greeks at Constantinople.
Rising general over Greece and the Archipelago.
Greeks successful in several sea engagements, and capture
Tripolis.
National Assembly at Epidauros.
1822.— Death of Ali Pasha.
Massacre of Greeks at Chios.
Defeat of Turks under Damales by Kolokotrones and
Nikitas.
Defeat of Greeks at Peta by Kourshid Pasha.
Athens captured by the Greeks.
Naval exploits of Kanares and Miaoules.
Siege of Mesolonghi.
1823. — Defeat of Omer Vriones at Karpenisi by the Greeks.
Death of Mark Botzares.
* Chiefly from Baedeker's ' Greece ' and the Guide Joanne,
' Athfenes et ses Environs.'
CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH
1824. — NTahmoud entrusts to Mehemet Ali, Pasha of Egypt,
the task of subduing Greece.
The Greeks sustain reverses.
Death of Lord Byron.
Party-strife among the Greeks.
Massacre of the Psariots.
Crete retaken by the Egyptians.
1825. — Ibrahim Pasha, son of Mehemet Ali, lands a regular
army in the Peloponnesos, takes Navarino, and beats
Kolokotrones at Tripolis.
Victory of Hypsilantes at Nauplion.
Attempt of Kanares on Alexandria.
1826. — Capture of Mesolonghi.
The Turks under Kiontagi take Athens.
Fabvier's campaign.
1827. — New Assemblies of Epidauros and Troizen.
John Kapodistria elected President of the Greek
Republic.
Attempt of Lord Cochrane and General Church to relieve
Athens.
Capitulation of the Greek garrison in the Akropolis.
England, France, and Russia essay mediation, which
Mahmoud haughtily rejects.
Battle of Navarino. The combined English, French,
and Russian fleets almost annihilate the Turkish fleet
of 82 ships.
1828. — The Turks beaten on the Danube.
20,000 French troops under General Maison land in the
Peloponnesos.
Ibrahim Pasha evacuates the country.
Reduction of Pylos, Korone, and Modone.
1829. — Protocol of London ; Greece declared a hereditary
monarchy, but tributary to the Porte.
1830.— Second Protocol of London; Greece declared an
independent sovereign kingdom ; Leopold of Saxe-
Coburg (afterwards King of Belgium) refuses the
Crown.
1 83 1. —Dissensions among the Greeks; John Kapodistria
assassinated ; his brother Augustine elected President.
CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH
1832. — Anarchy. Treaty of London ; Prince Otho of Bavaria
proclaimed King. Loan of sixty million francs.
1833. — Arrival of King Otho ; Maurer in power.
1834. — Athens chosen as capital.
1835. — Unpopular administration of Count Armansperg ;
all offices given to Germans ; dilapidation of
finance.
The King comes of age.
1836. — The King marries Princess Amalia of Oldenburg.
Count Armansperg dismissed.
1843. — Revolution at Athens : a Constitution granted.
1845. — Disturbances in the Peloponnesos.
1848. — Risings in the provinces.
1850. — The British fleet blockades the Peiraius.
Mediation of France.
1854. — Agitation in Greece at the beginning of the Crimean War.
Insurrection in Epiros supported by the Greeks.
The French occupy the Peiraius, and take possession of
the Greek fleet, which they retain until 1857.
1862, February. — Military revolt at Nauplion : the town and
citadel in the hands of the insurgents.
March. — The royal troops retake the town, but not the
citadel. Disturbances at Syros.
April. — The Ionian Islands Assembly begs England to
unite them to Greece. Nauphon reduced.
October. — Revolution breaks out in the Western
Provinces.
22nd. — Athens rises; formation of a Provisional
Government. The King and Queen depart.
1863, February. — The National Assembly meets. Negotia-
tions with the protecting Powers as to the choice of
a new King.
March — June. — Prince William George of Schleswig-
Holstein-Sonderburg-Gliicksburg, second son of the
King of Denmark, and brother of the Princess of
Wales, proclaimed King, and ascends the throne as
George I.
1864. — England gives Greece the Ionian Islands.
A new Constitution is promulgated.
CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH
1867.— Marriage of the King with Princess Olga, daughter of
Grand-Duke Constantine Nikolaiewitch of Russia.
1868. — Cretan insurrection ; Greek sympathy with, and aid to,
the insurgents.
Birth of Crown Prince Constantine (July 21).
Turkish ultimatum to Greece with regard to Crete.
Blockade of Syros.
Mediation of the protecting Powers.
1869. — Capitulation of Petropoulakes and the chief Cretan
volunteers.
Conference of Paris ; Greece accepts its proposals, and
renews diplomatic relations with Turkey.
1878 — The Greeks cross the Thessalian frontier, but yield to
the persuasions and promises of the Powers.
Berlin Congress (June 13 to July 13) ; Greece shabbily
treated by the Powers.
1880. — Berlin Conference ; Turkey refuses to submit.
1881. — Constantinople Conference ; Thessaly and part of
Epiros ceded to Greece.
1882-1885, May. — M. Trikoupes Prime Minister.
1885-1886, May. — M. Deleyannes Prime Minister ; Roumelian
difficulty ; Greece, in spite of the warnings of the
Powers, mobilizes her army and navy.
1886. — Naval demonstration by the Powers (except France
and Russia) in Suda Bay.
May. — The representatives of the Powers leave Athens,
and on the 8th their fleets blockade the Peiraius.
M. Trikoupes replaces M. Deleyannes.
June. — The blockade raised.
1890, October. — M. Deleyannes again Prime Minister.
1892, February. -M. Deleyannes dismissed by the King for
failure to deal with the immediate financial needs of
the country.
May. — M. Trikoupes Prime Minister with an enormous
majority in the Chamber.
GREECE
UNDER KING GEORGE
CHAPTER I.
POPULATION.
General Statistics — Towns and Villages — Births and Deaths —
Religion and Nationality.
The number of Greeks in the best days of Old
Greece has been estimated by different writers,
their guesses varying between 10,000,000 and
20,000,000; of the former 3,500,000 are allotted
to that which is now Modern Greece, without
Thessaly, Epiros, and the Ionian Islands, the
share of the Peloponnesos being 1,720,000, and of
the mainland 970,000. The statistics anterior to
this century are no more reliable in Greece than
elsewhere, but it may be accepted as a fact that
war and oppression had constantly diminished the
population of Greece since the days of Perikles.
If we give any credit to the enumeration of those
r
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
living in the Peloponnesos in 1692, which fixes the
number at 116,000, we shall be convinced that,
allowing for the immigration of a certain number
of their conquerors for the time being, the Greeks
were not troubled to any serious extent by the
presence of the descendants of Romans, Goths,
Slavs and Bulgars.
At the outbreak of the revolution in 182 1, the
figures were as follows :
Peloponnesos ...
Mainland
Islands
Christians.
■■■ 334.896
... 186,503
... 154,247
Turks.
63.813
19.853
7.165
Total.
398,709
206,356
161,412
Total
675,616 90,831 766,477
By 1832, so nearly had the influx of Hellenes
from without counterbalanced the exodus of
Turks and the losses of the War of Independ-
ence, that the population of the Peloponnesos was
384,322, that of the mainland, 145,000, and that
of the islands, 183,286. The total Hellenic popu-
lation actually shows a gain of 37,962. From
1838 to 1 86 1 we get the following progressions :
930,29s
960,236
986,734
1,042,527
1,052,627
1,096,810
Thus, in twenty-three years Greece had gained
344,733 inhabitants, or 45-83 per cent, making a
1838...
■■ 752,077
1844
1839...
• • 823,773
1845
1840 ...
.. 850,246
1848
I84I ...
..• 861,019
1853
1842 ...
• • 853,005
1856
1843-
•• 915,059
I86I
POPULA TION
yearly accession of 14,987 inhabitants, or rgg per
cent. The density had accordingly risen from
1 5 '8 2 per square kilometre to 23 '18.
Leaving on one side for the moment the Ionian
Islands and Thessaly (the former of which were
added in 1864 and the latter in 1881), we note the
following increases :
1^61.
1870.
1879.
i88g.
Peloponnesos ...
552.414
611,861
709,245
813,154
Mainland
318,535
356,865
441,033
556,254
Islands...
225,861
238,784
259,056
235,050
Total ... 1,096,810 1,207,510 1,409,334 1,604,458
Consequently, this period of twenty-eight years
yields an increase of 507,648 inhabitants, or
46 '2 8 per cent., i.e., a yearly increase of 18,130
inhabitants, or i "65 per cent. The density be-
comes 337 per square kilometre.
The Ionian Islands, which, under British rule,
had receded from 230,757 in 1853 to 228,631 in
1862, progressed to 229,516 in 1870, and 238,783
in 1889.
The first census of Thessaly was in 1889, when
it was found to contain 344,067 inhabitants.
The total population of Greece was, in 1889,
accordingly, 2,187,308, or just three times what
it was when the State was formed in 1832.
The United States have a yearly gain of 2-4
per cent, (largely assisted by immigration),
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Saxony of 1-4, England of 1-3, Russia of ra;
while that of France is only o'2.
Nor must it be forgotten that Greeks are rather
prone to emigrate. The Akarnanians (especially
the Karpenesiots) have a penchant for Turkey ;
so have the Argives, and those who live in the
northern Kyklades ; the inhabitants of Kythera,
and many others, go to Smyrna and the rest of
Turkey in Asia ; while the southern Kykladians
go in troops to Egypt, in double numbers since
our occupation. In fact, in addition to Greeks
born abroad, there are 135,466 Greece-born
Greeks distributed over the world.
Contrary to the rule throughout Europe, males
are more numerous than females, there being
5i'82 of the former, and 48'i8 of the latter. In
1852 it was vice versa.
Towns and Villages. — The numerical pro-
pfress of the Hellenes is best seen in the advance
made by the towns. They are quite as essentially
urban in their proclivities as their Periklean
ancestors. At the time of the Revolution there
were hardly any towns in Greece. Athens was
little more than a village, with a few hundred souls,
the Peiraius a wooden shed and landing-stage ; the
chief towns in the early days of the movement
were Epidauros, Mesolonghi, Kalamai, Nauplion
and Argos, though they could not boast 5,000
inhabitants apiece. The subjoined table shows
the progress of the thirty-five towns which have
now over 5,000 :
POPULATION
Progressive
Rank.
3 Athens
8 Peiraius
1 5 Patras
29 Hermoupolis
2 1 Kerkyra
29 Zakynthos .
1 Trikkala
28 Larissa
1 2 Pyrgos
2 Volo
27 Tripolis
14 Kalamai
31 Argos
II Chalkis
10 Mesolonghi
2 1 Argostoli
7 Philiatra
13 Agrinion
4 Ano Syros
18 Arta...
15 Aigion
17 Lamia
9 Karditsa
31 Hydra
26 Messene
23 Megara
34 Lexouri
6 Leukas
5 Gargalianoi
33 Kranidi
24 Langhadia
19 Tyrnavos
20 Nauplion
24 Amphissa
35 Spetsai
Total
Population.
1879.
i88<).
Increase. .
Per Cent
■■ 63,374
114.355
50,981
80
.. 21,618
34,327
12,709
58
■■ 25,494
33,529
8,035
31
s 21,540
22,104
564
2
•■ 16,515
19,025
2,51°
15
• ■ 16,250
16,603
353
2
•■ 5,563
14,820
9,247
166
■■ I3>i6r)
13,610
441
3
... 8,788
12,647
3,859
43
4,987
11,029
6,042
121
.. 10,057
10,698
641
6
7,609
10,696
3,093
40
... 9,861
9,814
(-47)
—
... 6.877
9.919
3.042
44
6,324
9,476
3-152
49
... 7,871
9,075
1.204
15
■■■ 5.632
8,973
3.341
59
... 5,218
7,430
2,212
42
... 4,328
7,338
3,010
69
5,700
7,048
1.348
23
5,311
7,001
1,690
31
■•■ 5,506
6,888
1,382
25
4,501
6,798
2,294
50
6,446
6,413
(-33)
—
..• 5,853
6,325
472
8
• •■ 5,348
6,036
688
12
■•• 5,418
5,740
(-322)
(-5)
3>434
5.539
2,105
61
■■• 3,397
5,528
2,131
62
... 5,628
5.500
(-128)
(-2)
... 4,825
5.375
5.SO
1 1
■•• 4.337
5,305
968
22
4,589
5,459
870
18
... 4,667
5,180
513
1 1
... 6,495
5.172
(—1323)
(-20)
342,733 471,760 129,027 37-6
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
An analysis of the first thirty-five urban
sanitary districts (in alphabetical order) in Eng-
land and Wales with a present population of over
5,000 gives :
t88t. i8gi. Increase. Per Cent.
488,458 57S.i°3 86,645 17-7
Nor can it be said that the Greek urban increase
means a rural decrease, for, eliminating the towns,
we find :
i8yg. i88g. Increase. Per Cent.
i!349.33i 1,429,991 80,660 , 5-9
In spite of their fondness of town life, 78 per
cent, of the population is rural, a proportion
similar to that of Roumania, and less than that of
Italy, but exceeding that of all other European
countries.
Further, a good many of the towns which figure
in the above list are really rural ; that is to say,
their inhabitants are chiefly engaged in farming.
There are, or until quite recently were, no isolated
farm-houses and cottages in Greece. Originally
gregarious from fear of the Turks, the peasants
continued to house themselves in big villages as
long as brigandage lasted, trudging off to their
work in the morning with a pocketful of bread
and olives, which they would eat at mid-day beside
some spring or brook under the shade of a plane-
tree, and returning to their little town before
POPULATION
nightfall. For the same reason, as well as owing
to peasant proprietorship, country-seats are non-
existent. Now that brigandage has been dead
for twenty years, a tendency to live on the land
they till is beginning to be observed. The multi-
plicity of small villages may easily be remarked
in the following table :
Nomarchy.
Attika-Boiotia
Phthiotis-Phokis
Aitolia-Akarnania
Argolis-Korinth
Arkadia
Achaia-Elis ...
Lakonia
Messenia
Euboia
Kyklades
Kerkyra
Kephallenia...
Zakynthos . . .
Arta ...
Larissa
Trikkala
Total . . .
Eparchies. Denies. Villages.
5
4
6
6
4
4
4
5
4
7
5
4
I
2
6
3
7°
28
36
34
32
33
30
28
31
24
39
22
20
10
8
38
27
440
192
266
352
322
325
521
456
45°
27s
206
217
245
61
55
3'3
319
4,575
There are only 1,006 urban sanitary districts in
England and Wales.
Births and Deaths. — The 'Companions'
issued so far give the birth-rates, etc., up to 1884
only. In the decade ending with that year there
were 45,177 births per annum, or 26-59 per
thousand, while there were 3i,959 deaths pef
8 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
annum, or i8"84 per thousand. The rate per
thousand in other capitals was last year :
Births.
Deaths.
Births.
Deaths.
London
.. 29-2
19-7
Berlin
• 32'
17-
Edinburgh .
.. 287
24-
Vienna
■■ 32-4
20'
Dublin
.. 22-8
22-8
Rome
•■ 2S'4
i6-r
Paris
• 23-5
19-2
St. Petersburg —
19-2
Brussels
•• 24-9
17-8
New York
... —
20-8
People very frequently reach extreme old age.
The following table shows the rate to population
of those alive at different ages in Greece and
France :
In Greece. In France.
75 to 80 one in 1,602
80 ,, 85 „ 2,101
85 >! 9° .. 3)02o one in 4,352
9° i> 95 ,> S.918 „ 20,000
95 » 100 „ 11,988 ,, 83,145
Over loo „ 16,678 , 352,947
M. Ornstein attributes Hellenic longevity to
good climate, pure air, simple food, better natural
physique, and less hereditary disease.
The Athens death-rate is 21-4 per thousand,
March being the most fatal month for males, and
June for females.
Religion and Nationality. — In the 1879
census account was taken of religion and language.
There were 24,165 Mohammedans, 14,677 Roman
Catholics, 5,792 Jews, and 740 others, the re-
mainder belonging to the Orthodox Greek
Church.
POPULATION
There were 58,858 Albanians, mostly congre-
gated at Kropia, Salamis, Eleusis, Thespise,
Solygeia, Acharnai, Marathon, Tanagra, Pellene,
Eidyllia, Plataia, and Thisbe. The frequent
recurrence of battlefields is somewhat remarkable.
Perhaps the situation suitable for a battle is par-
ticularly adapted to the shepherd habits of the
Albanians, most of the places mentioned above
being situated on the hinge between mountain
and plain.
There are also a score or so thousand Wal-
lachians. Of Slavs there are none. Those Slavs
who stayed in Greece have become so absorbed
in the Hellenic race that they are almost untrace-
able. Professor Hopf has innocently exploded
the charges cunningly devised by Fallmerayer
against the Hellenic genealogy of modern Hellas,
and it is now generally admitted by scientific
archaeologists that Greeks are really Greeks Of
course it must not be imagined that the Spartan
of to-day has an unbroken lineage from the
Spartan of the time of Leonidas, nor the latter-
day Megalopolitan from an Epaminondan an-
cestor. Such special similarities as travellers
claim to have remarked, where they are not the
product of a pleasantly sentimental imagination,
are probably due to topographic influences. The
surroundings which made the Athenian of old
intellectual, conceited, somewhat superstitious, and
intensely democratic, have the same tendency still.
lo GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The Albanians and Wallachians are also of
Greek stock, the former being identified by Hahn
with the Illyrians, and the latter by Roesler with
the Thracians, identifications which are now
generally received.
[" ]
CHAPTER II.
AGRICULTURE.
General Statistics — Corn — Stock— Dairy - Farming — Poultry-
Game — Wine — Currants — Olives — Figs — Other Fruit —
Mulberry — Cotton — Valonia — Tobacco— Vegetables.
When Greece became free her productive power
was very slight. The Turkish tyranny had not
been strong enough to force its bondmen into a
slavery really lucrative to their masters ; at the
same time, it had been too greedily wide awake to
allow as much profit to the subject race as would
have encouraged it to industry. With freedom
came the belief in the possibility of acquiring
wealth ; and gradually the willingness to undergo
the requisite amount of toil for success is becom-
ing apparent. It is hardly fair to tax the Greeks
with laziness in money-making. In the first
place, the same persistent energy is not to be
expected in a country as beautiful — and as hot —
as Greece, where one's needs are so few, and so
very pleasant a life is offered at a very small daily
12 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
expense. In the second place, the Greeks who
had thrown off the Turkish yoke looked instinc-
tively on affluence as the natural result of free-
dom — for were not the Turks free, and were not
they nearly all rich ? — not heeding that the Turks
had been masters of an alien soil, while they were
only masters of their own.
As the Klephtic feeling grew less, and brigand-
age became finally extinct, the land by slow
degrees came into greater cultivation. Up to
i860 there are no reliable statistics. The pro-
gress made since will be seen from the appended
table :
Wheat
Barley
Meslin
Maize
Oats
Rice
Dhimenon
Rye
Turkish maize
Millet
Potato
Bean
Haricot . . .
Pea
Chick-pea (i)
Chick-pea (2)
Chick-pea (3)
Dwarf-pea...
Lentil
Stremmaia.
i860.
1875-
1887.
944>o93
1,601,480
2,484,03:
362,871
679,111
902,502
361,825
577,500
501,263
36,988
—
33,237
41,486
—
90,249
—
—
2,000
3,67s
—
25,279
—
49,240
32,054
512,586
218,160
780,296
436
58,310
899
—
—
20,000
—
19,410
46,535
—
43,760
49,824
—
15,560
609
—
—
34,547
—
16,620
37,944
—
330
—
—
—
10,722
—
—
11,268
AGRICULTURE
13
Stremmata.
i860.
1875-
1887.
Lupin
—
—
46,175
Oryvos
—
—
44,961
Vetch
840
—
19,193
Broom
—
—
2,093
Sesame, etc.
4.504
9,170
79,595
Hemp and linseed
—
—
3,480
Flax
—
3,810
3,917
Cotton
21,105
109,860
61,916
Tobacco ...
25,000
42,204
38,987
Vine
492,502
—
1,266,204
Currant vine
iS3.°S8
—
468,77s
Olive
370,000
—
1,742,154
Mulberry
75,000
—
76,945
Velanidia
13,000
—
—
Fig
18,000
—
104,809
Almond
—
—
4,5°9
Other fruit
—
—
106,935
Vegetable gardens
—
--
40,242
Gardens
—
—
19,376
Fallow
2,516,000
—
4,035,331
Forests
■■ S.4i9>66o
—
6,000,000
Sundries
—
1 10
60,985
Various (returns incomp
ete) 1,482,949
i3>278,s65
—
Total under cultivation .
■• i2>8S5.S6o
16,721,200
19,290,841
Waste land (poor)
.. 11,748,000
diminished
increased
Mountains (often pastura
ge) 18,599,240
increased
increased
Marshes and lakes
833,448
increased
increased
Towns, rivers, roads, etc
1,653,000
increased
increased
Total
45,699,248 50,211,000 63,606,000
Considering the addition of the Ionian Islands
between the first period and the second, and that
of Thessaly between the second and third, the
14 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
improvement is not very great. However, the
advance seems made in the right direction, viz.,
corn, vines, currants, and olives.
Corn. — The wide plains of Thessaly, and
others, such as those of Argos, Sparta, Messene,
and Megalopolis, are fairly productive, though the
system of agriculture is a good deal too archaic,
being, in fact, almost Hesiodic. Steam-ploughs,
and other modern engines of culture, are quite
unknown. Nature there smiles so when she is
tickled, that she is never subjected to our rougher
treatment. Often, indeed, the primitive wooden
plough is discarded for the hoe. Even under
these conditions the farmer frequently gets two
harvests in a year.
One of the causes contributing to the lack of
earnestness in Greek farming is a certain demo-
cratic absence of the perception of the right of
property — especially in other people. Exactitude
they consider exaction. In riding about the
country you will find that your agogiat never
carries fodder for his animals during the season
when the corn is standing ; when the hour for the
mid-day meal arrives he just turns the animals
loose into the nearest corn. Nor will he admit that
this is theft. He is quite sure that no one would be
so unneighbourly, so inhospitable, as to refuse to
the passing stranger an obol's worth of corn.
Probably the Turks inured them to this forced
charity, and they have not yet learned to appre-
AGRICULTURE 15
ciate the less poetic, if more practical, advantages
of the accurate European szmm cidqiie.
It is a fact that at present Greece does not
grow enough corn for her own consumption. Her
half a million families require forty bushels a year
each, or a total of 20,000,000 bushels, while the
amount of corn availabledoes not exceed 14,000,000
bushels, thus leaving 6,000,000 to be imported.
This constitutes a serious loss, as there is not
only the carriage to be paid for, and the profit
left elsewhere, but Greek labourers lose their
share of the work, and so of the money. Thessaly
could, unaided, make up the deficiency, as there
are there over 3,000,000 stremmata of corn-land
not yet brought into cultivation. It is to be hoped
that the new Athens-Larissa railway will stimulate
the Thessalians to greater energy.
There is very little fault to be found with the
system of land-tenure. In the Peloponnesos
peasant proprietorship very largely prevails, most
of the farms being an acre or two only in extent,
although in the plains they average from ten to
fifty acres. The land is otherwise farmed under
a form of metayer tenure which Mr. Rennell
Rodd very accurately thus describes in his last
book, 'The Customs and Lore of Modern
Greece ' :
' In Thessaly, which is still in the hands of large
proprietors, the peasants, as a rule, pay one-third
of the produce in kind. The plains of Thessaly
1 6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
are, however, subject to bad harvests, in conse-
quence of a succession of frost and snow too soon
after the seed has been committed to the ground
in autumn ; and a series of such bad years,
coupled with want of method and a want of
proper irrigation, have reduced the peasants to
very sore straits ; but faciHties are now being
offered them by the Government for borrow-
ing money upon easy terms, which will enable
them gradually to become proprietors of their
holdings.
In Euboia, where the return to agriculture is
large, the payment of a third and less where the
land is poor has enabled the peasantry to buy out
many of the original holders, and already a greater
part of the island is in their hands. In Boiotia I
learned from several large proprietors that it was
the custom to advance seed to the cultivator,
which advance became the first charge on the
produce of the harvest, with fifteen per cent,
more as the landlord's share. In the Ionian
Islands two systems prevail. Under one the
owner takes two-thirds of the produce, but
supplies seeds and implements, manure — all, in
short, except mere manual labour ; the other
system resembles the Italian metairie, under
which the tenant cannot be dispossessed, save
in very exceptional circumstances, which it is not
practically possible to enforce ; a fifth of the
holding is looked upon as belonging absolutely
AGRICULTURE 17
to the tenant, inalienable from his person, and
descending to his next-of-kin. Peasants holding
under this system pay nominally one-half of the
produce to the owner of the land, and furnish
themselves with the necessary equipment ; but it
seldom happens that the proprietor obtains the
stipulated share of his dues, and the peasant is
practically master of the situation. For instance,
the olive groves, which represent the chief wealth
of the islands, are approximately valued at their
estimated yield, while the fruit is still ripening,
by the peasant and a representative of the owner.
The latter, however, is generally himself of the
peasant class, and in sympathy with the tenant,
and therefore inclined to under-estimate the yield ;
then, when the return has been made, and the
share of the landlord determined, he is frequently
informed after the harvest that such and such of
the trees were despoiled by insects, that hail or
storm damaged so many more, so that his part of
the produce is reduced to about half of the
estimate.'
There is very little doubt that a considerable
source of revenue is closed to the Government
owing to the utter confusion which prevailed after
the Turks had been driven out. The Capitani
seized lands where they could, and many thou-
sands of acres have been accordingly lost by pre-
scription to the Government.
2
li
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Stock. —
1SS2.
1SS7.
TSp2.
Camels
53
44
44
Horses
110,305
91.513
100,000
Mules
49,381
46,344
52,000
Donkeys .
100,038
91.543
100,000
Cattle
387,177
331.689
360,000
Sheep
■ 3.301.976
2,620,161
2,900,000
Goats
• 2,545,497
1,981,483
2,000,000
Pigs
38,377
13,679
25,000
It will be observed that the depression in trade
caused by the military excitement of 1885 was
very severe in 1887, and has not been yet quite
recovered from. Last year's figures are necessarily
not thoroughly exact, but they show an invariable
falling off as compared with 1882, except as to
mules, and an advance as compared with 1887,
except in the case of the camels, which may well
be the same forty-four animals which figured in
1887. They are used only in the neighbourhood
of Parnassos, and a string of them may often be
met at Krissa. Of the cattle at present in the
country, most are far too athletic for the table,
having spent their lives at the plough-head or
other similar work. No less a sum than 1,460,819
drachmas was last year paid out of the country for
animals for food.
Dairy-farming. — On this subject there are no
statistics available, but everyone who has travelled
in Greece is well aware of the deficiency of the
country in this respect. Cows' milk is hardly to
AGRICULTURE 19
be bought outside Athens, and even there is
scarce. As a rule, the goats are driven into the
towns in the morning, and milked at the doors of
the houses. The butter, which, although it more
nearly resembles Cornish cream than English
butter, is archaeologically the real article, is re-
markably good, and makes a fine compound with
the honey from Mount Hymettos. The fresh
cheese is excellent ; in fact, I never remember
tasting such cheese in my life as that which one
summer evening was the staple of my dinner a
thousand feet or so from the summit of Parnassos.
There were three kinds : the fresh ; laourti, a
very palatable cream-cheese ; and Misethra, a
rich, older variety. The ordinary salt cheese
beloved by the rustics is not very toothsome to an
Englishman.
Poultry. — The fowls of Greece, which form
the traveller's food almost wherever he goes,
relieved occasionally by sheep and goat, are like
the cattle without the latter's excuse. Luckily
pilafi conceals a great deal of toughness. There
is probably room for a large extension of poultry-
farming in the neighbourhood of Athens. Turkeys,
geese, and ducks are rarely met with.
Game. — Hares are fairly plentiful on the main-
land ; red-legged partridges on the islands, espe-
cially Aigina and some of the Kyklades ; wood-
cock in Aitoliaand Akarnania; quails in Kythera;
duck and other wildfowl on Kopa'is and the other
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
lakes and marshes. Pigeons are common every-
where, and becaficoes not rare. Big game is
hardly to be found, though bears, wolves, and
jackals visit the mountains in the winter. There
is no preserving, and one may shoot wherever
one pleases ; a license, which is not, however,
always considered essential by the natives, costs
five drachmas.
Wine. — Greek wines are but little known in
England, and not much better on the Continent,
and, indeed, only those who have drunk them on
the spot have any idea of their excellence. Many
of them are of tempting colour and exquisite
flavour, and most have the rather old-fashioned
merit of purity ; at the same time, wine-making is
left so much to Nature that great care and atten-
tion are required in selection and shipping.
Malmsey, once the glory of Monemvasia, is now
no more. M. About, in 1853, wrote,, ' C'est tout
au plus s'ils fabriquent tous les ans de quoi noyer
Clarence.' The best wine at present grown in
Greece is that of the King's vineyards at Dekeleia.
Amongst the finest are the white Kephallenia,
Rombola and Moschato (sweet), which are shipped
in considerable quantities to the Continent,
especially to Germany, by Mr. E. A. Toole.
Zakynthos is renowned for its Lithakiotikon (red)
and Verdere (white) ; the former is sometimes of
a wonderfully fine quality, but with the present
primitive means of manufacture no proprietor is
AGRICULTURE
at all certain that his coming crop will maintain
his vineyard's good name. Ithaka produces a
fine full-bodied black wine, a little of which some-
times finds its way to England, and also a very
fair white wine. After this come the wines of
Santorin, which, however, are not as good as they
were, and the wine of Petaleia. Kerkyra and
Lenkas produce large quantities of fair quality,
which are exported to Genoa, Marseilles, Bordeaux,
Rouen, and Hamburg for blending. Kyme, in
Euboia, also exports with this object to France.
Keos produces a good black wine, which is con-
sumed chiefly in Athens and Peiraius. Of the
Attic wines the best (after the King's) is
M. Skouzes' Clos Marathon, a very fine Hocky
wine, of which the Grand Hotel in Paris, has the
monopoly. M. Solon's white C6tes de Parnes is
good — much better than the dark. M. Syngros,
too, grows- fair wine. The Deutsche Actien
Gesellschaft fiir Wein, at Patras, under the direc-
tion of Herr Gustav Clauss, has, after years of
persevering endeavour, obtained a good sale in
Germany, especially for its white dinner-wines.
Their black Mavrodaphne is also a good and
saleable table-wine ; they also produce a cham-
pagne which is pure, but not very cham-
pagney. A similar ambition has taken hold of
the Tegeans, but their Tzampania is very undry,
and will not always even fizz. French companies
have at various times attempted wine-growing in
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
certain parts of the Peloponnesos, notably in the
plain of Mantineia (near Tripolis), but from one
cause or another they have given up the
attempt. Most of the wine consumed in the
country is, as is well known, flavoured with resin ;
but the palate soon becomes used to this pecu-
liarity, and can discriminate between the fine
vintages of Lakonia and Naxos and the raw
and rough products of Argolis and part of
Arkadia. The retsinatos of Euboia and the Attic
Mesogaia are also much esteemed. The antiquity
of the custom of adding resin has not yet been
adequately explored ; I believe it is not known to
exist or to have existed in any other country. It
is not impossible that the pine-cones associated
with Dionysos and the satyrs may be due to it, in
which case it would be of interest to discover the
earliest instance in extant or described works of
art. Modern Greeks sometimes assert that their
special political tendencies and sanguine tempera-
ment are in a large measure traceable to it.
It has the reputation, too, of being anti-pyretic,
and I think it is not unlikely to be anti-rheumatic.
A little more knowledge of vine culture, and
a great deal more attention to scientific wine-
making, ought to lead to a very extensive
increase in the export of wine, as Greece can
certainly produce better wines than Italy, even
including Sicily, and not improbably as good
wines as any other country whatsoever.
, AGRICULTURE 23
Currants. — The development of the currant
trade was one of the first outward signs of the
freedom of Greece. In 1820 there were pro-
duced over 4,000 tons, but the Turks persistently
destroyed the plants. The production has risen
steadily (making allowance for rainy years and
disease) :
Tons. Tons.
1830 ... 8,920 1871 ... 81,374
1851 ... 40,510 1881 ... 124,826
1861 ... 42,759 1891 ... 167,000
The last-named quantity was worth to Greece
70,000,000 francs (gold). Last year the crop
was partially spoiled, and the returns will be
consequently less satisfactory.
The quantities consumed by the different
countries were :
i88g.
i8po.
1891.*
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
England
. 51,680
67,650
S9.000
France
70,000
39.350
20,000
United States ..,
• I3)2°0
15.700
9,400
Germany
. 22,670
18,200
9,700
Canada and Australia are becoming consider-
able consumers. The two most striking features
in the above table are the enormous increase of
English consumption, and the decrease in French
consumption. The former is partly due to the
currant tax having been reduced, in 1890, to 2s.
* August I to October 31, or about three-fifths of the yearly
total.
24 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE'
a hundredweight, by Mr. Goschen, while the
latter has a similar cause, the imposing of a new
tax in 1 89 1 of 12 francs per 100 kilograms by
the French Minister of Finance in addition to
the 6 francs tax already in existence. The
'Hellenic Companion' for 1892 contains in its
supplement a paper on 'The Currant in France,'
by M. M. Chairetes. He says : ' The sending
of large quantities of currants to France for the
preparation of wine has little by little attracted
to itself the animosity of the vine-growing com-
munity, who have recognised a dangerous rival
in this new industry. The French wine-growers
had intended to gain themselves the advantage
of the higher price of wines resulting from the
phylloxera catastrophe, and consequently could
not but be confounded when they saw a foreign
product gradually take the place of their grapes
In the manufacture of wine.' The currants are
grown principally along the south of the Gulf of
Korinth, Elis being responsible for 94,000,000
litres in 1891, Triphyllia 35,000,000, Messenia
35,000,000, Patras 29,000,000, Pylia 22,000,000,
Korinth 21,000,000, Kephallenia 20,000,000,
Aigialeia 19,000,000, Olympia 17,000,000, Za-
kynthos 13,000,000, and Naupaktos 10,000,000;
the chief places of export being, consequently,
Patras (one-third of the whole), Katakolon,
Kalamai, Zakynthos, and Kephallenia. The diffi-
culty of currant-culture can be seen from the
AGRICULTURE 25
following extract from ' New Greece,' by Mr.
Lewis Sergeant (1879) : ' When the fruit is pro-
duced it is liable to destruction or deterioration by
rough weather or excessive moisture ; and yet
the culture cannot be extended far inland. The
crops are gathered in August, and it happens
that the Gulf of Korinth is at this time fre-
quently exposed to storms, which may in a day
convert a heavy crop into a light one. The vine
bears in its sixth year, and does not reach per-
fection for a dozen or fifteen years, so that it is
necessary to manage the plantations very syste-
matically, and to sink capital long before a return
is expected.' And capital is one of the good
things that Greece abounds least in. Several
seasons have been very bad in consequence of
disease, but now that the farmers have been
induced (by success) to believe that it is not
irreligious to supplement prayers with sulphur the
harm from this source is not so formidable.
Seeing that the income derived by England
from the currant tax last year was only ^113,994
net, there is no reason why the tax should not
be altogether abolished. The slight budgetary
inconvenience would probably be balanced by the
benefit to the poor consumer ; the friendly action
to Greece remains to the good.
Olives. — The olive, with its feuillage discret,
is, next to the mountains, the most familiar
feature in Greek landscape. So it was of old,
26
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
and so it continued to be till Ibrahim Pacha cut
down two-thirds of the trees. No sooner had
the Greeks gained their independence, moreover,
than they began at once to plant olives. In
1834 there were 2,300,000 trees, in i860 there
were 370,000 stremmata (with about twenty trees
to the stremma), in 1887 1,742,154 stremmata.
The consumption of the dried fruit (mostly the
black kind) in Greece is very large, as it is the
one relish which the peasant can afford. The
export of olives and of olive oil is considerable
and progressive.
Olives. Olive Oil.
649,877 drachmas. 2,318,252 drachmas.
i>o5S>9i4 „ 3:535.821
709.362 „ 1,506,313 „ *
isa2
1887
i8q2
In 1889 the chief consumers were
Russia
• 254.770
drachmas.
1.378,874
Turkey
. 226,776
263,460
Roumania .
. 182,418
25,262
Egypt
• 135,418
115,888
France
• 51.473
—
Italy
21.359
1.542,347
Austria
• 15.338
406,794
England .
—
80,501
Germany .
—
62,881
There is also a small quantity of the oil made
from the kernels sent every year to France.
* January i to August 31.
AGRICULTURE 27
The trees are placed at considerable intervals,
and do not require very much attention ; they
yield a good crop every four or five years, and
live to a great age.
Figs. — This is a culture only recently tried,
but is likely to succeed. There were 18,000
stremmata in i860, and 104,809 in 1889. The
export in 1890 amounted to 2,248,008 drachmas
(182,334 staters), by far the largest quantity going
to Austria, though Turkey and Russia were also
buyers. Of the production last year (up to
August 15), Kalamai shipped 100,519 staters,
the trees being planted in long lines in its neigh-
bourhood, Nesi 26,814, ^r^d Almyros and Lonkas
smaller quantities. The quality nearly equals that
of Smyrna figs.
Other Fruit. — The almond-tree area in 1889
was 4, 509 stremmata ; the orange-tree area is
not given in any statistical papers that I know
of, but should be very much larger than the
former, as all the valleys and plains have their
share of orange trees. Lakonia, Messenia, Argolis,
Karystos in Euboia, the islands of Paros, Naxos,
Andros, and Poros, and the Troezenian mainland
opposite to the last-named island, are most cele-
brated. Most of these places export considerable
quantities, which form the largest part of the
1,561,670 okas exported in 1890. Lemons,
citrons, bergamots, etc., are also grown in great
variety. Peaches, apricots, etc., are of more
2 8 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
recent introduction, and are not yet satisfactory,
being either gathered in a too unripe state, or
not scientifically cultivated. The total area under
fruit-trees, exclusive of almonds, in 1887 was
106,935. You also find apples (some of very
good flavour), carob, damson, hazel-nut, jujube,
loquat, medlar, morella-cherry, pear, pistachio- nut,
plum, pomegranate, quince, service - tree, and
walnut, and, amongst the herbaceous and fruticose
kinds, gooseberry, melon, raspberry, strawberry,
and water-melon. Fruit is very cheap, sometimes
4 lb. a penny, of various sorts, in the islands.
The Mulberry. — The mulberry is not planted
so much as a fruit-tree, but as food for the silk-
worm, although Morus nigra produces a pleasant
fruit, from which in some parts of Messenia a
strong drink is distilled. Moms alba, the taste-
less-fruited species, is grown in Attika, as also
are, though less frequently, the Chinese, Italian,
and Prussian kinds. It is too slow-growing (much
slower even than the olive) to appeal effectually
to the rather in-a-hurry-to-be-rich instinct of the
average Hellene. Then the silk itself, when it
comes, has not a very ready sale. It is used,
certainly, for the well-known Kalamai handker-
chiefs, and the less - known but much richer
Hydriot kummerbunds, and for the best dresses
of the damsels who have the good luck to live in
a silk-growing neighbourhood ; but Europe has
not yet learnt to appreciate it. At the same time,
for handkerchiefs, neckties, and scarfs, it answers
AGRICULTURE
29
admirably. It is so light, that for a ball-dress
(not Koan), or especially a wedding-dress (not
Empire), it would be perfectly ideal. There are
76,945 stremmata of mulberry at present, very
little more than there were thirty years ago. The
value of the silk exported in 1890 was 502,730
drachmas, and of the cocoons, 870,648 drachmas.
France bought all the silk, and Italy nearly
two-thirds of the cocoons, of which France and
Austria were also buyers. We in England get
ours indirectly through France, with a French
name, and no doubt a French price. Void a fine
opening for Liberty's !
Cotton. — The American Civil War gave a
considerable stimulus to cotton-growing in Gi-eece.
In i860 there were 21,105 stremmata; in 1887
there were 61,916, mostly in the neighbourhood
of Levadeia, and in the sub - nomarchy of
Phthiotis. The annual production is about
15,000,000 kilograms; some of this comes to
England. It is said to be of superior quality.
This is another industry which ought to thrive.
Valonia. — The Qtiercus cegilops produces
acorns which are used in tanning and other
more delicate operations.
The number of stremmata in i860 was 13,000,
and there should be much more at the present
time, although I cannot find any more recent
record. The export value in i8go was 1,299,716
drachmas, rather over half of which went to
Austria, and more than a quarter to England.
30 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
There is a very fine grove of velanidia on the
right-hand road from Marathon to Rhamnus.
The region most productive of valonia is, how-
ever, that of Xeromeros, in Akarnania.* Here
this magnificent, broad-foHaged oak grows luxuri-
antly on the bare rock. The peasants who live
in the villages near come in the autumn and help
themselves and make just about enough to keep
body and soul together for the rest of the year.
Tobacco. —
Area in i860 ... ... ... 25,000 stremmata.
i> 1875 42,204 „
=, 1887 38,967
As tobacco has long been under Government
surveillance (it is now a monopoly), its area is of
necessity circumscribed. The value exported
has increased more steadily than that of most
Greek agricultural products, having been
719,583 drachmas in 1871
1,581,916 ,, 1882
2,317,837 „ 1887
2,800,239 „ 1889
3,975,723 „ 1890
Turkey and Egypt take about three-quarters of
this, which they make into cigarettes, and pack
in boxes plentifully besprinkled with crescents
and Turkish characters and induce the British
dude to purchase at the rate of a penny each.
* ' Le Mont Olympe et I'Acarnanie,' by L. Heuzey, pp. 236, sg.
AGRICULTURE 31
Holland, France, England, Austria, and Russia
{in the order of import quantity), also buy. As far
as my own experience goes, I should say that the
best is that which comes from near Parnassos ;
then that from Lamia, Lakonia, Mesolonghi and
Arkadia, and, least good, that from Mykenai.
Baedeker mentions that from Trichonia as well,
and adds that the annual consumption is about
4 lbs. per person. The average Hellene, whether
urban or rustic, always has a cigarette in his
mouth ; indoors, especially in country cafes, he
often smokes a nargilleh, the tobacco for which is
specially prepared, and I believe comes from Persia.
Greek-grown tobacco is too dry for use in a pipe,
which, by the way, is not at all correct, except
inasmuch as it generally stamps one as an
Englishman, and so as a 'lordos.' There are no
native-made cigars, and all that are to be bought
in Athens are either very dear or very nasty.
The tobacco -growing provinces are (in order
of quantity) : /Etolia-Akarnania, Argolis-Korinth,
Phthiotis-Phokis, Trikkala and Larissa.
Vegetables. — The Greeks have not yet learned
to cultivate vegetables in our sense of the word
'cultivate.' There are a good many — wWd chor-
taria (herbs), in which they take a predatory
interest. Athens, under the guidance of tourists
and Greeks who have travelled, is already making
a demand for vegetables, which is met pardy
by the establishment of kitchen-gardens in the
32
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
suburbs, and partly by importation (400,989
drachmas' worth in 1890). There are only
20,000 stremmata of potatoes, which are very
rarely to be obtained outside the metropolis and
a few of the big towns. In addition to the
vegetables mentioned on page 12, there are also
grown, though not plentifully or everywhere,
artichoke, asparagus, beet, blite, cabbage, carrot,
cauliflower, chicory, cress, dill, Jerusalem artichoke,
kohl rabi, leek, lettuce, onion, parsley, pumpkin,
purslane, raddish, sorrel, turnip and watercress,
and a few other species of quite local preference,
such as CArenos and Bamia.
The provincial distribution for 1 890 is instructive :
Value of Value of
Products in Products per
I. Mainland:
Attika-Boiotia ...
Aitolia-Akarnania
Arta
Euboia ...
Larissa ...
Trikkala
Phthiotis-Phokis
Cultivated
Land in
Stremmata.
1,490,879
200,152
626,624
2,440,803
1,007,044
2,361,489
Drachmas. Stremma.
18,100,948
151146,700
i>4S6,9S9
11.747,899
21,188,479
12,039,654
13,661,767
I2'I4
14-33
7-27
1874
8-68
"■95
5-78
Total
9,183,956
93,342,405
TO"l6
//. Peloponnesos :
Argolis-Korinth . .
1,284,013
31,755,400
2473
Arkadia
1,393,870
16,463,726
1 1 -81
Achaia-Elis
782,860
46,550,793
59-46
Lakonia
800,790
18,202,750
22-73
Messenia
758,568
37,348,203
49-23
Total
5,020,101 150,320,872
29-94
AGRICULTURE 33
Cultivated
Land in
Stremmata.
Value of
Products in
Drachmas.
Value of
Products per
Stremma.
///. Kyklades ...
473.391
8,928,254
i8-86
IV. Ionian Islands ;
Kerkyra
Kephallenia
Zakynthos
383,224
418,719
114.394
916,337
15.593.785
18,806,413
22,958,990
8,736.519
49-07
54-83
76-37
Total
50,501,922
55-11
Grand total
303,093.460*
19-43
Accordingly we see that land produces on an
average at the present value £2 an acre, the
variation being between los. in Phthiotis-Phokis,
and £'] I OS. at Zante.
The chief products (in order of quantity) in
each province are :
Attika-Boiotia — Wine, wheat, grapes, olive - oil,
cotton.
Aitolia-Akarnania — Maize, wheat, wine, tobacco,
olives.
Arta — Maize.
Euboia — Wine, wheat, olives, olive-oil, grapes.
Larissa — Wheat, olives, olive-oil, wine, barley.
Trikkala — Wheat, maize.
Phthiotis-Phokis — Wheat, maize, wine.
Argolis-Korinth — Wheat, wine, currants, grapes,
olives, barley, maize, olive- oil.
Arkadia — Wheat, wine, grapes, maize, meslin.
Achaia Elis — Currants, wine, wheat, maize,
grapes.
* Lepta are included only in the grand total.
3
34 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Lakonia — Olives, olive-oil, meslin, wine, wheat.
Messenia — Currants, wheat, oHve - oil, olives,
grapes, maize, figs.
Kyklades — Wine, vegetables.
Kerkyra — Wine, olive-oil, olives, grapes.
Kephallenia — Olive-oil, currants, wine, olives.
Zakynthos — Olives, currants.*
* Only those products are mentioned which are worth over
1,000,000 drachmas.
[35 ]
CHAPTER III.
FORESTS.
Area — Species.
It is probable that the forests of Greece have
been growing gradually less ever since the
original advent of the Pelasgoi. Plato, in the
' Kritias,' mentions the deforesting of his day.
And as soon as the Dryads and other wood-
nymphs lost their sway over the people, there
was nothing to stop the devastation. Indeed, the
early Christians made an iconoclastic onslaught
on such groves as were esteemed sacred, and
probably looked on all woods as having (in
Greece) an anti-Christian tendency. There was
but little change until the arrival of the Turks,
nor, indeed, then, except with regard to cypresses,
which are, however, not forest-trees in Greece.
In 1833 an ordinance of King Otho forbade the
cutting of timber without permission. In 1835,
1836, 1838, 1843 and 1856, there was further
legislation. Attempts were made to place the
36 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
forest laws on a proper basis in 1856 and 1858,
but without success. The question was again
dealt with in 1861, 1876, 1877 and 1882, but
inefficiently. Last October another endeavour
was made to grapple with the difficulty, and the
steps now taken are at least more likely to have
practical good results than their precursors. There
are three evils which the State has to overcome :
first, the almost irrepressible habit which the
peasants have of helping themselves to firewood
and small timber for domestic use — a compara-
tively small evil with a wide area ; second, the
bleeding of the pines for resin with which to
flavour the wine, a robbery which is both more
dangerous and more easily detected, as well as
being restricted in area ; third, the custom of
the shepherds to set a forest ablaze in order to
provide herbage for their goats. It is difficult to
find words in which to adequately condemn this
abomination. The country has had to put up
with the loss of millions of pounds sterling in the
last thirty years in order that a few score shep-
herds might gain a few thousand pence. Hymettos
is already bare. Pentelikon has suffered from two
serious fires, and Parnes from one, in the last three
years. And it is the same all over the country.
The modiis operandi is simple enough. A retired
glade in the middle of a wood is chosen, some com-
bustible material arranged under glass, and the
rest left to the sun. Phoebus — how he must hate
FORESTS 37
the work ! And it is very difficult to say how-
such crime can be detected. At least the punish-
ment in case of detection should be made strongly
deterrent. Arson of a royal dockyard is with us
a capital crime, and the treason to the country is
no less manifest in this arson of the country itself.
M. Trikoupes has set apart fifty officers, with a
proportionate number of soldiers, to the work of
protecting the forests, and public opinion has
been strongly roused on their behalf Perhaps
they will have, after all, to exterminate the goat —
make him the scapegoat of his owners.
Area. — The forest area of Greece is at
present :
/. Mainland:
Attika-Boioda
430,000 1
stremmata.
Phthiotis-Phokis ...
... 1,660,000
))
Euboia
630,000
)»
Larissa 1
Trikkala \
... 2,200,000
))
Arta '
Akarnania- Aitolia . . .
... 1,210,000
1)
Total
... 6,130,000
jj
II. Peloponnesos:
Achaia-Elis
366,600
))
Arkadia
618,700
M
Argolis-Korinth ...
319,000
)»
Lakonia ...
588,200
3>
Messenia
... i77>5°°
)J
Total
... 2,070,000
))
There are practically none in the Kyklades and
Ionian Islands, so the grand total for Greece is
38
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
8,200,000 stremmata. The chief forest regions
are the slopes of Pindos, Ossa and PeHon, the
eparchies of Doris, Naupaktos, Phthiotis, Eury-
tania, Baltos and Bonitsa on the mainland ; and
the eparchies of Kynouria, Lakedaimon, Epi-
dauros Limera, Olympia, Elis, Kalavryta and
Korinth in the Peloponnesos. The sea-coast is,
except near Kaiapha, unwooded to a considerable
distance inland.
The legitimate consumption of timber has been
as follows :
Cubic
Value in
Metres.
Drachmas.
For ship-build
ing
1,860
158,100
For household purposes
52,369
2,094,760
For fuel...
... 214,479
1,651,488
Total
... 268,708
3,904,348
Resin
... 2,925,000 okes.
885,756
Tan
25,041 staters.
100,164
jSS6. i8go.
Cubic
Value in Cubic
Value in
Metres.
Drachmas. Metres.
Drachmas.
For ship.]
building 1
252
21,420 2,606
221,510
For house-~j
hold pur-j-
poses '
43>i32
1,925,280 62,799
2,511,960
For fuel ...
275,690
319.074
2,122,813 232,465
1,789,980
Total ...
4.069,513 297,870
4-523.440
Resin ...3,011,0000k. 903,449 3,995,0000k. 1,168,688
Tan ... 32,961 St. 131,844 80,012 St. 320,048
FORESTS
39
Taking the nine years' average 1882-1890, and
including valonia and sundry other smaller forest
products, the yearly production is 9,297,267
drachmas, which at 4 per cent, represents a
capital of 232,431,675 drachmas. The real value
must be very much larger, for there is a great
deal of contraband firewood and resin.
45 per cent, of the forest trees are oaks and other broad-leaved
kinds.
35 ,, ,, fir and spruce.
20 ,, ,, pine.
Species. — The following is a list of the indi-
genous trees and shrubs. The chief sources of
this compilation are Smith's 'Flora Grseca,' and
Von Heldreich's 'Die Nutzpflanzen Griechenlands,'
and ' Pftanzen der attischen Ebene.' I have in-
cluded as species a few plants, such as Abies
RegincB-AmalicE, of which the status does not ap-
pear to be finally determined. In some cases it has
been somewhat difficult to decide whether or not a
plant should be called a shrub ; I have intended
to exclude all species which are merely suffruti-
cose or frutescent. In cases of uncertainty as to
indigeneity, Greece has been allowed the benefit
of the doubt, as, for instance, Salix Babylonica.
The species printed in italics are to be found in
Attika, though not necessarily only in Attika,
while the remainder are to be found only in other
parts of Greece.
4°
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Order.
Leguminosse.
Tree-species.
Amygdalacese.
Rosacese.
Cercis Siliguastrum.
Ceratonia Siliqua.
Amygdalus communis.
Persica vulgaris.
Pmnus Armeniaca.
„ avium.
„ Cerasus.
,, domes tica.
„ insititia.
„ Mahaleb.
,, pseudo-
armeniaca.
, , spinosa.
Cerasus Caproniana.
„ L a u r o c e-
rasus.
„ prostrata.
Shrub-species
Anagyris fcetida.
Spartium junceum.
Genista acanthoclada.
„ candicans.
„ horrida.
,, Scorpius.
Cytisus divaricatus.
„ sessilifolius.
,, spinosus.
„ triflorus.
Anthyllis Herman-
nia.
Medicago arborea.
Psoralea bituminosa.
Colutea arborescens.
Astragalus aristatus.
Coronilla Emerus.
„ glauca.
Alhagi maurorum.
Rosa canina.
„ rubiginosa.
,, spinosissima.
FORESTS
41
Order.
Pomacese.
Granatacese.
Myrtaceae.
Rutaceee.
TerebinthaccEe.
Juglandacese.
Euphorbiaceae.
Rhamnacea;.
Tree-species.
Cydonia vulgaris.
Pyrus amygdali-
formis.
„ communis.
,, Malus.
,, salicifolia.
Sorbus domestica.
„ Grseca.
CratEegus Azareolus.
Heldreichii.
monogyna.
oxyacantha.
pycnoloba.
pyracantha
tanacetifolia.
Punica Granatum.
Myrtus communis.
Pisiacia Lentiscus.
„ Terebinthus.
Rhus Coriaria.
Juglans regia.
Rhamnus saxatilis.
Shrub-species.
Rubus Idseus.
Poterium spinosum.
Ruta chalepensis.
,, divaricata.
„ graveolens.
Rhus Cotinus.
Schinus molle.
Euphorbia Characias.
„ dendroides.
Buxus sempervirens.
Rhamnus Alaternus.
alpinus.
catharticus.
fallax.
Graecus.
infectorius.
Libanoti-
cus.
42
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Order.
Tree-species.
AquifoliaceEe.
Celastracese.
Aceraceae.
Meliacese.
Auraniiacese.
Tamaricacese.
Hypericacese.
Tiliacese.
Malvaceae.
Caryophyllaceae.
Mesembryaceae.
Cactacese.
Ilex Aquifolium.
Acer Heldreichii.
,, platanoides.
„ Reginae-Amalias.
Melia Azederach.
Citrus Awajitium.
,, deliciosa.
„ Limetta.
,, Limonium.
„ vulgaris.
Shrub-species.
Rhamnus oleoides.
,, prunifolius.
„ pubescens.
„ rupestris.
„ Sibthorpi-
anus.
Zizyphus Paliurus.
„ vulgaris.
Euonymus Euro-
paeus.
„ latifolius.
Acer Creticum.
Citrus medica.
Tilia argentea.
„ Europasa.
„ microphylla.
Tamarix Hampeana.
„ parviflora.
Hypericum Coris.
„ etnpetri-
folium.
Lavatera arborea.
Olbia.
„ unguiculata.
Dianthus fruticosus.
Drypis spinosa.
Mesembryanthemum
nodifloru7n.
OpuntiaFicus-Indica.
FORESTS
43
Order.
Cistacese.
Tree-species.
Capparidaceee.
Cruciferse.
Berberidacese.
Ribesiaceae.
Cornaceae.
Ampelidacese.
Umbelliferse.
Ericaceae.
Stryacacese.
Solanaceae
Boraginaceae.
Verbenaceae.
Cornus mas.
Shrub-species.
Cistus albidus.
„ Creticus.
„ incanus.
„ Montpelierisis.
„ parviflorus.
„ salvifolius.
Helianthemum Apen-
ninum.
„ ellipticutn.
„ lavandidcefolium.
„ thymifolium.
Capparis spinosa.
Mathiola tristis.
Alyssum Orientale.
„ saxatile.
Cheiranthus Cheiri.
Berberis cretica.
„ vulgaris.
Ribes grossularia.
„ multiflora.
„ Uva-crispa.
Cornus sanguinea.
Vitis vinifera.
Bupleurum frutico-
sum.
Erica arborea.
„ carnea.
„ multiflora.
„ verticillata.
Arbutus Andrachne.
„ Unedo.
Styrax officinalis.
Lyciuin Mediter-
raneum.
Lithospermum fruti-
cosum.
Vitex Agnus- Castus.
44
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Order.
Labiatae.
Tree-species.
Gentianacese.
Asclepiadaceae.
Apocynacese.
OleaccEe.
Oka EuropcEa.
Shrub-species.
Lavandula dentata.
„ Spica.
„ Sioechas.
Origanum sipyleum.
„ Tournefortii.
Thymus capitatus.
„ lanceolatus.
„ vulgaris.
Satureia nervosa.
„ Thymbra.
Thymbra spicata.
Micromeria Grceca.
„ Juliana.
„ plumosa.
Rosmarinus offici-
nalis.
Salvia calycina.
„ officinalis.
„ triloba.
Sideritis candicans.
„ Taurica.
Stachys Palasstina.
Phlomis fruticosa.
Prasium maius.
Teucrium brevifolium.
„ divaricatum.
„ fiavum.
„ montanum.
„ Folium.
Chironia maritima.
,, spicata.
Gomphocarpus fruti-
cosus.
Marsdenia erecta.
Nerium Oleander.
Fhillyrea latifolia.
,, media.
FORESTS
45
Order.
Jasminacese.
CaprifoliaceEe.
Rubiaceae.
Composite.
Tree-species.
Elseagnaceae.
Thymelseacese.
Elceagnus angustifolia.
Santalacese.
Lauraceae. Laurus nobilis.
Chenopodiacese.
Salicacese.
Salix acuminata.
„ alba.
„ amplexicaulis.
„ Babylonica.
,, cinerea.
Shrub-species.
Jasminus fruticans.
Sambucus nigra.
„ racemosa.
Lonicera xylo-
stemma.
Viburnus Lantana.
Rubia tinctorum.
Inula crithmoides.
Artemisia arborescens.
Helichrysum
Stoechas.
Stffihelina Chamae-
peuce.
Santolina anthe-
moides.
Santolina marilima.
Daphne Alpina.
,, dioica.
,, Gnidium.
„ jasminea.
„ mezereum.
„ oleoides.
Thymelcea hirsiita.
„ Tartonraira.
Osyris alba.
Atriplex Halimus.
Arthrocnemum fruti-
cosum.
Suceda fruticosa.
Salicornia fruticosa.
Salix incana.
,, purpurea.
,, viminalis.
46
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Order.
Salicacese.
Urticacese.
Amentaceae.
Gnetaceae.
Conifers
Tree-species.
Salix Cyllenea.
., fragilis.
„ Helix.
,, triandra.
Populus alba.
Ulmus campestris.
Celiis australis.
Moms alba.
„ nigra.
Ficus Carica.
Platanus Orientalis.
Alnus glutinosa.
Quercus cegilops.
„ Ballota.
„ Calliprinos.
„ cerris.
„ coccifera.
„ congesta.
„ Esculus.
„ /lex.
„ infectoria.
„ peduncu-
lata.
,, pubescens.
„ sessiliflora.
Carpinus Betulus.
„ JDuinensis.
Ostrya carpinifolia.
Corylus Avellana.
„ Colurna.
Fagus sylvatica.
Castanea vulgaris.
Pinus Halepetisis.
,, Laricio.
„ pinea.
Abies Cephalonica.
Shrub-species.
Celtis Tournefortii.
Ephedra distachya.
Juniperus communis.
„ drupacea.
„ foetidissima.
„ macrocarpa.
FORESTS
47
Order.
Tree-species..
Shrub-species.
Coniferae.
Abies Reginae-
Amaliae.
Juniperus nana.
„ Panachaica.
,, oxycedrus.
„ pectinata.
,, Fhxnicea.
Cupressus semper-
„ rufescens.
virens.
„ sabinoides.
„ turbinata.
Palmse.
Phoenix dactylifera.
Smilacese.
Ruscus aculeatus.
Liliaceae.
Aloe vulgaris.
[48 ]
CHAPTER IV.
INDUSTRIES.
Mines — Marble — Salt — Factories — Fishing.
Mines. — The mineral wealth of Greece is not
now great, though several of the mines have
produced large profits during the course of their
existence. Almost all those at present worked,
or even known, were worked in classical days.
The chief minerals are silver, lead, zinc, copper,
iron, coal, sulphur, magnesia and manganese ; in
addition, emery, marble, mill-stone, potter's clay,
gypsum, and several kinds of building-stone are
found. On most of these a royalty of 1 1 per
cent, (on the net profit) is paid to the State. This
yielded last year as follows :
DracAmas.
Silver-mines at Laurion (French company) 250,000
„ „ (Greek „ ) 40,000
„ Sounion (French „ ) 14,000
Iron mines at Seriphos and Spelazeze ... 12,000
„ Daskalion 12,000
Manganese mine at Bani (in Melos) ... 23,000
INDUSTRIES 49
Drachmas.
Sulphur-mine in Melos ... ... ... 7,000
Coal-mine at Oropos ... ... ... 330
Quarries of marble in Euboia ... ... 11,000
„ millstone and gypsum in
Melos ... ... ... ... ... 35,000
Quarries of emery .. . ... ... ... 480,000
Santorin earth ... ... ... ... 25,000
Total
909.33°
This means a profit of over ^300,000, and a
very'- considerable employment of labour and
circulation of money. There are several other
ventures which do not appear in this list, as, for
instance, a coal-mine at Kyme, the coal from
which is used in the manufacture of lime (also
not included). Magnesia, too, is found in Euboia ;
and quite lately gold, it is said, has been dis-
covered near Arta. Manganese is found with the
iron, (2 to 2\ per cent, of the former to 47 to 49 of
the latter), and in Spelazeze (14 to 17 per cent, to
34 to 36), and at Nikias. The Seriphos ore is
delivered on board ship for 6 francs the ton, that
from Nii<ias for from 11 to 15 francs. Seriphos
also produces copper. There is also iron at
Karystos (in Euboia), and near Monemvasia.
At Laurion, where the old workings are very
extensive — as, indeed, we should expect them to
be from the number of slaves who were employed
there — they get about 8 lbs. of silver from a ton
of lead ore, besides about 10 per cent, of lead and
4
so GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
a small quantity of zinc. The scoriae, too, thrown
out from the old operations have paid for the
working — yielding nearly 5 lbs. of silver per ton
of ore. Copper is also found at Laurion. The
sulphur is chiefly used for the vines. Gypsum is
widely distributed, the best being found on the
west coast of Melos. The quarries there produce
5,000 quintals a year, sold for home use in the
process of wine-making, at 5 drachmas a quintal.
Millstone is found on the east coast of Melos,
and is worked in narrow underground galleries.
It is of excellent quality, better than the Turkish ;
large ones, 45 centimetres long by 30 broad, sell
for 6^ drachmas. Emery is found in several of
the Kyklades, notably in Naxos, the emery from
the east coast of which, as containing a large pro-
portion of oxide of alumina, is particularly saleable.
This set of quarries is estimated to have pro-
duced 5,000,000 tons up to now.
The Greek company at Laurion has a capital
of 20,000,000 drachmas (14,000,000 paid up),
which consists of 100,000 shares at 200 drachmas
each. In 1888-89 it paid 1,154,555 drachmas for
coal (from England), and received 1,921,217 drach-
mas for ore. It paid 5^ per cent, in 1 887, 6 in 1 888,
5^ in 1889, 5f in 1890, 5f in 1891. John Carr
and Co., of Newcastle, are the biggest buyers.
The French company at Laurion has a capital of
16,300,000 francs (all paid up), which consists of
32,600 shares of 500 francs each. The shares
INDUSTRIES 51
are not quoted on the Athens Bourse. The 1 89 1
'dividend was 8 per cent.
Exports :
iS/i. 1882. 1887. i8go.
Drachmas. Drachmas. Drachmas. Drachmas.
Lead ... 8,574-100 12,669,351 17,638,382! ^^^^
Other metals 10,200 741,568 4,324,414) ' '
Emery ... 831,350 127,500 370,739 366,360
Santorin earth — — (in 1889) 373,838
Marble )
(worked)) ~ - ~ 40,75°
Marble (un- }
worked) [ - - - 212,030
About half of the lead and other ores goes to
England, nearly a third to Belgium, nearly an
eighth to France, and smaller quantities to Italy
and the United States. Holland and England
are the only considerable purchasers of emery.
Turkey buys marble and Santorin earth.
Marble does not receive the attention it
deserves, except in the antique, although
(perhaps because) Greece is almost made of
marble. The most famous kinds are Parian, of
fine grain (the statue-stone), Pentelic (the temple-
stone, e.g., the Parthenon), and Hymettan, bluish-
gray (the cemetery-stone). White marble is also
" found at Naxos, Tenos, Skyros, and several other
places ; gray at Stoura and Karystos ; red at
Trisboukai ; variegated at Karystos and Valaxa ;
and green on Taygetos.
In spite of all this wealth at hand, and large
52
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
quantities of granite, etc., to boot, Greece imports
the latter stone from Asia Minor, and even
6,000,000 francs' worth of lava (in one year)
from Italy. Potters' clay is found at Ambelo-
kepi, Kalogreza and Koukouvaonai ; red clay at
Dolyand, and in Seriphos.
Salt. — There are twelve salt-works in Greece,
the chief ones at Anabyssos, Leukas and
Mesolonghi, which provide from 12,000,000 to
14,000,000 okes of salt yearly, satisfactorily
meeting the internal demand. It further, being
a monopoly, brought in 2,300,000 drachmas in
1 89 1 to the State, and probably rather more
last year. The price is fixed by statute (1886)
at 15 lepta the oke, or about a halfpenny a pound.
Factories. — In addition to the manufactures
already mentioned, or which may appear in the
export-tables, there are industries indispensable
to civilization, the products of which Greece had
to go without not so very long ago for want of
machinery :
1S76.
i88g.
1892.
Num- Horse- Num- Horse- Num- Horse-
ber. power. ber power. ber. power.
Flour-mills
Spinning-mills . . .
Machine-factories
35
14
9
658
512
88
79
14
6
1,584
1,576
710
Detailed re-
Crushing-mills ...
Tanning-mills ...
Powder-factory . . .
Various...
4
3
I
29
69
38
45
557
1,967
14
3
I
28
145
92
49
(?)
1,557
5,568
turns not yet
available.
Total
about
10,000
INDUSTRIES 53
Their total present capital value is 41,818,000
drachmas. By far the greatest number are in
Attika-Boiotia, especially at the Peiraius and
Levadeia. Next comes the monarchy of Larissa,
with the mills chiefly at Tolchos (shades of J ason !
though luckily they are for flour, except one
candle-factory) and Volo. There are also four-
teen at Hermoupolis (in Syros).
Tanned hides are sent to Austria and Turkey,
and untanned to Turkey and France. The
amounts exported were, in 1892, up to August
31, tanned, 333,317 drachmas. The export of
untanned hides seems to be diminishing.
There is a small export of carpets.
The soap trade is also flourishing, although the
Greeks who live outside the towns do not use
soap much. They wash certainly, and wash fre-
quently, but either at a fountain or in a running
stream, or by pouring water over their hands, etc.,
in the true Oriental way. The soap export last
year (up to August 31) was 381,579 drachmas.
Fisheries. — Having an extraordinary length of
coast-line, Greece is well provided with fishing-
boats.
Forts.
Fishing-
boats.
Tonnage.
Fisher-
men.
Mainland with its islands 24
570
1,879
1,868
Peloponnesos „ 17
731
2,861
3-142
Kyklades 17
294
752
733
Ionian Islands ... 12
96
286
319
Total 70 1,691 5,778 6,062
54
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The fishermen of the Kyklades thus have 0-97 men per ton.
Mainland
J)
o*99 »
Peloponnesos
))
1-09
Ionian Islands
))
I'll
Peloponnesos
J)
3-91 tons per boat
Mainland
J»
3'29
Ionian Islands
,j
2'97
Kyklades
»)
2-55
One is not astonished at finding the men from
the Kyklades the most energetic sailors, but it is
rather surprising to find them, most exposed to
bad weather, with the smallest boats, though this
is perhaps accounted for by a larger proportion of
their boats being engaged in the sponge-fishery,
which employs altogether 300 boats in Greek
waters. The leading fishing-ports are :
Fishing-
boats.
Tonnage.
Fishermen.
Hydra
300
i,i8o
1,600
Mesolonghi ...
200
600
250
Kranidi
125
51°
55°
Hermione ...
100
500
300
Aigina
90
360
600
Spetsai
88
264
280
Peiraius
75
210
221;*
Besides the deep-sea fishing, there are eighty-
four fishing-stations (including fresh-water), which
are owned by the State and leased for from one
to five years. The rents are very low, amounting
last year only to 475,000 drachmas. The best
* The statistics in the ' Panhellenian Companion ' were com-
piled by M. Nikolaos Apostolides.
INDUSTRIES
55
fishing-grounds are those of Agoulinitsa, Kaiapha,
Basiladi, Poros, Prokopanistos, Mouria and Klei-
sova (which is one of the thirteen at Mesolonghi,
by far the richest centre, with 4,000,000 strem-
mata preserved). Lake Kopais, before it was
drained, was also remarkable for its eels, as in
antiquity.
Botargo is manufactured in large quantities
from the roe of mullet caught at Mesolonghi,
there being also an inferior kind (rephoudi)
prepared there from the roe of the laurax. The
principal fish found in the Greek markets are
appended ; the table shows how many have the
same names now on the lips of the fisherman as
they had in classical times. The proportion is
noticeably large, and is claimed by modern Greeks
as one of the proofs of continuity of descent.
English.
Ancient Greek.
Modern Greek.
Anchovy.
Eyypa.uXig.
Xtt'vJ/i.
Bass.
AdISpaS..
Aa/3^ax;.
Bonito.
T6fi(f)i>g.
To[j(f)aiva.
Braize.
'Pdypoe.
<^ay%p\.
Bull-head.
Ks(f>a.'Koi.
K's(f}aXo^.
Cod.
SxuAaf.
'SKuXo-^apa.
Conger.
Voyypoi.
Voyypiov.
Cuttle-fish.
^tivia.
Kakafj-dpi.
Eel.
"Eyx^Xo^-
XeXu.
„ (small).
BiXovr}.
'BiXoviTo-a.
Eel-pout.
TaXibg.
VaXrih.
Flying-fish.
Xi'kidiiti.
XiXiboMO-^apov.
Gar- fish.
Zapyotrj.
Zapyiuva.
Zapydva.
Gilt-head.
Xp{jSo(j)pu';.
Xpva-6<f>a,
S6
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
English.
Ancient Greek.
Modern Greek.
Grayling.
\ 2>t;os. )
1 f.xia.iia. 1
Muoxom.
Gudgeon.
I Ka)/3;Jc. '
Kw/3;o5.
Herring.
@fiasoc.
(ppia-cra.
Hog-fish.
'S.MfJTaita.
2xopmiia.
John-dory.
ZEi)s.
Xpicrro^ctpov.
Lamprey.
( Mupaiva.
( 'S/Lvpaiva (in
Plato), l^'^^^"-
Mackerel.
Sy-d/jt/Sfos.
Sseou^TfL
Mormyrus.
Mop/JifUpoq.
Movpfiovpa.
Oblada.
MiXdvoupoq.
MiXavoupi.
Octopus.
noXiiTous.
' Oxra'Troii.
Parrot-fish.
Sxapos.
'Xxdpoq.
Perch.
nepyiri.
U'lpxa.
Pickerel.
' AOipttri.
' AOepita.
Pike.
'S.^hpaiva.
^cjjupaiva.
Plaice.
"Taim.
Ouyaiva.
Red Gurnet.
'Epudpivo';.
AiOpivi.
Red Mullet.
TpiryXri.
M'rup,u,'!ro{'H.
Salpa.
SaXcr;).
idXira.
Sardine.
l.apdTvo's.
'SapdeXXa.
Scad.
SaC^os.
'Sauptdi.
Seabream.
Sto^os.
'Smpo^;.
Sea-perch.
"Of^os.
'Po(^os.
Sea-scorpion.
'Sxop'nioq.
Sxopmos.
Sea-urchin.
'Ep^^os.
'A^/i'OS.
Serranus.
1 Xai/os. 1
Xaws.
Shad.
TlriXafih.
naXa//.;'3a.
Shanny.
SXhvios.
2aX;af)js.
Shark.
SsXa^os.
^iXd^i.
J)
Zvyaita.
Ziiyaiva.
)»
' Viva,.
'Viva.
Sheep's head.
'Sapyb's.
'S.apyo's.
Skate.
BotWs.
Ban.
Smelt.
1//.apls.
Maplha.
INDUSTRIES
57
English.
Ancient Greek,
Alodern Greek.
Sole.
YriTTa.
TT^ucrcra.
Sword-fish.
Hi<j>ia's.
Bi(j)ioq.
Tooth-shell.
Imaypls.
ImoLyfiba.
Torpedo.
'iHapxri.
Movdida-Tpa.
Tunny.
©uvvss.
My.yiuTixov.
(species).
Tovtva.
3) H
KoA/a?.
KoX/os.
J» ))
'OpKum.
'Opxmo'i.
Weever.
Apdxaim.
Apdxaiva.
6' 7
Fishing is carried on much as in ancient times,
various descriptions of nets being used, as well as
harpoons (tridents) and lamps. At Mesolonghi
they enclose the fish with hurdles about the
middle of May, but it is complained that the
hurdle-meshes are too small, and that conse-
quently the fishery is threatened with extinction —
a complaint not dissimilar to one we sometimes
hear nearer home.
The export of prepared fish is quite new, 1889
being the first year; there were then 43,830
drachmas' worth exported ; in 1 890, 74, 1 74
drachmas.
Per contra, there is a large import of prepared
fish, especially caviar, which is very popular.
The value was :
Prepared Fish. Caviar.
1871 ... 2,351,853 drachmas. 493,995 drachmas.
1887 ... 3,880,444 „ 885,227
1890 ... 5)178,317 drachmas (combined).
The prepared fish comes chiefly from England,
S8 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Italy and Turkey, and the caviar almost entirely
from Russia.
There is also a small export trade in sponges :
I87I
606,040 drachmas.
1882
381,692
1887
••• 2,073,324
1890
... 1,959,220
England takes more than half of this total,
France about a sixth, and Austria, Turkey, the
United States, Italy and Russia, the remainder.
[59
CHAPTER V.
COMMERCE
Shipping — Imports and Exports.
Shipping. — Perhaps the most hopeful sign of
the actual and potential progress of Greece is
the steady development of her carrying-power
and carrying-trade. Before the revolution she
had about 60,000 tons, but was left in 1833 with
very few ships, Galaxidi, for instance, being re-
duced from 250 ships to ninety. In 1891 she had
reached a total of ninety-three steamboats of
46,688 tons, and 4,772 sailing vessels of 228,976
tons, distributed as follows :
Tonnage.
93^136
24,81 I
10,393
i9>4i5
3.319
9,442
S>736
9-135
8,899
7.53°
Steamers.
Tonnage.
Sailing-
ships.
Syros
. 28
15.234
632
Peiraius ..
■ 33
IO-57S
368
Argostoli..
■ 14
10,214
133
Galaxidi ..
. —
—
222
Ithaka . .
10
6,127
161
Spetsai .
. —
—
308
Andres . .
■ 5
3,668
106
Thera
—
122
Zakynthos
—
—
137
Kerkyra ..
I
780
247
Total
Skips.
660
Total
Tonnage.
108,370
401
35,386
147
20,607
222
171
19,415
9,446
308
9,442
III
9,404
122
137
9,13s
8,899
248
8,310
6o GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
After these come (in order of total tonnage)
Hydra, Skiathos, Patras, Skopelos, Kyme,
Chalkis, Volo, Cheli, Poros, Trikkeri, Leukas,
Mesolonghi, Tsagesi, Kythera, Zagora, Melos,
Lexouri, Mykonos, Nea Psara, Amorgos, Boiai,
Nea Mizele, Pylos, Kalamai, and Paxos.
Twenty-eight of the steamers belong to the
three passenger companies : Hellenic (fourteen),
Panhellenian (nine), Goudi (five). The number
of steamers increases somewhat rapidly, some
being built in the Peiraius )ards of McDowell
and Barbour, and the Basiliades Company, while
the majority are constructed in Great Britain,
1 1,8 1 2 tons (steam), in 1 891, at West Hartlepool
and Dundee, and 14,954 tons (steam), in 1892,
at Sunderland, Middlesbrough, and Dundee.
Messrs. McDowell and Barbour built twenty-
six steamers, of 2,203 tons, and 2,956 horse-
power, last year. There are also chantiers for
sailing-ships at Peiraius (two), Syros, Spetsai,
and Galaxidi, the Galaxidiotika Karabia being
very well known.
The total number of men employed at sea is
30,147:
Men.
Mainland 6,650
Peloponnesos (of which total Hydra,
Spetsai and Poros supply 8,277) ■•• 10,807
Kyklades 5,643
Ionian Islands ... ... ... .. 6,997
The ports principally contributing are :
COMMERCE
6i
Men.
Hydra ...
■■■ 3.39°
Spetsai ...
... 3,271
Kephallenia
... 2,789
Syros
1,962
Galaxidi
... 1,769
Poros . . .
... 1,596
Thera ...
i>S79
Cheli ...
1,439
Kerkyra
1,300
However, the 6,062 fishermen before referred
to are included in this total of 30,147, and making
allowance for those not entirely pursuing a sea-
faring life, the actual number of sailors may be
set down at about 20,000, of whom about 5 per
cent, are masters, about 22 per cent, officers and
pilots, and 26 per cent, apprentices.
The number of ships entering and clearing
Greek ports (exclusive of the coasting trade)
was :
1888.
Tons.
English
Austrian
Italian
French
Turkish
Egyptian
Total (foreign)
Greek
Total
T, 016,112
962,013
612,175
780,722
230,434
201,084
i88g.
Tons.
1,088,459
921,575
732,992
588,885
322,256
210,558
i8go.
Tons.
1,242,957
933,129
794.194
635,813
224,847
207,810
4,089,678 4,137,346 4,233,150
698,491 699,492 653,793
4,788,169 4,836,838 4886,943
As last year's returns are not yet complete, we
can compare them only with the same period of
62
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the preceding year (1891). The ships entering
between January i and August 31 were :
Greek.
Foreign.
Ships.
Tons.
Ships.
Tons.
I89I
1,261
184,670
2,324
1,421,405
1892
1,623
235,202
3,997
1,254.744
;re cleared .
1891
1,187
194,631
2,152
1,376,073
1892
1,422
243,003
3,775
1,085,905
The country from and to which the ships sailed
is perhaps as instructive as the flag (1890
figures) :
Greek
Foreign.
Total.
Tons.
Tons.
Tons.
Turkey .
... 332,218
1,826,970
2,159,188
Italy
39,457
817,482
856,939
England .
32,973
598,292
631,265
Austria .
76,122
394,188
470,310
France .
20,303
264,665
284,968
It must not be forgotten that there are im-
portant lines of passenger steamers to all these
countries except England, which has hardly any
direct passenger communication. It is in this
way, too, that a good deal of the Italian, Austrian,
French, and Egyptian trade in the table on the
preceding page is accounted for. About 40 per
cent, of the tonnage comes to the Peiraius, 20 per
cent, to Syros, 18 per cent, to Kerkyra, and 5 per
cent, to Patras. 25 per cent, of the total tonnage
sails under the English flag, all the same to
COMMERCE 63
19 per cent. Austrian, 16 per cent. Italian, 13 per
cent. French, 4 per cent. Turkish, 4 per cent.
Egyptian, and 1 3 per cent. Greek.
In addition we must notice the Greek shipping
on the Danube and Pruth, which has lately made
great strides. There are now in this trade 722
ships, of 261,333 tons, owned by Greece, to 121
ships, of 56,840 tons, owned by other countries.
The inhabitants of Ithaka hold two-thirds, and
the Kephallenians a quarter, of the tonnage.
There is a detailed account of the Danubian
trade, by M. N. I. Spandones, in this year's
' Panhellenian Companion.'
There can thus be no doubt about the growth
of the Greek mercantile marine and the extension
of its operations. The Greeks are essentially a
seafaring people, and are capital seamen, prob-
ably surpassed only by our countrymen. They
possess an admirable mixture of caution and
daring, with a happy fertility of resource in
emergency. Their position between the East
and the West must always give them great
opportunities. I am not at all sure that their
present success would not be enormously increased
if they could dare and afford to adopt the prin-
ciples of Free Trade. Again, as soon as they
are connected with the trunk lines of Europe,
which unfortunately rather depends on the
reforming capacity of the ultra-Conservative
Turk, the Peiraius ought to supplant Brindisi, and
64
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
an immense gain accrue to Greece generally, as
well as to her shipping.
Imports and Exports. — There is not that
regularity about Greek commerce which we find
in that of countries of a maturer civilization. Nor
does it vary in the pendulum fashion that older
countries are becoming habituated to. War-fever,
election-fever, and the depression that follows a
bad season, are the main causes of its frequent
downs ; when any two of these causes occur
simultaneously the downward tendency is very
alarming ; the ups are its normal state.
Imports.
Drachmas.
Per
Head.
1887 ... 131,749,325 62
1888 ... 109,149,182 50
1889 ... 132,653,248 60
1890 ... 120,785,604 55
Exports.
Drachmas.
Per
Head.
102,652,477 48
95.653,741 45
107,077,708 49
9S>79i>684 44
1887
1888
1889
1890
Total.
Drachmas.
234,401,802
204,802,923
240,431,056
216,577,288
Per
Head.
no
95
109
99*
The next table shows the yield to the State
from this source :
* The complete tables for 1891 and 1892 I have not been
able to obtain.
COMMERCE 6s
Import Dues. Export Dues.
Drachmas. Drachmas.
1887 26,675,304 2,436,785
1888 25,472,810 1,981,839
1889 24,012,146 2,557,676
1890 24,393,046 1,826,233
These figures do not quite correspond with the
preceding, partly because the duties have been
somewhat reduced, and partly because they are
being gradually better collected.
Import Duties. — It would be quite useless to
wade through the thirty-six pages of dutiable
articles (including a few undutiable ones, how-
ever), but we may learn something of value from
a brief list of the more important. These include
carriages (8), clocks {7), corn (13), dairy pro-
duce (12), drugs (2), fish (10), furniture (5), glass
(4), metals (3), musical instruments (6), paper (i),
pottery (9), and timber (11). In the present state
of Greek industry, there are obvious reasons
besides that of finding revenue why these are
maintained. At the same time, I think the duties
might be gradually decreased and dropped — I
should suggest in the order indicated by the
bracketed figure which follows the subject of the
duty.
Export dues are levied only on glass, olives,
rak6 (a liqueur), and silver.
5
66
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
We next
see from
what counties Greec
imports :
Z<?c?c?.
i88g.
i8go.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
England
28,909,879
29,610,062
33,237.305
Russia
25.320.147
25,985,680
2 £,407,668
Turkey
12,856,504
25,014,024
18,923,826
Austria
15.755,000
18,636,200
16,690,484
France
10,932.663
",637,874
10,255,099
Germany
4,064,951
4,715,667
5,651,066
Italy
4,139,525
5,016,201
5,109410
Belgium
2,048,257
2,724,856
4,008,900
Holland
79,869
2,907.102
1,861,010
Unite(3 States
1,890,837
3,200,190
[,667,101
Other countrie
5 3,201,938
3,205,402
1,915,496
Total
109,149,182 132,653,248 120,785,604
This is equivalent to :
1888.
i88g.
i8go.
England
.. 26
per cent.
22
per cent.
28 per cent
Russia
... 23
.,
20
J,
17 „
Turkey
12
,'
20
J,
16 „
Austria
.. 14
,.
14
J,
14
France
10
,,
9
,,
8 „
The steady progress of England, Germany, and
Belgium, the decided retrogression of France and
Russia, and the utter instability of the Turkish
trade, are the obvious lessons, which might be
profitably noted here as well as in Greece.
The principal articles of import were :
COMMERCE
67
1888.
i8go.
Provenance
(chiefly).
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Cereals
30,803,926
29,183,010
Russia.
Cotton and linen
1 22,828,892
goods
22,272,276
England.
Metals (worked) ...
3.624,932
8,200,663
,,
„ (unworked)
1,716,523
4,136,571
,,
Timber
6,902,483
6,948,024
Austria.
Prepared fish
4,193,298
5,178,317
England.
Drugs and chemical.
i 1,677,681
5,094,881
,,
Hides (tanned) ..
1,594,359
1,225,891
France.
„ (untanned)
3,311,773
3,544,820
,,
Cattle
1,910,617
4,312,300
Turkey.
Sugar
3,473,614
3,134,982
Austria.
Coflfee
3,040,962
2,960,270
United States.
Rice
2,083,150
2,047,132
Italy.
Paper
1,137,417
1,847,868
Austria.
Glass and earthen
ware
'1 1,433,231
1,435,898
Belgium.
Butter
—
693,076
Italy.
Hats
732,839
660,049
Austria.
Cheese
—
425,830
Turkey.
Vegetables
—
400,989
,,
Umbrellas, etc. ..
—
355,328
Austria.
Wine and spirits ..
—
312,512
France.
Furniture
—
202,769
Austria.
Gloves
—
44,537
,,
Machines ...
726,815
—
Germany.
Lamps
— ■
—
France.
Cotton
1,394,374
—
Turkey.
Petroleum
—
—
United States.
The exports have been already dealt with
under the guise of products, but it is interesting
to compare the importing capacity of the different
commercially Philhellenic nations :
68
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
England
France
Turkey
Austria
Belgium
United States
Holland
Egypt
Germany
Italy
Russia
Other countries
Total . . .
1888.
Drachmas.
40,613,881
17,906,047
4,062,695
7,668,312
10,165,154
4,711,116
2,384,136
i-9S5.°58
3,466,289
908,436
1. 341,526
471,091
1889.
Drachmas.
32,757,380
32,506,847
9,908,907
8,728,229
7_^25 1,098
37032,164
3,040,544
2,231,052
2,505,881
3,379,528
1,878,807
559,371
i8po.
Drachmas.
33,021,416
21,439,567
9,877,429
8,598,186
6,008,309
5,702,082
3,177,574
2,804,168
2,371,944
1,518,070
917,280
355,659
95,653,741 107,777,808 95,791,654
Which is equivalent to :
England
France
Turkey
Austria
Belgium
United States
1888.
42 per cent.
19
4
8
II
4
i88g.
30 per cent.
3°
9
1 8^0.
34 per cent.
22
10
9
6
6
The total trade for 1890 is thus
England
France
Turkey
Austria
Russia
Belgium
Germany ...
United States
Italy
Imports.
Drachi7ias.
33,237,305
10,255,099
18,923,826
16,690,484
21,407,668
4,008,900
5,651,066
1,667,101
5,109,410
Exports.
Drachmas .
33,021,416
21,439,567
9,877,429
8,598,168
917,280
6,008,309
2,37^,944
5,702,082
1,518,070
distributed :
Total. ^f "
centage.
Drachmas.
66,258,721 31
31,694,667 15
28,801,255 13
25,288,670 12
22,324,948 10
10,017,209 5
8,023,010 4
7,369.183 3
6,627.480 3
COMMERCE
69
Our dealings
with the small
Balkan powers
are :
Imports
Exports
from England.
to England.
£
£
Bulgaria
121,641
126,87s
Roumania ...
,••■ 1. 739.712
5,038,091
Servia • ...
172,920
4,400
There are two kinds of moral in these figures,
the purely commercial and the political. In the
first place we see that the trade between Greece
and England is of very great importance to
Greece (and not unimportant to England), more
than twice as important as that with any other
country ; that Greece imports immensely more
from Russia than she exports to her ; that the
same fact is true, in a less degree, of her business
with Turkey, Austria, Germany, and Italy ; that
the opposite is true in the case of France and the
United States. In other words, as far as gold is
concerned, her English trade, while in other ways
extremely valuable, leaves her neither richer nor
poorer ; Russia drains her of gold heavily, while
Turkey, Austria, Germany, and Italy, also bleed
her considerably ; France and the United States
supply her with gold. As to the English trade,
it ought largely to increase, not only through
the abolition of our currant-duty, but through our
buying Greek tobacco and wine directly from
Greece, instead of through Turkish and French
middlemen. A little more pushing on the part
70 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of the Greeks might induce us to buy their olive-
oil, which is quite equal to a good deal of the
Italian oil sold here ; their figs, which are not
much inferior to Turkish figs, and might be a little
cheaper ; and more of their sponges and olives.
On the other hand, we ought to sell to Greece
much more machinery (notably plant for the new
Peiraius-Larissa Railway), more metal, more drugs
(for their sake as well as our own, as our drugs
are so much more reliable than those of other
countries ; of this quinine is a familiar illustration),
and more paper ; that which is obtainable at
present is Austrian, and of very inferior quality.
We ought also to send them furniture, of which
there is a great dearth, and hats, the Austrian
headgear so prevalent being neither artistic nor
durable.
The political moral is seen in the following
table, which shows the population per cent, of the
total trade with Greece of the two great groups of
States :
1888. i88g. i8go.
England and Triple Alliance... 50 43 50
France and Russia ... ... 27 29 25
It should be as easy as alpha, beta, gamma, for
Greece to see which way her interests lie. There
is not only the direct money gain which they
pocket as producers, and the indirect money gain
from additional facilities of consumption. ' There
is, and no doubt they will see that it is still more
COMMERCE 71
important, the gradual building up of their
financial position, so that they may be ready to
retake after so many centuries their place amongst
the nations. Furthermore, there is the sympathy
of the big peace alliance, by which, and by which
alone, as far as one can see, especially in view of
the recent revelation of Austrian policy, they will
be able to assert this their right. If England
and her peace-mates have had half the trade of an
indifferent Greece, what an amount of business
would be done between them if Greece made it a
matter of policy ! Bating free trade, indeed, it
might not be a bad thing for Greece to join the
new commercial league of the Triple Alliance,
although, as England is her chief client-patron, it
would be obviously foolish to have tariffs which
would prejudice British goods.
[ r- ]
CHAPTER VI.
BUSINESS.
Public Companies — Employment.
Public Companies.
/. — Banks.
There are six banking companies in Greece,
viz. :
I. The National Bank of Greece, with its
headquarters in Athens ; established March 30,
1 84 1. Capital, 20,000,000 drachmas, in 20,000
shares of 1,000 drachmas each ; reserve fund,
14,848,220 drachmas. Dividend payable January
15 and July 15. Value of share 1,000 drachmas,
present price, 3,670 drachmas. There are branches
in all the chief towns of Greece. The last
dividend was 3^ per cent. It has banknotes to
the amount of 77,994,240 drachmas, and indulges
in three lotteries a year. It charges up to 8 per
cent, interest, though legally-established corpora-
tions, such as demes, are let off with 7 per
cent.
BUSINESS 73
2. The Ionian Bank, Limited, with its head-
quarters in London, and an important branch in
Athens, and others in the Ionian Islands ; estab-
lished in 1839. Capital, ^315,507 los., in 12,620
three-tenth shares of ^25 each.
3. Chartered Bank of Epiro-Thessaly, with its
headquarters at Volo, and branches at Athens
and throughout Northern Greece ; established
January 25, 1882. Capital, 20,000,000 drachmas
(of which 5,000,000 drachmas paid up), in 40,000
shares of 500 drachmas each. Reserve fund,
240,618 drachmas. Dividend payable January 15
and July 15. Value of share, 125 drachmas;
present price, 264 drachmas. The last divi-
dend was 7^ drachmas. It has banknotes to the
amount of 4,405,573 drachmas.
The small notes (included above) in circulation
are :
• Two- Drachmas . Drachmas.
National Bank 3,666,667 3,666,666
Ionian Bank 1,666,667 1,666,666
Epiro-Thessalian Bank ... 1,666,667 1,666,668
4. General Credit Bank of Greei^e, with its
headquarters at Athens; established in 1874.
Capital, 25,000,000 drachmas (of which 15,000,000
drachmas paid up), in 50,000 shares of 500
drachmas each. Dividend payable January 15
and July 15. Value of share, 300 drachmas ;
present price, 24 drachmas. The last dividend was
5 drachmas. Owing to a system of withdrawal
74 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
and cancelling, the real paid-up capital is only
equivalent to 3,000,000 drachmas.
5. Industrial Credit Bank of Greece, with its
headquarters at Athens; established in 1875.
Capital, 10,000,000 drachmas (all paid up), in
100,000 shares of 100 drachmas each. Dividend
payable January 20 and July 20. Value of share,
100 drachmas ; present price, 61 -^ drachmas. The
last dividend was 2 drachmas.
6. Bank of Constantinople, with its head-
quarters at Constantinople, and a branch office at
Athens; established in 1876. Capital, ^T66o,ooo
(all paid up), with a reserve fund of ^T 108,000,
100,000 shares of £T6 12s. each. Many of the
shareholders are Greeks.
Bulgaria has one bank, Roumania three, and
Servia five.
//. — Other Companies.
Administration of Monopolies of Greece Com-
pany, with its headquarters at Athens ; established
in 1887. Capital 10,000,000 drachmas (of which
2,500,000 drachmas paid up) in 20,000 shares
of 500 drachmas each. Reserve fund, 30,000
drachmas. Dividend for the first six months of
1 892 %\ per cent.
Public and Communal Works Company, with
its headquarters at Athens ; established in 1882.
Capital, 5,000,000 drachmas (of which 4,000,000
drachmas paid up), in 10,000 shares of 500
BUSINESS 75
drachmas each. Reserve fund, 180,000 drachmas.
Present price of shares, 58 drachmas.
General Contract Company, with headquarters
at Athens ; established in April, 1888. Capital,
2,500,000 drachmas, in 12,500 shares of 200
drachmas each. Dividends — ^1888, 10 per cent. ;
1889, 7^ per cent.; 1890, 12^ per cent. ; 1891,
15 per cent
The principal insurance companies represented
in Greece are the Adriatic Insurance Company (of
Trieste), and the General Insurance Company
(of Trieste) ; the Commercial Union, Equitable,
London and Lancashire, Phoenix and Sun (Eng-
lish companies) ; the Confianceand Union (French
companies) ; German Lloyd and Mannheim (Ger-
man companies); the New York ; and the Anchor
and Phcenix (Greek companies).
The railway and steamship companies will be
dealt with on page 84 s^.
Gas and electric light are supplied in Athens,
the latter by the Contract Company, the former
by the Athens Gas Company, which has a capital
of nearly 2,500,000 drachmas.
There are five monopolies ■ — cigarette-paper,
playing-cards, matches, petroleum, and salt.
Employment.
The following table shows the employment,
chiefly of the heads of families, at different
periods :
76
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Farmers
Shepherds
Labourers (men)
Labourers
(women)
Total
Artisans
Business men
Engineers
Sailors . . .
Agriculture.
i8s3. 1861. 1870. iSjg. i88g.
229,259 147,507 218,027 207,846 270,363
— 38,953 44.532 46,645 60,705
— 19,592 22,665 38,234 49,749
— — 5,735 4,732 6,132
229,259 206,052 290,959
Commerce.
1853. 1861. 1870.
25,546 32,801 48,129
6,280 10,245 18,952
26,302 19,303 25,178
297,457 386,949
i87gi. i88g.
44,959 58,565
34,333 43,892
705 924
21,337 21,706
Total
58,128 62,349 92,259
Domestic Service.
101,334 125,087
1853-
i86i.
1870.
1879.
i88g.
Agogiats
—
2,307
3,276
2,445
3,019
Servants (men) ...
—
12,651
17,482
25,437
33,074
„ (women)
7,724
10,808
5,598
33-480
20,670
Total
22,682
31,566
56,763
Professions
1853-
1861.
1870.
1879.
1889.
Artists
—
1,346
958
1,800
2,342
Barristers
252
394
1,141
1,690
2,084
Chemists
—
161
335
447
f? about
1 500
Clerics ...
5,232
5,102
6,649
7,952
10,335
Doctors
274
398
797
1,280
f? about
1 1,500
Journalists
— •
68
—
74
120
Midwives
1,300
832
769
820
1,042
Teachers
679
1,076
1,613
2,194
4,059
Total
7,737 9,377 12,262 16,257 21,982
BUSINESS 77
iSss- 1861. 1870. iSjg. i88g.
Civil service ... 2,615 3>S53 S>343 7.7o6 9,722
,, local govern-
ment . . .
I 6,250 5,199 4,109 2,872 3,720
Total ... 8,865 8,752 9,452 10,578 13,442
1833. 1861. 1870. 1879. i^Sg.
Army ... ... 4,866 — 12,420 18,521 26,134
„ (pensioned) _ _ — 1,265 3.532
Navy — 510 1,315 2,202 3,361
Total ... — — 13.73s 21,988 33,027
Independent ... — 16,122 31,234 32,345 36,032
It will be noticed that, with three exceptions,
the 1889 returns are the largest on record. The
agogiats are losing their t^aison d'etre, being
snuffed out by the railways, the local government
servants have been in part drafted into the
national civil service, and the sailors who are
away with their ships do not appear in the 1889
census. The increases to be regretted are the
naval and military, which, fortunately, have been
considerably reduced since 1889 ; the civil service,
who might be still considerably reduced to advan-
tage, though their permanency is the chief reform
required for them ; the barristers (including
lawyers of all kinds), who are many of them
semi-briefless, and so driven into the already over-
full ranks of journalism and politics ; the shep-
herds, who are, to some extent, a. survival of the
klephts— admirable people to struggle against
78 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
foreign oppression, but very liable to kick over
the traces of even a free and national government ;
and possibly the priests, although one is naturally
very reluctant to think so. The increases which
account for the progress of Greece so far as it has
gone, and point prophetically to a still greater
future, are the increases of farmers and labourers, of
artisans and business-men, of men of independent
means, and especially of teachers.
The class-growths are seen thus :
iS53-
1861.
1870.
1879.
i88g.
Agriculture
229,259
206,052
290,959
291AS1
386,949
Commerce
58,128
62,349
92,259
ioJ,334
125,087
Domestic service
—
22,682
31-566
33,480
56,763
Professions
7-737
9>377
12,262
16,257
2r,982
Civil Service ...
8,865
8,752
9,452
10,578
13,442
Naval and military
—
—
13,735
21,988
33,°27
Independent"!
means J
16,122
31,234
32,345
36,032
Agriculture has not progressed as rapidly as it
ought to have, considering the increase of terri-
tory. The professions have made almost too
rapid strides, though the ambition which accounts
for it cannot be condemned. The advance made
by commerce, and its resultant, independent
means, is very satisfactory. It will be observed
that female domestic service is becoming much
commoner now that the fear of letting their
womenkind come into contact with masculine
strangers — due, no doubt, partly to fear of the
BUSINESS
79
Turks availing themselves of some Hunnish
equivalent for cuissage, but still more to the
Turkish example of keeping their own women as
much as possible out of sight — has been almost
extinguished in the light of that chivalry which
has become common decency in the life of the
West.
The professions (rateable) followed in Athens
by the largest number of people are : Provision-
sellers 421, drivers 351, tobacconists 285, caf6-
keepers 273, carpenters 236, cook-shops 190,
bakers 180, doctors 172, tailors 172, cab-drivers
170, hairdressers 153, butchers 149, shoemakers,
143, drapers 135, fancy-shop-keepers 121, black-
smiths 116, and greengrocers 103. The richest
professions, from a rateable (or licensable) point
of view, are : Banks 6,000 drachmas a year,
bankers 1,125, railway companies 1,000, insurance
companies 1,000, big merchants 762, wine-
merchants 672, agents 300, wholesale merchants
282, hotel - keepers 250, ornament - sellers 242,
fancy-shop-keepers 226, confectioners 212, linen-
drapers 211. There are 140 professions, etc.,
enumerated, accounting for 6,147 individuals.
[80 ]
CHAPTER VII.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION.
Roads — Railways— Steamboats — The Korinth Canal — The
Euripos — Lake Kopais — Lighthouses — Post-office — Tele-
graph — Telephone — Weights and Measures— Coinage.
Roads. — However Telemachos may have driven
his chariot from sandy Pylos to Pherai, and on
to hollow Lakedaimon, crossing a river or two
and getting from one side to the other of difficult
Taygetos (I am afraid we can hardly accept
Colonel Mure's explanation), there can be no
doubt that the ancient Greeks were not great
road-makers. There were a good many roads,
of course, such as they were, as people had some-
times to move with their household goods or
merchandise from one town to another, and the
racing-chariots had to be taken to the various
meetings at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea,. and the
Isthmos, and it is not quite likely that they
went from Sparta and from Southern Achaia to
Olympia, or from Thebes to Delphi, by sea. At
INTERNA L COMMUNICA TION
the same time, it must not be supposed that there
are no traces left of Greek roads ; there are a
considerable number, as, for instance, of the
Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis, and of that
between Korinth and Argos ; and there are old
Greek bridges, too, as over the Eurotas, below
Ithome, and near the Isthmian Sanctuaries. The
Romans did not do as much road-making in
Greece as elsewhere, and the barbarians who
followed them destroyed instead of creating.
The unfathomable Turk improved the inter-
communication a little, though his best was but a
bridlepath in the slipperiest staircase style, which
was, however, both durable and cheap. Oddly
enough, the mountain ponies approve the Turkish
method ; at least, when they have to choose
between the ordinary mountain substance along-
side and one of these Mussulman tracks, consist-
ing of irregularly alternate rows of smooth pebbles
and sharp pinnacles, they invariably choose the
latter. When Otho came to the throne he found
not a single carriage-road in his dominions. He
set to work vigorously, beginning with the road
from Athens to the Peiraius, taking advantage
of his little Bavarian army for the purpose. The
next highway was from Nauplion to Argos and
Tripolis. The Ionian Islands were lucky in this
matter. The English Government made good
roads in all of them, especially in Kephallenia,
which had the advantage for some years of the
82
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
administrative capacity and energy of the best
man we ever sent to the Ionian Islands, Colonel
Napier.
The following table shows the roads in the
different provinces, with their cost :
Roads
Complete.
Kilometres
Attika-Boiotia .
562
Phthiotis-Phokis
439
Aitolia-Akarnania 505
Arta
131
Trikkala...
53
Larissa ...
120
Euboia ...
186
Argolis-Korinth
254
Arkadia ...
286
Achaia-Elis
422
Messenia
204
Lakonia ...
220
Kyklades
46
Kerkyra ...
303
Kephallenia
220
Zakynthos
5°
Total
• .3,997
Cost.
Drachmas.
6,956,212
5,793,202
9,228,790
746,407
SS4.20O
1,250,830
3,602,900
2,020,032
4,805,705
5.i°9,536
2,837,090
2,708,605
689,494
1,250,443
749,115
474,978
48,777,719
Roads
in Progress.
Kilometres.
89
67
47
45
19
42
84
55
188
52
79
32
17
66
27
IS
924
This gives practically 2,500 miles already made,
and 600 in preparation, a very respectable net-
work for so small a country, especially for one
which possesses such splendid sea communica-
tions. The expense, although heavy, about
1,500,000 sterling, is still very light when the
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 83
difficult nature of the country is considered. The
expenditure per kilometre has been heaviest in
Euboia, about ;^ 1,02 5 a mile, and Aitolia-
Akarnania, about ^950 a mile, and lightest in
Kephallenia, about £180 a. mile, Kerkyra about
^220 a mile, and Arta about ;!f300 a mile. It
is proper, however, to remark that the roads are
not kept in perfect repair. One would not like
to drive one's own landau from Megalopolis to
Karytaina, for example. The engineering, too,
while it has very puzzling problems to solve,
does not always hit on the happiest or, in the
long-run, cheapest solutions. The preference for
zigzagism over cuttings is a little too marked.
Instead of beginning at a town and going steadily
forward, they often begin in the middle if the
work happens to be easier. On the same prin-
ciple, bridge-making is rather unduly postponed.
At the same time, considering the lack of avail-
able funds, and the not always friendly attitude of
the rustics who live near the operations, we must
admit that the Greek Government has done
wonderfully well. It would be grossly unfair to
expect from them either the results which cen-
turies of work and outlay have given us, or
the methods which we have gained by long
experience.
Railways. — There are seven railway com-
panies ;
84 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Kilometres
Kilometres
Made.
in Progress.
Peiraius-Athens
9
Peiraius-Athens-Peloponnesos
5(58
104
Thessaly
204
Attika ..
70
Mesolonghi-Agrinion
44
Mesolonghi-Krioneri ...
16
Peiraius-Lkrissa
400
Total
on
S04
1. The oldest is the Httle line between Athens
and the Peiraius, made in 1869, which has been
very profitable both to the public and the share-
holders — in fact, to everyone except its maker.
It is of i^ metres gauge, and will have a
double line by January next year, by which time
it will also have a station in the Place de la
Concorde, an underground railway being in pro-
cess of construction to this quarter from the
present station in the Kerameikos. The capital
of the company is 2,800,000 drachmas, in 1,400
shares of 200 drachmas each. It carried 693,370
passengers in 1869, 1,334,545 in 1879, 2,350,474
in 1889, and 2,121,232 in the first eight months
of 1892. The present price of shares is 437
drachmas, and the last dividend was 10 drachmas.
The stations on the lines are Athens, Phaleron,
and Peiraius.
2. The Spap, as it is familiarly called, is of
I metre gauge. Its capital is 25,300,000 drachmas,
in 92,000 shares of 275 drachmas each. In 1890
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 85
it expended 4,711 drachmas per kilometre, and
received 8,616 drachmas per kilometre, 70 per
cent, being from passenger traffic. The number
of passengers carried in 1891 was 1,189,378,
paying nearly 3 drachmas each, the length of line
being 18 kilometres more than in 1890, and the
increase of passenger traffic 15 per cent, greater,
a considerable improvement, which is likely to
be more than maintained. The dividends have
been: in 1886, none; 1887, none; 1888, 4 per
cent. ; 1889, 3 per cent. ; 1890, 7 per cent. The
present price of shares is 133^ drachmas. The
stations on the line are Peiraius, Hag. loannes,
Myloi, Kato-Liosia, Ano-Liosia, Kalyvia, Eleusis,
Hag. Nikolaos, Megara, Kineta, Hag. Theodoros,
Kalamaki, Korinth ; Nemea, Phyktia, Argos ;
Dalamanara, Tiryns, Nauplion ; (Argos) Kepha-
lari, Myloi, Tripolis ; (Korinth) Perialoi, Vracha-
toi, Kokona, Bellon, Kiaton, Domini, Melissoi,
Sykia, Xylokastron, Kamari, Ligoporia, Stomboi,
Derveni, Akrata, Diakophti ; Kavasila, Bartho-
lomion, Kyllene, Loutra ; Temeni, ^gion, Patras,
Kato-Achaia, Lechaina, Gastuni, and Pyrgos.
3. The Thessaly Railway is of i metre gauge,
single line. Its capital is 23,000,000 francs (gold),
in 92,000 shares of 250 francs each. It takes
more money from goods than from passengers.
It is not a very paying concern, its takings per
kilometre being (in 1890) 5,628 drachmas, and its
expenditure 3,641 drachmas. Consequently its
86 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
dividends have been: in 1886, 5 per cent. ; in
1887, 1888, and 1889, none ; and in 1890 3 per
cent. The present price of shares is 140 drachmas.
The stations on the line are Volo, Velestino ;
Phersala, Sophades, Karditza, Trikkala, Kalam-
balika ; (Velestino) Schoular, Ldrissa.
4. The Attika Railway, finished in 1885, is
run by the Laurion Mining Company. It is of
I metre gauge. Its capital is 5,400,000 drachmas,
in 27,000 shares of 200 drachmas each. In 1890
its receipts per kilometre were 7,350, and its
expenses 4,223. It has a fair goods traffic,
carrying must, etc., from the country, and iron-
stone from Daskaleion. In 1886 it carried
180,020 passengers, and in 1891 351,567. Its
dividends have been : 1888, 6| per cent. ; 1889,
6^ per cent. ; 1890, 9 per cent. The price of
shares is not quoted. The stations on the line
are : Athens, Patesia, Herakleia, Amarousion,
Kephissia ; (Herakleion) Chalandri, Geraka,
Kantzas, Li6pesi, Koropi, Markopoulon, Kalyvia,
Keratea, Daskaleion, Thorikos, Laurion.
The fares are low on all the lines, averaging
about 13 lepta (a little over a penny) per kilo-
metre first class, 10 lepta second class, and 7 lepta
third class. The carriages are quite up to the
European standard of comfort, and some are built
like tram-cars with a little platform at each end.
There is no unnecessary delaying of passengers,
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
and no fussy formalism over their luggage. The
officials are polite, and the trains fairly punctual.
5. The Peiraius-Larissa Railway was begun in
1890, on a loan of ^3,600,000, actually yielding
80,100,000 francs, the expense of making the
line being expected to reach 52,250,000 francs,
i.e., 345 kilometres at 140,000, and 45 at 90,000
francs. The line is being made by an English
company, Messrs. Eckersley and Co., of West-
minster, and is to be finished in 1895. The
Government has had very hard lines over this
adventure, as, though only half the loan has been
subscribed, and about 15,000,000 will have to
be spent on intercalary interest, which means that
it will have to find about 27,000,000 somewhere,
it has not even the right of free disposal of the
railway. The line of route is from the Peiraius
to Athens (9 kilometres), thence via Mazi (36)
and Skimitari (27) to Thebes (28) ; on to Levadeia
(38-8), Dadi (41-8), Lianokladi (48-8), Pentamilos
(447), and Larissa (70"9). There will be branch
lines from Skimitari to Chalkis (23), and from
Lianokladi to Hag. Marina (40 — finished). More
than half the work is done. The line differs from
most other Greek railways in that it goes more
or less as the crow flies, not in the beating-about-
the-mountain style of the Peloponnesian Railway.
They dare to tunnel and bridge quite in English
fashion.
88 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The line from Diakophti to Kalavryta is on
the cogged mountain-climbing principle.
Railways have also been voted by the Chamber,
and will soon be begun :
(i) From Pyrgos to Pylos, with a branch to
Meligala, by which it will be connected with the
Myloi-Kalamata line.
(2) From Pyrgos, via Olympia, Karytaina,
Megalopolis, and Sparta to Gytheion.
(3) From Mesolonghi to Antirrhion.
It is also under contemplation to connect Kyme
with Aliveri.
Bulgaria has about 250 miles of railway, Rou-
mania 1,400, and Servia 341.
Athens is also well provided with tramways ;
and there is a steam tramway to Old and New
Phaleron, which is well patronized during the
bathing season ; both of these concerns are pros-
perous. There are also plenty of omnibuses.
Steamboats. — There are three companies:
I. The Hellenic Steamship Company, estab-
lished in 1856, with a capital of 5,000,000
drachmas in 10,000 shares of 500 drachmas
each (1,106 shares, however, never having been
allotted), with a reserve fund of 207,000
drachmas. The company has recently been re-
organized by Messrs. McDowall and Barbour.
It possesses fourteen steamers, with a total of
9,400 tons and 1,770 horse-power, the biggest
boat being the Theseus, of 1,004 tons and 180
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 89
horse-power. Under the old dispensation there
had for some time been no dividend.
Its service is as follows :
(i) Peloponnesian — Syros, Peiraius, ^gina,
Poros, Hydra, Spetsai, Cheli, Nauplion,
Leonidi, Monemvasia, Kythera, Gytheion,
Kalamai, Korone, Pylos, Marathos, Hag.
Kyriake, Kyparissia, Katakolon, Zakynthos,
Patras.
(2) Peloponnesian — Very similar, but calling at
Limeni, Kardamyloi, Kyllene and Meso-
longhi.
(3) Argolic Gulf — The first part of (i), as far as
Nauplion, but also stopping at Astros.
(4) Ionian Islands — Patras, Mesolonghi, Kyllene,
Zakynthos, Kephallenia, Paxes, Kerkyra.
(5) Ionian Islands — Similar, but with rather
fewer ports of call.
(6) Korinthian Gulf — Patras, Naupaktos, Aigion,
Vistrinitza, Galaxidi, I tea and Korinth.
(7) Korinthian Gulf — Similar.
(8) Akarnanian — Patras, Mesolonghi, Astakos,
Mytika, Zaverda, Alexandres and Ithaka.
(9) Ambrakian Gulf — Patras, Ithaka, Leukas,
Pr^veza, Salagora, Vonitza, Menidi and
Karvassara.
(10) Euboiaand Pagasaian Gulf — Syros, Peiraius,
Laurion, Aliveri, Chalkis, Limne, Atalante,
Stylida, Oreos, Nea Minzela, Almyros and
Volo.
90 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
(ii) Euboia and Pagasaian Gulf — Similar, but
with fewer ports of call, adding, however,
Kythnos and Kea before Peiraius.
(12) Euboia and Pagasaian Gulf — Similar to (10),
but with fewer ports of call.
(13) Peiraius, Laurion, Karystos, Gavrion, Syros.
(14) Syros, Tenos and Mykonos.
(15) Peiraius \yid Salonica and Dardanelles] to
Constantinople.
(16) Peiraius [z'zi Smyrna, Mitylene and Darda-
nelles] to Constantinople.
(17) Patras — Kerkyra, Brindisi.
2. Panhellenic Steamship Company, estab-
lished in 1883, with a capital of 5,000,000
drachmas in 25,000 shares of 200 drachmas
each, with a reserve fund of 419,000 drachmas.
It possesses eleven steamers, with a total burden
of 15,095 tons, and with 2,820 horse-power; and
a new one has recently been added. The finest
boat is the Athenai, of 3,000 tons and 450 horse-
power. The dividends are rather irregular in
amount.
Its service is as follows :
(i) Peloponnesian-— Peiraius, Gytheion, Kalamai,
Katakolon, Zakynthos, Mesolonghi, Patras.
(2) Peloponnesos, Ionian Islands and Trieste —
Peiraius, Syros, Gytheion, Kalamai, Kata-
kolon, Zakynthos, Patras, Leukas, Ker-
kyra and Trieste.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 91
(3) Korinthian Gulf — Patras to Itea.
(4) Akarnanian — Patras, Mesolonghi, Astakos,
Ithaka, Leukas, Preveza, Salagora, Vonitza,
Karvassara, Menidi.
(5) Ionian Islands — Patras, Zakynthos, Kephal-
lenia Kerkyra, Preveza, Leukas and Korfu.
(6) Eubola and Pagasaian Gulf — Peiraius,
Laurion, Chalkis, Stylida and Volo.
(7) Euboia and Pagasaian Gulf — Peiraius,
Laurion, Aliveri, Chalkis, Limne, Atalante,
Stylida, Oreos and Volo.
(8) Kyklades — ^Peiraius to Syros.
(9) Kyklades — Peiraius, Syros, Paros, Naxos,
I OS, Thera.
(10) Peiraius [via Dardanelles] to Constanti-
nople.
In 1888 the total knottage was 301,301, about
92 knots a day for each of the (then) nine boats.
3. Goudi Steamboat Company. — This is a
private business, founded in 1879, and is sup-
posed to pay well. It has six boats, with a total
of 1,202 tons, the biggest being the Nauplion, of
296 tons and 100 horse-power.
The service is as follows :
(i) Peloponnesian — Peiraius, Hydra, Spetsai,
Leonidi, Gytheion, Kalamai, Korone,
Pylos, Marathos, Hag. Kyriake, Kypa-
rissia, Katakolon, Zakynthos, Kyllene,
Mesolonghi, Patras.
92 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
(2) Argolic Gulf — Peiraius, ^gina, Methana,
Poros, Hydra, Spetsai, Cheli (sometimes
Leonidi) and Nauplion.
(3) Peiraius to ^gina and Poros.
(4) Euboia and Pagasaian Gulf — Peiraius, Lau-
rion, Aliveri, Chalkis, Limne, Stylida, Volo.
(5) Euboia and Pagasaian Gulf — Similar.
(6) Euboia and Pagasaian Gulf — Peiraius, Lau-
rion, Chalkis and Volo.
(7) Kyklades — Peiraius, Kythnos, Syros and
Tenos.
There are several other steamboats in the
passenger trade — the Serpieri line, for instance,
serving the Argolic Gulf, and there being similar
local convenience at Volo and Kephallenia.
There are from eight to ten steamers thus
employed.
The Greek steamboat arrangements are not
quite perfect from an English standpoint, but, at
the same time, they are very good under existing
conditions. Those on which the passenger has
to sleep aboard are inferior to the Mediterranean
boats of the Messageries Maritimes, but rather
better than those of the Fraissinet com-
pany. The food is wholesome, palatable, cheap
and abundant, and the berths are clean. The
objectionable feature is that pretty generally the
third-class passengers are allowed on the part of
the deck nominally reserved for the first-class.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 93
The officials of the company not only share the
democratically gregarious spirit of the cheap-fare
payers — a spirit which is absolutely unable to com-
prehend our English exclusiveness — but they will
not admit the simple proposition that if one third-
class passenger is allowed to travel first-class the
first-class passengers are thereby actually robbed.
But there is another side to this question to which
the companies would do well to give some atten-
tion. I have been told — and, indeed, it is also
borne out by my own observation — that the com-
panies' servants have discovered a neat device for
robbing their masters. Say, the first-class fare is
20 francs, the second 15 francs, and the third
10 francs ; the purser gives you a third-class ticket
for 15 francs, and leaves you in undisturbed
possession of your first-class quarters. The
purser makes 50 per cent, on the ticket, and
the traveller, if he is not scrupulous, pockets his
reduction of 25 per cent, and says nothing about
it. If he is an Englishman he probably does not
know modern Greek ; besides, he is generally
too busy admiring the scenery to think of
scrutinizing his ticket. It is obvious that, if the
company only receives half the proper fares, its
dividends are not likely to come up to expecta-
tions.
The Korinth Canal. — The idea of piercing
the Isthmus of Korinth is a very old one. Caesar,
Nero, and Hadrian all thought of it, and traces
94 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of Nero's attempted canal still remain. In classic
days ships were conveyed on a railway (Diolkos)
from one side to the other. The present enter-
prise was set on foot in 1881 by a Fench com-
pany, which made the mistake of letting in the sea
before the cutting was complete. It is being
finished accordingly by a Greek company, which
has a capital of 5,000,000 francs in 10,000 shares
of 500 francs, though the French company had
spent 44,000,000 francs before coming to grief
The canal will be 3^ miles long and 100 feet wide.
Baedeker states, that the journey from Messina to
the Peiraius, which now takes about fifty-eight
hours, will be reduced to about half the time,
while the sea-voyage from Messina to Constanti-
nople will te shortened by about two days. From
the three Greek steamboat companies alone, it is
expected to take dues of 400,000 drachmas a
year. A lighthouse is being built on the highest
ground adjacent, and special attention is being
paid to the proper lighting of the Korinthian
Gulf; no doubt the Messageries Maritimes and
the Fraissinet boats, and probably also the
Austrian Lloyd, will avail themselves of the oppor-
tunity of reducing their distances ; the Peiraius
and Patras are certain to benefit largely. The
official opening is put down for May of this
year.
The deepening and broadening of the Euripos
has been undertaken at an estimated cost of
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION
95
400,000 drachmas ; it is expected to be finished
shortly.
Lake Kopais. — An EngHsh company has for
some years been engaged in draining this rather
refractory lake. The old katabothra were in
many cases choked up, and new channels have
been made leading to Lake LIkeri, thence to
Lake Paralimne, and thence to the Euripos.
The reclaimed land should be extremely fertile.
Lighthouses. ^ — English sailors are rather in
the habit of abusing the lighthouse arrangements
of Greece alongside of those of Spain and
Portugal, though on cross-examination I have
never heard it asserted that Greek lights were
ever left unlit. In order to fully appreciate the
enormous cost which would be necessary to light
the Greek coast as the English Channel is lit, we
have only to call to mind the extraordinary
littoral of Greece.
Area
Littoral
Square Kilo-
in Square
in
metres of Area
Kilometres.
Kilometres.
to Littoral.
Greece
65,194
5.442
12'0
England , .
313.675
3>702
84-5
Italy
296,012
2,742
107-9
France
528,575
3.536
141-5
Greece has, accordingly, seven times as much
seaside proportionally to its area as England, and
nearly twelve times as much as France ; and the
wealth at the disposal of the Government, instead
96 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of being in a similar proportion, is worse than the
inverse. However, Greece possesses at present
sixty-nine Hghthouses, and is building seventy-
two more, fifty-five of which are to be at Marlera,
Antipaxos, Menidi, Karvassara, Basilike, Mar-
maka, Gombos, Skytari, Kapri, Oxyas, Zav^rda,
Kaukalidion, Trypeton, Psaromytas, Galaxidi,
Itea, Nikolaos, Malangavi, Keri, Marathoupolis,
Karse, Limeni, Neapolis, Kythera (Avgo),
Karavi, Isthmia, Sousaki, Salamis, Hag. Georgios,
Makronesi, Tamelos, Aliveri, Oropos, Atalante,
Arkitza, Bromos, Stylida, Drepanon, Hag. Sostos,
Oreos, Argyronesos, Almyros, Pontikonesi,
Arkaki, Gregias (a point of Andros), Dyovato,
Tenos Harbour, Aspronesos, Livada, Krapsi
(Paros), Naxos, Kyklops, Livathy, Antimelos,
and Maskoula. I hope, too, that Mr. Cecil
Barff' s determined efforts will lead to the placing
of a light on the Euboia side of the murderous
Doro Channel. The existing lighthouses are :
Othonoi, Peristera, Kerkyra (on the Akropolis),
Leukimne, Laka (on Paxos), Gaion (on Paxos),
Leukas, Doukaton, Phiskardo, Bardianoi, Hag.
Theodoroi, Lexouri, Hag. Euphemia, Hag.
Andreas (on Ithaka), Kyllene, Hag. Soste, Papa,
Patras, Antirrhion, Drepanon, Myrnos, Aigion,
Apsephia (on the islet Hypsolithia), Korinth,
Kryoneri, Zakynthos, Katakolon (cape), Kata-
kolon (pier-head), Strophades, Kyparissia, Pylos,
Oinoussai, Korone, Kalamai, Kytriai, Tainaron,
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 97
Gytheion, Peiraius (entrance), Peiraius (pier-
head), Themistokles' Point, Phleva, Kea, Phonia,
Vrysaki, Berdougi, Aulis, Chalkis, Kake Kephale,
Spathi, Kapsali, Malea, Parapola, Leonidi, Spetsai,
Cheli, Zourva (on Hydra), Poros, Aigina (har-
bour), Plakakia, Naustathmos (on Salamis),
Psyttaleia, Strongyle, VasiHna, Anderas, Trikera,
Sesylos, Gourouni, Physsa, and Gavrion. Four
are visible 25 miles or more, five others 20 miles
or more, seven others 15 miles or more, and four-
teen others 10 miles or more. Physsa on Andros
is visible the greatest distance, viz., 28 miles ;
while Parapola is visible 27 miles, Othonoi 26, and
Oinoussai 25. When those now building are
finished, this will give Greece a lighthouse for
every 38" 5 kilometres of coastline, a very fair
average, especially when one remembers that she
only possesses forty-one harbours (and this is a
large number for her population), and that the
average of other countries is greatly raised by the
number of little pier-head lights.
Post-Office. — Colonel Leicester Stanhope,
who went out in 1822 on behalf of the Greek
Committee, made strenuous, and to some extent
successful endeavours to establish a post, and the
Government of Kapodistria, on September 24,
1828, passed a Bill introducing a postal system,
which was carried into effect in the following
May. The first convention with a foreign
country was that with Austria, in 1834. The
7
98
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
progress made is easily seen in
the financial
returns :
Receipts.
Expenditure.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
1833 .., ... 8,832
9,261
1875 662,450
464,808
1880 673,597
406,627
1885 1,014,008
635,162
1890 1,387,060
792,550
1891 1,443.719
796,080
The development is also seen in the ordinary way :
1883. 1885.
T88y. i8go.
Letters ,.. 3,265,079 4,535,076 4,849,000 4,940,440
Post-cards ... 32,141 i37,244 i
40,000 194,778
Samples ... 13,690 30.943
31,991 44,845
Printed matter 191,178 31 2,034 "» ,
Newspapers... 3712,243 4,190,036/
58,197 P'°4°.397
^ ' ^^ 14,888,807
There are several other headings, which raise the
total correspondence of 1890 a total 1,177,629 in
advance of 1887.
The number of post-offices in 18 17 was 249,
with 512 officials ; but the position of Greece in
this respect is best seen in a comparative table :
Letters
No. of
To
.E:
andPost
Post-
Popula-
Letters.
Post-cards, cards
offices.
tion.
per
Head.
England
17,587
2,109
105,342
1,512,200,000
188,800,000 46^0
France . . .
7,436
5,672
57,496
666,256,000
38,105,000 i8'3
Russia . . .
5,429
18,855
25,661
173,193,000
16,460,000 1 7
Norway
1,274
1,557
1,730
17,098,000
1,243,000 9-2
Portugal
.,636
2,782
3,238
20,200,000
3,257,000 5-0
Greece...
249
8,384
512
4,849,000
140,000 2-3
Bosnia . . .
76
17,580
342
2,739,000
306,000 2 '3
Bulgaria
no
25,590
811
3,136,000
343,000 1-2
Servia ..,
92
21,703
571
3,671,000
89,000 17
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION 99
The most interesting feature in this table is, per-
haps, the evident superiority of Greece over the
much-petted Bulgaria.
In 1 89 1 the total correspondence (the details
are not yet available) reached 16,802,330. The
parcels post was established in 1 890, and although
somewhat dilatory at first, especially in the case
of parcels from abroad, is now in good working
order, though it is still largely an external post,
about 80 per cent, of its work being of this descrip-
tion. Postal orders have also been established,
and in such a moneyless country are a great
success. Over 6,000,000 drachmas were thus
sent in the first half of 1892. It is difficult to say
what effect its establishment may or may not have
on the already too puzzling currency question.
It may be interesting to amateur stamp-
collectors to have a schedule of Greek stamps :
Otho.
i860.
1883.
I lepton
... black
brown
2 lepta
... yellow
yellow
yellow
S „
... green
green
pale green
10 „
... blue
gold
pale yellow
20 „
violet
blue
pink
25 .,
—
—
blue
40 „
. . . purple
violet
violet
SO „
—
—
dark green
80 „
... gold
purple
ashy
Telegraph. — The telegraphic system has
developed very rapidly, but does not yet pay its
way. The number of messages was 579,507 in
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
1882; 845,707 in 1887; and 1,185,682 in 1892.
The receipts last year were 1,122,517 drachmas,
and the expenditure 1,924,640. There are
8,958 kilometres of wire, and 186 telegraph-
offices. The most important service is that of the
Eastern Telegraph Company, with its head-
quarters at Syros.
Bulgaria has 1,734 miles of telegraph,
Roumania 3,576, and Servia 3,095.
Telephone. — There is at present no public
telephone service, but the Government, the rail-
way companies, and several individuals have
wires. A law was passed on August 18, 1892,
however, which had for its object the establishing of
both urban and inter-urban public communication.
Weights and Measures. — In this respect, at
any rate, Greece is more civilized than England.
On September 28, 1876, she adopted the decimal
system. At the same time, it must be confessed
that in practice she is still rather inclined to
adhere to the Turkish weights and measures,
which are of quite English cumbersomeness and
barbarity ; in this case the measure often bears
the prefix ' old,' while those of the decimal system
carry that of ' royal.'
Measures of Length.
I grammd=i millimetre = '03937 inch.
I daktylos = i centimetre = '39371 inch.
I palime=i d^cimfetre = 3-93708 inches.
I p&hys=T metre = i'o93 yards.
I stadion=i kilometre = 1093-633 yards, or -621 mile.
I schoinis=i myriametre = 6-213 niiles.
INTERNAL COMMUNICATION loi
Square Measures.
I square pechys = i square mfetre= i'ig6 square yards.
I strdmma=i decare='247 acre.
Cubic Measures.
I kybos=i millilitre = •06103 inch, or "ooi pints.
I mystron = i centilitre = 'eiozy cubic inch, or -017 pint.
I kotyle=i decilitre = 6' 1 02 7 1 cubic inches, or '176 pint.
I litra=i litre = 'o35 cubic foot, or 1760 pints.
I koil6n=i hectolitre =3 "5 31 cubic feet, or 22-009 gallons.
Weights.
I k6kkos=i centigramme- •15432 grain.
I obolos=i decigramme = 1-54323 grains.
I drachme=i gramme = '032 ounce.
I tilanton= too kilogrammes = 220^46 pounds.
I tdnos = 1,000 kilogrammes = 2204 '6 pounds,
[i mna= i| kilogrammes = 3-307 pounds.
The talanton most usually = 100 mnas, and the tonos 1,000
mnas.]
The equivalents of the old measures and
weights still in use are :
I pechys = -646 mfetre = 2-ii9 feet.
I pechys (building) = -74 mbtre= 2-427 feet.
I stremma= 1,270 square mfetres= -314 acre.
I oka= 1-33 litres = -046 cubic foot.
I oka =1,282 grammes =2-82 pounds.
I koildn = 33-148 litres = -895 bushel.
I drami = 3-2 grammes = '103 ounce.
I statdr=56-4o8 kilogrammes= 124-323 pounds.
Coinage. — The earliest mint of old Greece was
in Aigina, and in Aigina, too, was the first mint
of New Greece. There, on July 28, 1829, with
the ;^ioo worth of appliances bought by M. A.
Kontostaulos in Malta, coins were struck of i
102 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Phoinix (silver), lo lepta, 5 lepta, and i lepton
(copper). Under King Otho, from 1836 to 1858,
3'945)952 I -lepton pieces, 4,490,487 2-lepta
pieces, 72>AS°>7^Z 5-lepta pieces, and 17,350.763
lo-lepta pieces were coined. Silver coins of 5
drachmas, i drachma, -^ drachma, and ^ drachma
were also struck during this period, and gold of
40 drachmas in 1852, and 20 drachmas in 1833
and 1852. Munich and Paris supplied the dies.
Under King George Greece joined (April 10,
1867) the Latin union, and obtained from Paris
Tresh dies, the new mintage consisting of copper
coins of 10, 5, 2, and i lepta ; silver of 5, 2, i, \,
and 1 drachmas ; and gold of 100, 50, 20, 10, and
5 drachmas. It is hardly necessary to say that
the bigger gold coins (like our largest Jubilee
pieces) have never been in circulation.
Whatever gold and silver may be left in Greece
is carefully hoarded up — in fact, so little is gold
known, that I remember that in a bank in the
Peloponnesos they once refused to change gold
for me into banknotes, though they actually
offered to lend me the notes I wanted, simply
because I was an Englishman.
The National Bank has notes in circulation
of I, 2, 10, 25, 100, and 500 drachmas, and the
Ionian and Thessalian Banks of i, 2, 10, 25,
and 100 drachmas. For convenience, lo-drachma
notes are cut in two, and used for 5 -drachma notes.
[ I03
CHAPTER VIII.
FINANCE
Even professional financiers find Greek finance
an extremely difficult riddle to read, so that the
ignorance of the general public in England and
throughout investing Europe generally is very
excusable. There was issued, however, at Athens
last November a pamphlet* by M. Joseph D.
Beckmann, which not only solves that part of the
problem which was often regarded as insoluble,
but makes the present financial situation quite
intelligible — and, let me add, hopeful. He says :
In 1 86 1 the budget showed total receipts
24,996,762, while the expenditure required
24,987,487 old drachmas (100 new =112 old).
Budgetary equilibrium, then, was complete, and
the financial situation corresponded with the
patriarchal circumstances in which the country
lived, paying at that time 1,382,366 drachmas on
* ' Les Finances de la Grbce, ^tude coinposee sur la base de
documents authentiques.'
I04 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the score of interest on its debt. The following
year brought the revolution and a new dynasty ;
it marked, too, the commencement of a new era
in the life of Greece. Her requirements naturally
increased, but without sensibly disturbing the
budgetary equilibrium. In 1867 the budget
balanced with 32,292,335 drachmas receipts, and
28,158,698 drachmas expenditure. The budget
of 1871 shows a total of 33,991,000 receipts, and
39,458,924 expenditure. At this period Greece
had already contracted some loans, and the
annuity of the debt was 7,793,000 drachmas.
We must, however, remark that the settlement
of the guaranteed loan account, fixing the total
due at 100 millions, had but recently taken place.
Nevertheless, the budgets of the 1870 to 1880
period were still tolerably small, and showed no
disquieting deficit. In 1875 the budget balanced
wich 35,239,000 drachmas receipts, and 39,331,387
expenditure. It is certain, however, that at the
end of the financial year these deficits would
have to be much more considerable, since the
receipts often remained below the estimate. The
last years of this period sensibly altered the
situation. These years are marked by the great
national movement, roused by the Russo-Turkish
War and the Berlin Treaty. Greece appealed to
European credit, issued the 60 million loan, and
prepared to issue the first great loan, which still
exists, of 120 millions. Her budgets felt the
FINANCE 105
effect of this ; that of 1880 shows total receipts
46,716,857 drachmas, while the expenditure is
set down as 56,086,872 drachmas. The following
year the budgetary deficit was already assuming
a disquieting aspect — 113,852,722 drachmas ex-
penditure, to 51,481,561 drachmas receipts. At
the same time, the interest on the debt had risen
to 19,723,000 drachmas. Still, we must not set
up this year as a model for the period, seeing that
its budget was made during a big mobilization.
The budget of the following year was reduced to
66,841,561 receipts, and 77,854,786 drachmas ex-
penditure, a deficit capable of being considerably
lessened by the end of the financial year. In
short, the military expenses of the years 1877 to
1 88 1 gave an aggregate deficit of 140 millions.
These armings swelled out the debt, and brought
about the forced currency ; but they also had a
happy issue in the acquisition of a fertile province
of 13,000 square kilometres, which at once pays
the expenses entailed by its acquisition. The
last decade, after all, had the greatest influence
on the configuration of the budget. If it has
grown enormously, it is better balanced ; for if
the expenditure, the estimation of which reached
100,411,479 drachmas in 1891, had quadrupled in
the space of thirty years, the receipts had also
increased proportionately, being set down in the
budget at 96,451,462 drachmas. As for the 1892
budget as rectified by the new Government, it
io6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
balances with 103,550,792 receipts, and 99,986,128
expenditure.
A glance at the estimates for the years 1881 to
1 89 1 shows that, excepting the two mobilization
years (1885 and 1886), the anticipated deficit was
almost nothing; in 1887, 1888, 1889, and 1890 it
disappears completely, and only reappears in 1891
within very modest limits. If Greece had not
had during this period to undergo many consider-
able expenses, occasioned by the acquisition of
the new provinces, and the mobilization charges,
investments indispensable to her material develop-
ment, and also by the conversion of weighty loans
of long-standing, in all probability her yearly ac-
counts would have balanced steadily. It is true,
and we shall be verifying it immediately, that until
now the receipts realized at the end of a year
were always inferior to the estimates ; but, as a
compensation, the ordinary realized expenditure
also remains much below the credit granted. The
reader will be able to see in the tables which we
are about to submit to him that this assertion
applies more or less to each financial year. As
for the deficiency of receipts, it arises from a
defect of budgetary legislation. In Greece the
budget sets down the estimated receipts, the
receipts verified as due from the tax-payers, and,
finally, the receipts actually realized. Now, the
estimates of a year's receipts are based, not on
the payment of the preceding year, but on the
FINANCE 107
verifications. It is incontestable, in theory, that
budgetary estimates should rest on the amounts
the maturity of which is legally proved ; for this
is the only legal basis of a budget. But since
there is always a considerable difference between
estimate and collection, an organic deficit is the
result. This difference varies with political and
economic circumstances ; but it is always con-
siderable enough to justify the conclusion that it
constitutes the greatest evil of the Hellenic
budget. By means of the following tables, the
reader will be able to judge of the Greek budget
as a whole and in detail. But since the returns
of the years before 1883 are not within our reach,
we content ourselves necessarily with analyzing
the budgets since 1883. We do not believe that
this lacuna can throw doubt on the usefulness of
this work. The years before 1882 belong to an
epoch of which the books are closed for ever.
The life of modern Greece begins with the last
decade. Besides, one can always present a return
in abstract for the preceding epoch. Up to 1875
the budget was small, the needs of the country
were limited, and consequently the eventual
deficits, too, were modest. From 1861 to 1876
Greece borrowed 80 millions. Taking into con-
sideration the onerous conditions on which she
had to borrow at that time, you can easily imagine
what was the sum total of the deficits covered by
the proceeds of these loans. The years following
io8
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
occasioned great military expenditure. According
to the calculations of M. Simopoulos, Minister of
Justice at the time, an able judge of Greek finance
— calculations based on official documents — the
deficit of 1877 was 20,549,515 drachmas ; in 1878,
beyond the ordinary receipts, 27,579,047 drachmas
were spent on army and navy requirements ; in
1879, 2,360,847 drachmas. In the two following
years extraordinary expenditure assumed a dis-
quieting development, since the combined deficit
of 1880 and 1 88 1 reached 90,180,298 drachmas.
Lastly, in 1882 the yearly balance showed a
deficit of 5,118,000 drachmas. Since then the
budget has developed as follows :
Ordinary Receipts. Extraordinary
Receipts.
Estimated.
Realized.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
1883
72,133,610
58,537,556
—
1884
86,122,950
60,744,637
46,675,000
1885
74,006,586
59,374,676
2,052,358
1886
88.324,068
62,151,128
33,416,838
1887
94,656,907
82,849,805
93,360,420
1888
95,3°6>23i
89,551,394
4,119,822
1889
96,449.453
83,371,591
99,3°°,373
1890
93>S43.36S
79,824,101
43,223,529
1891 (pro- 1
visional) /
96,541,462
88,013,404
12,900,000
Thetc
tal receipts are then :
Drachmas.
1883
■■■ 58,537.556
1884
... 107,419
,638
1885
... 131,427
034
1886
■■■ 95,567
,967
1887
176,210
216
FINANCE
109
Drachmas.
1888 ...
93,671,21
7
1889 ...
...
183,031,964
1890
123,047,63
1891 ...
100,913,404
The
expenditure-
list shows the following figures :
Estimated
Supplementary
Total.
Actual
Expenditure.
Credits.
Expenditure.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
1883..
■ 72.236,648
6,961,002
79,002,363
67,795,868
1884..
• 85,814,598
19,204,242
105,487,600
91,346,783
1885..
• 85,497,005
43.S50.812
132,197,167
122,797,767
1886..
89,074,634
80,433,294
169,541-759
129.717.525
1887..
94,269,188
28,279,950
t22,55i,374
107,128,253
1888..
• 92.677,585
28,984,703
'21,983,398
108,050,858
1889..
95,974,420
90.523.744
86,499,665
168,739,262
1890..
91,258,840
67.385,253
'59.869,765
141,360,752
1891..
ioo,4t 1,479
5,444,606
105,856,085
110,163,618
The balance-sheets of these years are then :
Receipts.
Expenditure
Surplus.
Deficit.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
1883..
58,537,556
67,795,868
—
9,258,312
1884..
107.419.638
91.346.783
16,072,858
—
1885..
61,427,034
122,797,767
—
61.370,733
1886..
91.567,967
129.717.525
—
34,149,558
1887..
176,210,226
107,228,253
69,081,973
—
1888..
93,671,217
108,050,858
—
14.379.641
1889..
183,031,964
168,739,262
14,292,702
—
1890..
123,047,630
141.360,752
—
18,313,122
1891..
100,913,404
110,163,618
—
9,250,214
As is seen in the preceding tables, the Greek
account-office distinctly specifies the ordinary and
extraordinary receipts, but does not divide the
expenditures. So in the returns we see on one
side budgetary and supplementary credits, and on
no GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the other the total of actual expenditure. Now,
it is indispensable to know what part of this total
corresponds to the estimates ; for it is only the
comparison of this part of the expenditure to the
ordinary realized receipts that can give the true
balance of the budget — that is to say, show
whether there is surplus or deficit. To judge of
the daily economy of the State, we must know
the ordinary receipts and expenditure at the end
of each financial year. The total of receipts
compared to the total of expenditure proves
nothing. All the extraordinary receipts accruing
from loans, etc., are comprised in these totals ;
the expenditure, on its side, comprises the con-
versions that are operated, and all extraordinary
expenditure. To arrive at this indispensable dis-
tinction, we must run through all the expenditures
of these years, and eliminate everything which
from its nature ought not to be classed among
regular expenses. Here is such an analysis :
1883. — As this year had no extraordinary
receipts or expenditure, the whole of the deficit —
9,258,312 — falls on the ordinary administration.
1884. — Ordinary receipts realized, 60,744,637 ;
total expenditure, 91,346,783. Of this amount
8 millions in round numbers were employed in
extraordinary expenditure for the army and navy.
The ordinary deficit of the year is then 22-6
millions, and the extraordinary 8 millions.
1885. — Ordinary receipts, 59,374,667 ; total ex-
FINANCE
penditure, 122,797,767. This is the year of the
mobilization. Of 43,550,000 voted as extra-
ordinary credits, 35,700,000 were disbursed for
the requirements of the Ministries of Marine and
War. All this expenditure had an extraordinary
character. Not finding any other extraordinary
expenditure, we deduct these 35,700,000 from the
total expenditure, and find that the ordinary ex-
penditure was 8yi millions, which presents, in
comparison with the ordinary receipts, a regular
deficit of 28 millions, and an extraordinary one of
357 millions in round numbers.
1886. — Ordinary receipts realized, 62,151,128;
total expenditure, 129,717,525. This year again
bears the stamp of militarism. All the extra-
ordinary expenditure, of which we could verify
altogether 39,200,000 (32 millions for the army,
and 3,167,000 for the navy), results from the
mobilization. Deducting this amount from the
total expenditure, there remain 90,517,000, a
comparison of which with the ordinary receipts
leaves an ordinary deficit of 28,366,000. It is to
be remarked that M. Simopoulos in his calcula-
tions arrives almost at the same results. Accord-
ing to him, the deficits of 1885 are 26,685,772
and 36,737,000; those of 1886, 28,145,000 and
39,420,000. This divergence, which, however,
does not at all affect the final result, is due to a
different appreciation of certain expenditure.
1887. — Receipts realized, 82,849,805; total
112 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
expenditure, 107,128,263. Of this total we deduct
(i) 15,891,138, employed in the conversion of
former loans (of 25, 4, and 6 millions) ; (2)
5,683,168, paid for the building of the three
ironclads, Hydra, Psara, and Spetzai; (3) 225,000,
for other naval expenses ; (4) 782,000, for extra-
ordinary military expenses; (5) 2,417,000, for
railways. Total deductions, 24,998,000 ; remainder
of expenditure, 82,130,000. Compared with the
ordinary realized receipts, there is then a regular
surplus of 719,000 drachmas.
1888. — Ordinary realized receipts, 89,551,394;
total expenditure, 108,050,858, in which we find
(i) 1,571,000 for railways; (2) 9,955,000 for
ship - building ; (3) 122,300, expenses on the
occasion of the King's anniversary ; in all,
11,638,300 drachmas extraordinary expenditure.
The ordinary expenditure was then 96,412,000,
and the ordinary deficit 6,861,000.
1889. — Ordinary receipts realized, 83,731,591 ;
total expenditure, 168,739,262. Of this sum we
must deduct, (i) amortization of the loans of 6
and 10 millions, 8,382,000; (2) amortization of
the loans of 26 and 60 millions, 57,966,000 ;
(3) dowry of the late Princess Alexandra,
400,000 ; (4) subvention to the Cretan refugees,
400,000 ; (5) public works, 10,074,000 (of which
8 millions for railways) ; (6) 3,136,000 for the
building of the three ironclads ; (7) public build-
ings, 503,000 ; (8) settlement of debt due to the
FINANCE 113
National Bank, 1,700,000; (9) Paris Exhibition,
250,000 — in all, 82,811,000 of extraordinary ex-
penditure, which, being deducted from the total
receipts, gives a total of 85,928,000 ordinary ex-
penditure, i.e., a deficit of 2,197,000. M. Simo-
poulos arrives at the same result.
1890. — Ordinary receipts realized, 79,824,101 ;
total expenditure, 141,360,752. The statement
of this financial year not being published yet, we
can mention here only the undoubtedly extra-
ordinary expenditure known to us. Here is most
of it: (i) Peiraius-Larissa railway, 8,805,159;
(2) intercalary interest on this loan, 1,148,000;
(3) Myloi-Kalamai railway, 8,062,458 ; (4) in-
terest on this loan, 1,440,000; (5) other railways,
4,237,911; (6) building of the three ironclads,
4,814,000 ; (7) subvention to the Cretan refugees,
1,320,000; (8) redemption of the rest of the old
loan (1824-1825), 15,539,314; (9) palace of the
Crown Prince, 149,700 — in all, 45,516,532. The
year 1890 is, however, marked by a change of
Government, with which, indeed, the shape of
the budget had a good deal to do. The Govern-
ment, which came victorious out of the elections
of October 14, 1890, was not slow in remodelling
the budget it found in force in a way little favour-
able to their predecessors' administration. The
then Opposition accused the new Ministry of
having transferred a quantity of undoubtedly ex-
traordinary credits to the ordinary budget in order
8
114 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
to make the deficit appear greater. We do not
pretend to judge whether these accusations were
or were not well founded, but at the same
time it must be remembered that in the returns
for 1890 many amounts come on to the budget
of ordinary expenditure which can under no pre-
text be characterized as such. We find there a
sum of 4,228,743, representing half the yearly
obligation on the loans of 170 and 135, which
amount, belonging to a previous financial year,
was placed, simply for account-office reasons, on
the shoulders of 1890, the budget of which already
contained the full yearly obligation of the two
said loans. Likewise the charge for redemption
is improperly set down for 754,335 drachmas.
800,000 drachmas of supplementary expenditure
pertaining to the construction, transport and insur-
ance of the three ironclads, were also placed in
the ordinary budget. It is also contended that
other extraordinary expenses figure in the total
of the ordinary expenditure of this year. But
not having the detailed statement in our hands,
we shall confine ourselves to adding to the amount
of extraordinary expenditure the foregoing three
figures. Thus we arrive at a total of 51,299,610,
which, deducted from the sum total of expendi-
ture, gives 90,061,142 ordinary expenditure ; that
is to say a deficit of 10,237,000 drachmas.
1891. — This financial year not being yet finished,
we can only use the results known, going as far
FINANCE lis
as July 31, 1892. Ordinary receipts realized,
88,013,404; total expenditure, 110,163,618. Of
these, extraordinary : railways, 18,851,653; other
extraordinary expenditure, 551,863 — in all
19,403,497. This sum being deducted from the
total expenditure there remains an ordinary ex-
penditure of 90,760,121 drachmas, and a pro-
visional deficit of 2,746,717 drachmas. The
extraordinary deficit at the same date was
10,050,214 drachmas.
From this analysis of the budgets of the last
nine years, the reader will be able to draw several
conclusions. He will see at first that the years
in which a change of Government took place
generally gave bad results ; in other words, de-
ficits. In fact, the deficits in 1884, 1886, and
1890 are considerable, and greater than those
of their preceding years. A ministerial change
brings new elections, and each election period is
an absolute loss to the Treasury, for the adminis-
trative machine hardly works at all for two or
three months. The change of personnel, too,
entails expense of all kinds. It is undeniable,
however, that, in spite of these interruptions,
setting aside the great gap caused by the two
war years, 1885 and 1886, the deficit always goes
on getting less Above all, since 1887 it dis-
appears almost entirely, and reappears only in
1890, a year of change of Government.
In examining the subject of expenditure, we
ii6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
are especially struck with the deficiency of collec-
tion compared to estimate. However, what a
difference is there not between 1883, when the
deficiency was 14 out of 72 millions, and 1888,
when 89*5 millions were recovered out of 95
millions estimated, or even the provisional collec-
tion of 88 out of 96 millions in 1891 ! The dif-
ference between estimate and receipt was in 1883
twenty, in 1884 twenty-three, in 1885 twenty-one,
in 1886 thirty, in 1887 thirteen, in 1888 seven, in
1889 twelve, in 1890 sixteen per cent. ; 1891
shows a considerable improvement, which will
appear still more plainly at the end of the financial
year. The explanation of these deficiencies is
easy. An increase of expenditure, and con-
sequently of taxation, has been very quickly,
even suddenly, made ; it has not kept pace with
the economic development of the country. In
order to meet the increase of expenditure, a
quantity of new taxes were decreed ; increases of
customs duties, octrois, taxes on consumption,
came all at once. The Greek people, till then
very lightly taxed, could not immediately accom-
modate itself to the new demands, which forced
it to work more. New administrative machinery,
too, had to be created. But the sums which the
State demands of the nation are not beyond
its strength. The constant upward progression
of the receipts proves it irrefutably. If with
the present defective system they have been
FINANCE 117
able to levy 89^ millions in 1888 and 88 millions
in 1 89 1, it is obvious that with a serious reform
of the administration they will be able to levy
95 millions and more. To believe that the arrears
are caused by the inability to pay of the tax-
payers, is to be ignorant of the economic capacity
of the country. Greece is undoubtedly approach-
ing budgetary equilibrium.
Contrarily to the receipts, the relation between
estimated and realized expenditure is very favour-
able ; the latter always remains below the estimates.
In 1883 of 72,236,648 drachmas expenditure set
down in the budget, only 67,795,868 was spent on
ordinary requirements. In 1884 this ratio is
85,814,598 to 82,000,000 ; in 1885, 85,497,000 to
87,000,000; in 1886, 89,074,634 to 90,517,000;
in 1887, 94,269,188 to 82,130,000; in 1888,
92,677,585 to 92,762,000; in 1889, 95,974,420
to 86,640,000; in 1890, 91,258,840 to 90,061,142 ;
in 1891, 100,411,479 to 90,760, 121. Seven years,
then, out of nine show a total of actual expendi-
ture much (as far as 10 millions) below the
estimates. These results may be taken as proof
of conscientious administration ; in any case they
offer considerable compensation for the deficiency
of receipts. This inferiority of expenditure, com-
pared with estimate, may also be admitted for
future budgets, and then, with a more exact
recovery of receipts, it will render the budgetary
equilibrium more stable.
ii8 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Examining the revenue accounts chapter by
chapter, we shall see that, with the exception
of direct contributions, the means of financial
administration yield just about the estimated
results. Taking, for example, the financial year
1 89 1, the results of which are ascertained up to
the end of July, 1892 (each 'year' begins on
January i, and lasts twenty -two months, to
October 31 of the following year), we find that
the revenue comes under seven headings : (i)
Taxes, (2) customs and octrois, (3) stamp duties
and charges, (4) monopolies, (5) domanial
revenue, (6) sale of public goods, (7) recovery
of arrears. The results of the four first groups
were : Taxes, estimated 2 2 "6 millions, recovered
1 7 '5 millions; customs and octrois, estimated
28'4 millions, recovered 27'6 millions ; stamp
duties and charges, estimated i4'i millions, re-
covered 1 3 '2 millions; monopolies, estimated
10 millions, recovered 97 millions. These figures
may change by the end of the year, but not
sensibly. Now, while the receipts from monopolies
and customs corresponded almost entirely to the
estimates, and the stamp-duties had a deficiency
of a million only, the direct taxes produced 5
millions less than the estimates, or a deficiency
of 22 per cent. This phenomenon recurs each
year. We take, at random, the returns for 1887,
a year, therefore, which gave a surplus, and we
shall see that of 21,642,800 drachmas of indirect
FINANCE 119
taxation set down in the budget, 17,177,788
drachmas were received. The adverse difference
found at the end of the year must then be chiefly
attributed to the poor incoming of the indirect
taxes. Much has been said and written on the
subject of this ever-open administrative sore,
and many a remedy has been proposed ; but it
will be seen that in this case it is much easier to
advise than to reform. The arrears of taxation
are, so to speak, an inextricable consequence of
the political system of Greece and of all countries
that live under the same conditions — as witness
Servia. Without a radical change of system it
will always be difficult, if not impossible, to over-
come the difficulties which stand in the way of
applying the assessment strictly. But such a
complete change cannot be effected in one day,
nor does it depend on the good-will of a Govern-
ment. Waiting and preparing for its arrival, a
conscientious Government can do nothing except
approximate the estimate as much as possible to
the last actual receipts. And this is what the
present Government has done in the revised
budget for 1892, sanctioned by the law of August 7.
The estimated receipts which it gives are : Taxes
20-9 millions, customs and octrois 27-4 millions,
stamps and duties 167 millions, monopolies 107
millions. In the 1891 budget taxes figured for
2 2'6 ; now, in spite of a 20 per cent, increase
of the most important tax— on cattle— the new
120 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
budget sets down two millions less. The customs
estimate corresponds exactly to the last year's
receipts. The slight increase of revenue from
monopolies corresponds to the increase of popula-
tion and the constantly growing consumption of
the monopolized articles. The only subject for
wonder would be the three millions' increase of
the stamp-duties, but it should be observed that
in this increase there is comprised the new
scholastic tax, of which the revenue is estimated
at I "6 millions. A subject of some importance
is still that concerning the recovery of arrears,
estimated at 4'2 millions. Since in 1891 the
receipts under this head were 3 '8 millions, and
their average 3 '5 millions of late years, it may
be admitted that with a little energy and good-
will they will end in collecting the whole sum set
down.
The revenue budget contains other subjects
beside the above - mentioned. The domanial
revenue is set down at 3,330,000 drachmas,
1, 1 68,000 drachmas of which represent the revenue
from forests. Considering the great extent of
public land in Greece, and the large importation
of forestal products which takes place, one cannot
but be astonished at so insignificant a revenue.
As to the other revenue subjects (highways, light-
houses, elementary education), we excuse our-
selves from going into their details, the more so
as there are special budgets, the revenues of
FINANCE
which are previously deducted in a certain pro-
portion from the general receipts.
Expenditure. — The revised budget of 1892
anticipates a total expenditure of 99,986,128
drachmas, distributed as follows : Public debt,
33,516,566; pensions, 4,911,156; Civil List,
1,325,000; Foreign Office, 2,135,131; Justice,
4.833.533 ; Interior, 7,482,957 ; Public Worship,
4,888,088; War Office, 16,638,374; Admiralty,
6,445,653 ; Exchequer, 5.045,689 ; expenses of
administration and collection, 8,139,463.
The subject of public debt occupies the largest
place in the budget of expenditure — exactly
33 per cent, of the whole. But since this ex-
pense is set down at the nominal amount — that is
to say, in drachmas, while nearly the whole
(29 millions) is paid in gold — -we must take into
account the monetary difference which, according
to the rise of agio, swells the actual expenditure
more or less considerably. An agio of 20 per
cent, for example, increases the sum payable in
gold — 29 millions — by a fifth, and results in the
Government having to pay on this count 35
millions, provided that the Treasury is obliged to
buy the whole of the yearly obligations on the
home market. Up till now this eventuality has
never presented itself. Either the State had to
procure only a part of the yearly obligations in
the country itself, or it found the whole amount
necessarv abroad. The great secret of Greek
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
finance just consists in this : That their head,
profiting by the multiple relations between Greece
and other countries, knows how to operate the
payment with the least possible loss from monetary
difference.
The 3 3 "5 millions of annual obligations from
the public debt is analyzed as follows :
Interest on the consolidated and amor-
tizable loans 23,968,864 francs.
Redemption 4,674,277 „
Interest on the floating debt :
„ I per cent, bills (forced cur-
rency) ... ... ... 700,000 drachmas.
„ I per cent, bills (small bank-
notes)
,, 5 per cent. Treasury bonds
,, different provisional loans
Loan administration ...
Monetary difference ...
140,000 „
500,000 „
732,000 francs.
150,000 „
2,200,000 drachmas.
In the 33,516,566 of the total annual obliga-
tions, there are included 2 '2 millions estimated as
monetary difference. The obligations properly
so called are reduced to 31,316,566. Up to now
the Government has not had to buy the current
obligations and pay the difference ; it is possible,
then, that at the end of the year this credit of
2,200,000 may remain available. We must notice,
however, that the foregoing table does not contain
the interests on the Peiraius-Ldrissa loans, which,
during the construction of the line, must be taken
FINANCE 123
from the capital of the loan itself, and are liquidated
in virtue of a special credit. But within two or
three years from now they will figure in the
ordinary budget, so that the annual obliga-
tions on the public debt are henceforward 36"5
millions.
We do not need to say that of this total only
32 millions constitute the engagement of Greece
to other countries — that is to say, the charge
permanent and decreasing in proportion to the
amortization, but which cannot be got rid of
On the other hand, the yearly obligations on the
floating debt may very well disappear from the
budget the moment the finances shall have become
healthy. The first consequence would probably
be the abolition of the forced currency, with the
double advantage of stopping the payment of
interest on this head, and extinguishing all ex-
penditure entailed by monetary difference. So
we may firmly believe that, after serious financial
reform, the annual obligations on the debt could
be considerably reduced and unified. The fact
that, of the 28'5 millions paid abroad, 4'6 millions
represent the amortization charge offers another
possibility of facilitating economic regeneration in
Greece, either by arranging a temporary suspension
of the amortization, or by operating a conversion
of the amortization amount charged for interest
with augmentation of capital. In any case, we
124 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
may say that if the annual obligation occupies
to-day too large a place in the budget, it is in
consequence of difficult circumstances, political
changes, historic events, and forced currency,
which have contributed to the indebtedness and
monetary depreciation of the country ; but, at the
same time, we ought also to recognise that after
a period of political stability, of reflection and
serious reform, aided by confidence abroad, all
these disastrous factors will disappear, and then
the burdens of Greece will be absolutely and
relatively diminished.
When we see that military expenditure is set
down in the budget for i6'6 millions, we cannot
but be astonished that Greece is continually being
reproached with a penchant for armaments and
military expenses. The war budget, as we see it
to-day, reduced from the year before by nearly
three millions, is relatively and absolutely smaller
than the military budget of the other Balkan
States. It represents a seventh, or more exactly
1 6 '6 per cent., of the total expenditure. It would,
indeed, be difficult to find another State in Europe
whose military expenditure occupies so small a
place in its budget. To the possible objection
that it is only quite recently that Greece has
begun to limit its armaments, we shall reply by
appending the credits set down in the budgets
for military expenditure, and the actual expendi-
ture :
FINANCE
I
Military
Expenditure voted.
Actual.
i883
i6-5
millions.
i3'3
Tiillions.
1884
25-0
)»
22-5
11
1885
43-3
I)
40-9
■»
1886
77'8
»)
S2'0
,,
1887
i9'o
)j
15-8
)j
1888
t7-8
j»
i6'o
j>
1889
i8-o
)?
i6-2
j»
1890
18-4
))
17-9
')
1891
l8'2
))
15-3
)»
125
Military expenditure remains, then, like almost
all the other ordinary expenditure, below the
estimate. Besides, no one could seriously deny
that the indebtedness of Greece is due in part
to her armaments and military operations. The
building of the three ironclads was paid with part
of the 135 million loan. This loan and others
served to cover the large deficits of 1885 and
1886, occasioned solely by the expenses of
mobilization. But Greece was dragged into this
expenditure by circumstances altogether extra-
ordinary, and she cannot be reproached with
having embarrassed herself through jndgalomanie.
It is only the war years which show an inflated
budget. Greece alone amongst European States
abstains from following the progress of military
science ; her army contents itself with the rifle of
large bore. Ever since the acquisition of the
three ironclads, the question of their supple-
mentary armament has been dragging on ; but
126 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
they do not solve it, for economic reasons.
Everyone who has closely seen the Greek army,
and who knows how many gaps all the corps
contain, will understand that the peace state
scarcely suffices, or rather does not suffice, for
ordinary duty. Everywhere the authorities com-
plain of powerlessness for want of a sufficient
armed force. How, then, can one harmonize
these real and obvious facts with the pretended
desperate arming of Greece ? Foregone con-
clusions are deeply rooted, and it is less trouble
to hold them than to do, honour to the truth.
Naval expenditure is set down in the budget
for a sum of 6,400,000 drachmas, which fact gives
the lie to another of the charges brought against
Greece. A surpassingly maritime country, with
a fleet of twenty-seven ships, of which three are
big ironclads, must evidently observe very great
economy to come off with the paltry sum of
6,400,000 drachmas. The Greek ships, in fact,
hardly ever leave their own waters, their crews
are at half-strength, and their drill takes place
within the limits of the strictest necessity. Withal,
the Greek navy pays, so to speak, its own ex-
penses ; for it is indispensable to the surveillance
of the coast and islands, without which smuggling
would be openly practised.
The other heads of expenditure need no com-
ment ; the figures speak for themselves. One
might find the spending of eight millions for the
FINANCE 127
collection of taxes and financial administration
excessive, and, in fact, some people assure me that
serious savings might be effected on this head.
But it is a fact that local conditions in Greece are
very different from those of other countries. The
people, restive with regard to tax-paying, need
much surveillance. The islands are particularly
costly in this respect, for there vigilance by sea is
necessary as well as by land, and yet the good
islanders boast that they pay hardly any customs.
The sentiment of duties stateward has not yet
sufficiently penetrated the people, an unfortunate
state of affairs not unknown elsewhere ; accord-
ingly the State has to have agents everywhere,
or see part of its revenue slip away.
Summing up, we draw from the foregoing
analysis the conclusion that the 1892 budget
shows considerable progress. To believe that the
nominal surplus of three millions will be estab-
lished at the end of the year would prove an
excess of optimism. This budget will be applied
to the last five months of the year only ; it has
been remade in haste and under pressure of a
sudden change of Government, and contains only
a small portion of the reforms which make up the
programme of the present Government. Never-
theless, compared with its predecessor, it presents
a much greater stability. As far as the totals go,
the difference is not great ; there is equal ex-
penditure, and a slight increase of revenue. But
128 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
in bringing j^ millions of savings into the budget,
set off by almost as much inevitable expenditure,
which would otherwise have produced a deficit,
the Government has added to the sincerity of the
budget. On the other side, it has better, that is
to say, more sincerely, appraised the receipts,
averted ulterior mistakes, and set off these nominal
deficiencies by an increase of revenue amounting
to 97 millions. Even though not believing in
the thorough success of these fiscal measures,
especially at the start, we will admit that their
increased value, added to the more certain pay-
ment of the revenue in general, offers better
chances of relative equilibrium. The budget of
1893, now in preparation, will draw its inspiration
from the same principles, which is all that one
can ask and expect from Greece in the present
circumstances.
At the last moment there appears the 1893
budget, awaited so impatiently, since it must
definitely decide the question whether Greece
can or not, in the present circumstances, live on
her own resources, and at the same time faith-
fully fulfil her engagements. The sketch of the
budget, and the commentary on it contained in
the speech of the President of the Council, reply
clearly and convincingly to this vital question.
Greece wills to suffice from to-day for all her
own wants ; as for her foreign engagements, she
FINANCE 129
will provide for them by herself after some time,
as soon as the foreigner shall have helped her
to disengage herself from the disastrous con-
sequences of the forced currency.
The new budget presents a total revenue of
110,491,453 drachmas, with an expenditure of
104,491,453 drachmas. In the budget at present
in force the revenue figures at 103,550,792
drachmas, and the expenditure at 99,986,128
drachmas. But in this total there are three
millions of purely accidental revenue, so that we
must only count in round numbers 100 millions
of estimated revenue. The increase in the new
budget is obtained by means of : The increase
of certain import duties (1,200,000 drachmas), the
increase of the stamp-duties (1,000,000 drachmas),
the increase of the duty on the consumption of
wine and alcohol (600,000 drachmas), the better
administration of forests, the payment of postal
taxes in gold, the imposition of tonnage-dues.
The better administration of the duty on tobacco
should yield two millions more. This estimate
is not fictitious, for the quantity of tobacco subject
to taxation has trebled in a few months, thanks
to strict vigilance. Besides new taxes there is
the natural increase of revenue. As for the
expenditure, which seems to be increased by
4^ millions, I must observe that the total includes
a credit of 8,500,000 meant to cover contingent
loss through monetary difference. The present
9
130 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
budget contains a credit of 2,200,000 drachmas,
with the same object. In this way the new
budget has a more soHd basis, for it is just
the monetary difference that occasioned a deficit
every time the Treasury had to get gold at home.
Without this credit the estimated expenditure
comes to 95 milHons, and even then we must
deduct from this figure the expenditure of two
millions for future military police, which will be
entirely refunded by the local governments.
Moreover the diminution of the total expendi-
ture follows also from the economies operated in
connection with the new budget. These savings
belong to nearly all departments, but they are
especially considerable in the War Office estimate
(1,000,000 drachmas). Public Works (3,000,000
drachmas), and Elementary Education (700,000
drachmas). We are assured, too, that the present
budget is strictly sincere ; the estimated revenue
is based on the average realized receipts of the
last three years. Thus the budget totals present
a nominal surplus of six millions. Even allowing
for the same proportion of arrears as in recent
years, say six or seven millions, the new budget
will have a settled equilibrium.
This budgetary stability, however, does not
immediately do away with the yearly obligation
of 31 millions in gold. To make sure of part
of their requirements the Government will have
the export-duties, lowered 20 per cent, paid in
FINANCE 131
gold. In this way it will have about 7^ millions
of gold at its disposal. The 8^ millions would
suffice to cover the difference of the remainder.
But the prolonged purchase of such considerable
quantities of gold in the country could only
aggravate the situation by raising the agio. The
Government thinks that the principal cause of
the agio is the quantity of paper-money in circula-
tion, and believes that the moment it was reduced
to the maximum of 50 francs a head, the agio
would come down, and then the country could by
itself furnish the capital for the service of the
debt. Consequently the Government will con-
tinue its efforts for the conclusion of an external
loan, large enough for them to be able to with-
draw 74 millions of forced currency ; that is to
say, the proceeds realized by this loan would for
two or three years have to meet the annual obli-
gation, while equivalent sums would be succes-
sively withdrawn from circulation. The service
of this new loan would be served by the 8^
millions credit which would become available the
moment the Treasury has to pay no monetary
difference.
[ 132 ]
CHAPTER IX.
THE PUBLIC DEBT.
M. Beckmann continues :
The beginnings of the Greek pubHc debt go back
to the time of the War of Independence, before
the constitution of the kingdom. On February 21,
1824, the Coundouriotis Government concluded a
loan in London of ;^8oo,ooo, which though long
disclaimed, was at last acknowledged and liquidated
at 24,975,000 francs in 1878, and entirely re-
deemed in 1890. Moreover, the treaty of May 7,
1832, by which Prince Otho, of Bavaria, was
chosen King of Greece, granted a loan of
60,000,000 francs, guaranteed by the three pro-
tecting powers. From that time to the sudden
change in 1861 Greece borrowed nothing ; still,
it is a fact that she fulfilled very irregularly the
engagements of the guaranteed loan, of which
the sum due was fixed in 1864 at 100,392,833
francs. The series of regular Greek loans begins
in 1862 with a loan of 6 millions. Six years after
THE PUBLIC DEBT 133
a loan of 25 millions was concluded. Then the
intervals grew shorter — 1871, the loan of /\
millions; 1874, o^^e of 26 millions; 1876, one
of 10 millions; 1879, one of 60 millions. Here
we interrupt the enumeration of the operations
of Greek credit, because the year 1880 separates
the past from the new period, marked by the
acquisition of the new provinces, by enormous
social and political development, and by a new
financial policy. Up to 1880, then, the external
debt of Greece had reached the nominal amount
of 256 millions.
The loan of 120 millions issued in i»8i, which
inaugurates the series of big loans, belongs by
right to the preceding period, as it only served
to cover the expenses of the mobilization in 1880.
However, we enter it in the 1881 to 1884 period,
because in point of fact it belongs there, because
it still exists, and because this method seems to us
indispensable to our object, which is to show the
way the loans of the new era have been employed.
Appended is a table of all the loans from 1880
to now :
Loans since 1880.
1880 loan, 120 millions ...
,, „ 9 millions
1884 „ 170 millions (reduced]
to 100) ... ... ... ...}
1885 loan, patriotic
,, ,, small bank-notes
Nominal.
Real.
120,000,000
74,000,000
9,000,000
9,000,000
100,000,000
63.353.759
30,000,000
2,709,168
18,000,000
18,000,000
134 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Loans since
1880
{continued).
No77iinal.
Real.
1885
loan
forced currency
75,615,000
75,615,000
1887
pol
les)
185 millions (mono-'j
135,000,000
90,990,000
1888 loan
15 millions ...
15,000,000
9,990,000
1889
_;^ 1,200,000 ...
30,000,000
20,437>S°°
)j
;^5 ,000,000 ...
125,000,000
91,268,827
1890
Peiraius-Larissa
45,000,000
40,050,000
1891
))
15,000,000
13,000,000
1892
internal (gold)
[6,500,000
10,999,980
"
highways
Total
20,000,000
16,934,187
7.';4,2i5,ooo
539,448,421
From this total of 754,215,000 francs we deduct
first the 75,615,000 francs loan for the forced
currency, since we are not now dealing with the
floating debt. The remainder, then, of 678,600,000
added to the total of the loans concluded before
1880, say 256,000,000 francs, tells us that Greece
has since her political birth borrowed 934,600,000
francs.
In the table of Greek debt, which will be found
further on, it will be seen that the total of this
debt to-day reaches 818,476,339 francs. Of this
sum 130,192,519 francs constitute the floating
debt ; consequently we will deal only with the
remainder, 688,274,819 francs, total consolidated
and redeemable debt, which, compared with the
sum total of the engagements concluded by
Greece, shows a diminution of 255,356,000 francs.
To this diminution, the annual redemption, which
THE PUBLIC DEBT 135
figures for a sum of 4,-%. millions in the budget,
has largely contributed ; in this way 65 millions
(in round numbers) of capital have been paid.
There remains, nevertheless, a difference of 195
millions, which represents the relief given to the
nominal total of the Hellenic debt by the different
conversions and other operations.
We can arrive at a like result, by enumerating
the objects served by the loans, and justifying
their employment. Only in following this method
we cannot take into account the nominal amount
of the loans, and must make out our statement
on the base of their actual yield, for these loans
have served practical ends as much as they have
furnished the Government with real capital. The
yield of the loans since 1880 was 539,448,421.
Manifestly we include also the yield of the forced
currency loan, and that quite rightly, since, the
moment it is a question of justifying the employ-
ment of extra- budgetary receipts, their origin is a
matter of indifference.
The proceeds of the 120,000,000 loan served
with that of 60 millions to cover the deficits of
years 1877 to 1881. In fact, at the beginning of
the financial year 1882 the loan of 120 millions
was already quite consumed. Its yield cannot
enter into the returns of the loans concluded
after 1881, and consequently we deduct it from
the total of 539,448,421. There remain, then,
465,448,421 francs.
136 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Conversions and Redemptions.
Francs.
Conversion of the loans of 60 and 26 millions ... 57,966.000
„ „ 25, 4 and 6 millions 15,801,000
Redemption of 16,336,000 of the highways loan 16,336.000
Redemption of the obligations of the loan of 170
millions, with which the capital was reduced to
100 millions ... ... ... ... ... 56,375,000
Conversion of the remainder of the Independence
loans 15,539,000
Conversion of the loans of 6 and 10 millions ... 8,564,000
Total ... ... 170,581,000
Railvi'Ays.
For the Peiraius-Larissa Railway there were paid up to
August 31, 1892 :
Francs. Francs.
For work done ... ... ... 15,071,607
„ expropriation ... 1,900,000
,, intercalary interest (5 half-
years) 5,648,000
23,619,607
For the redemption of the loan of ^950,480
for the Myloi-Kalamai Railway, and of
;^i48,78o for the Mesolonghi - Ayrinion
Rai'»ay 28,114,000
Other railways (Diakofti-Kalavryta, and sub-
ventions to the Peloponnesian and Thessalian
Railways) 14,000,000
Total 65,733,607
Building of three ironclads ... 26,000,000
So far, we have a total of 236,714,000 francs, of
which the employment was justifiable. None of
these expenses could be classed with regular ex-
THE PUBLIC DEBT 137
penditure. The employment of the loans, how-
ever, did not stop there. Almost the whole system
of roads at present existing in Greece would still
be in its former rudimentary state if the loans
had not procured for the State considerable sums,
of which part had to cover the extraordinary ex-
penditure on highways. But we think that road-
making is an elementary duty of the State, and
that consequently only the extraordinary expen-
diture under this head can figure in the extra-
ordinary budget.
There is, however, another expenditure which
must be deducted from the total yield of the
loans before we can form a faithful idea of its
employment — that is, the 67,604,582 francs spent
in 1884 on the abolition of the forced currency of
the notes of the National Bank and Ionian Bank.
Since this sum was taken in full from the proceeds
of the 170 millions loan with the object of lessen-
ing the total debt, and since it was really paid, we
must add it to the part of the loans employed in
conversion and redemption. The fact that the
forced currency was reintroduced in 1885 does
not alter the question at all. The 75,615,000 of
new debt contracted on this occasion are included
in the sum total, the employment of which we
wish to justify.
Of the total loans, after deducting the pro-
ceeds of the 1 20 millions loan — that is to say,
465,448,421 francs — there were spent :
138 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Francs.
On conversion and redemption ... 170,681,000
On railways 65,733,000
On the ironclads 26,000,000
On abolishing the forced currency ... 67,604,582
Total employment ... 330,018,582
Total loans 465,448,421
Difference ... 135,4291839
These 135,429,839 francs represent the part of
the loans employed in covering the deficits from
1882 to 1891. If we add these up, we find that
their total comes to 202,496,000 drachmas (in
round numbers as to the thousands).
Analysis :
Deficits. Surplus.
Ordinary. Extraordinary.
883 ... 9,258,000 — —
884 ... 22,600,000 8,000,000 —
885 ... 28,000,000 35,700,000 —
886 ... 28,366,000 39,200,000 —
887 ... — — 719,000
888 ... 6,861,000 — —
889 ... 2,197,000 — —
890 ... 10,237,000 — —
891 ... 2,746,000 10,050,000 —
Total ... 110,265,000 92,250,000 719,000
Viz., 203,215,000 - 719,000 = 202,496,000
It is striking that the total uncovered expen-
diture is 202,496,000 drachmas, while the portion
of the loans not otherwise employed, and which
alone can have served to cover the deficits, is
THE PUBLIC DEBT 139
only 135,429,000. There is thus a difference of
67,067,000 drachmas, which has to be explained.
With this end in view, we will at first point out
one of the peculiarities of the Hellenic budget —
the administration of the highways. For this
there is a special account, its revenue accruing
from a first claim on the taxes. But the Treasury
is bound to cover all the expenses of this depart-
ment — that is to say, in so far as the special
revenue is insufficient for highway requirements,
the Treasury must make up the deficit. The
general budget of the country contains, both as to
revenue and expenditure, a highways account —
that is to say, the receipts and the amounts spent
on the highways accounts form part of the general
budget. Now, since 1882 the receipts have been
42,434,533 drachmas, and the expenses 68,562,602
drachmas. This difference of 26,128,069 must
be deducted from the total deficits, as it is evident
that if we had taken into account in our analysis
of the financial years these unforeseen investment
expenses, we should have classed them with extra-
ordinary expenditure. The deficit total, then, is
176,368,000, and the difference between it and
the remainder of the loans available — 135,429,000
— is reduced to 40,939,000 drachmas.
Since 1885 — the year when the forced currency
was re-established — the issue affecting the State
debt on this account has increased by 15,019,000
drachmas. For in our lis); of sums arising out of
140 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
loans, we have put the circulation of the forced
currency down as 75,615,000 drachmas, while the
State debt on this score was, on October 15,
90,634,054, that is to say, an increase ot 15
millions. Besides the forced currency, we ought
to take into account the rest of the floating debt,
composed as follows :
Drachmas.
Treasury bonds ... ... ... 10,285,730
Sundry provisional loans ... ... 17,198,733
Total ... ... 27,484,463
These 27,484,463 drachmas of further loans,
added to the 15 millions obtained by the increase
of the circulation of the forced currency, just
make up for the difference of 40,939,000 drachmas.
Accordingly the employment of the extraordinary
revenue resulting from loans is justified.
Schedule of the National Debt of Greece
UP TO the latter half of 1892. — According to
an official publication of the Ministry of Finance,
the National Debt of Greece was, on October 15,
1892, compared as follows :
Paper.
Gold.
Total.
Amortizable loans . .
19,824,492
481,601,720
501,426,213
Amortizable loans )
(consolidated) j
31,848,606
—
31,848,606
Consolidated
—
155.000,000
155,000,000
Floating debt (forced\
currency, provi-
sional loans.
Treasury bonds /
98,068,951
32,122,667
'30.192,519
Total . 1
[49.742.049
668,724,387
818,467,338
THE PUBLIC DEBT
141
In this total, the individual loans figure, in ac-
cordance with the 1892 budget, for the following
amounts :
Paper.
Consolidated residue of the 26 millions loan,
5 per cent., 1874 20,303,500 dr.
Consolidated residue of the 10 millions loan,
5 per cent., 1876 886,250 „
Consolidated residue of the 9 millions loan,
5J per cent., i88t 8,900,000 „
Loan for highways, 5I per cent., 1878 ... 1,758,856 „
Gold.
Consolidated loan, ;^i, 200,000, 4 per cent.,
1889 ... ... ... ... ... 30,000,000 fr.
Consolidated loan, ^^5, 000,000, 4 per cent.,
1889 125,000,000 „
Amortizable loan of 120 millions, 5 per cent.,
1880 106,055,000 „
Amortizable loan of 170 (100) millions, 5 per
cent., 1884 92,473,500 „
Amortizable loan of 1 35 millions (monopolies),
4 per cent., 1887 133,410,000,,
Amortizable loan of 15 millions, 4 per cent.,
1887 14,855,000 „
Loan for Peiraius-Larissa Railway, 5 per
cent., 1890 60,000,000 „
Interior loan (gold) of 16-5 millions, 4 per
cent., 1892 16,305,000 „
Besides the following special loans :
Loan from the three great powers, 1864 ... 73,202,720 fr.
Debt to the late King Otho, 1868 2,433,442 dr.
Patriotic loan, 1885 2,536,050 „
Floating Debt.
Treasury bonds in circulation ... ... 10,285,730 „
142
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Circulation of Forced Currency Notes, on the State's Account,
October -h-, 1802.
Gold.
Notes of National Bank 70,994,240 dr.
„ Ionian Bank 1,884,307 „
„ Epiro-Thessalian Bank 9°5.S73 »
Debt on Smaller Bank-notes.
National Bank ... ... ... ... 7,000,000 ,,
Ionian Bank ... ... ... ... ... 3,500,000 „
Epiro-Thessalian Bank ... ... ... 3,500,000 „
Metallic Debt in Virtue of Forced Currency.
Gold.
National Bank ... ... ... ... 13,999,906 fr.
Ionian Bank ... ... ... ... ... 2,010,028 ,,
Epiro-Thessalian Bank ... ... ... 804,000 ,,
*Provisional loan, 5,015,000 fr., 6 per cent. ... 5,815,000 fr.
(Falling due Nov. 24, 1892.)
„ ^60,000, 575 per cent. ... 1,500,000,,
(Falling due Nov. 28, 1892.)
,, 700,000 fr., 6 per cent. ... 700,000 ,,
(Falling due Jan. 7, 1893.)
703,733 fr-- 6 per cent. ... 7o3>733 »
(Falling due Nov. 5, 1892.)
„ ^64,720, 6 per cent. ... 1,615,000,,
(Falling due March 7, 1893.)
„ ^60,000, 5 per cent. ... 1,500,000,,
(Falling due March 7, 1893.)
!, ;^4o>°oo. 5 75 per cent. ... 1,000,000,,
(Falling due April 10, 1893.)
,, ^64,000, 575 per cent. ... 1,600,000,,
(Falling due April 19, 1893.)
» ;^35, 00°. 575 per cent. ... 875,000,,
(Falling due April 19, 1893.)
Note. — The loans in the foregoing list marked with an
asterisk are guaranteed by obligations of the unissued part of
the Peiraius-Ldrissa loan.
143 ]
CHAPTER X.
THE FORCED CURRENCY.
On this subject M. Beckmann says :
Since 1877 Greece has not been free from de-
preciation of its money. On June 20 of that year
the forced currency of the notes of the National
Bank and Ionian Bank was decreed — at first for
a maximum of 47 millions for the National Bank,
and 12 millions for the other. In 1884 the forced
currency was revoked, an operation which cost
the Treasury 67,604,000 francs, but which had no
lasting results, as in 1885, owing to the require-
ments of the mobilization, it was re-established,
with this difference, however : That this time the
notes of the Epiro-Thessalian Bank also obtained
the same privilege. We must first explain the
legal conditions under which forced currency
exists in Greece.
In normal times the National Bank can issue
notes, of which the whole must be covered — as
to a third by cash, as to a third by negotiable
144 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
drafts, and as to a third by State bonds. On
establishing the forced currency, the State borrowed
14 millions in gold from the bank, obliged it to
hold at the disposal of the State bills to the
amount of 70,000,000 drachmas, and in return
conferred on it the privilege of circulating on its
own account 60 millions of forced currency. The
amount of notes, then, circulating on the State's
account represents its debt to the bank ; in fact,
the State pays i per cent, on this circulation, and
also I per cent, for the metallic debt of 14 millions.
Accordingly the maximum circulation of the
National Bank is 141 millions, to which one may
add the 7 millions for small bank-notes (one and
two drachmas) which are issued by the bank on
the State's account, the latter also paying i per
cent, on this amount. The conditions with the
two other banks which have a forced currency
are as follows : The Ionian Bank can have a
maximum of 9 millions, two of them on the
State's account ; the Epiro - Thessalian Bank
maximum is 7 millions, of which one on the
State's account. Each of these two banks has
also 3 '5 millions of smaller notes. Consequently
the maximum of forced currency possible in cir-
culation is 156 millions in bank-notes, and 14
millions in small notes.
Leaving on one side the comparatively in-
significant circulation of the other two banks, we
will deal first with the circulation of the national
FORCED CURRENCY 145
institution. It is always below the legal maximum.
Whereas the State often goes to the extreme
limit with its right of drawing — the balance-sheet
of August 31, 1892, shows on the State's account
a circulation of 70,994,240 — the bank's circulation
never reaches the 60 million maximum. At the
same date it was 49,817,242. It is further note-
worthy that the National Bank always has part of
its circulation stored in its coffers. Many people,
for mere safety's sake, deposit their capital in
bank-notes with the bank itself without interest.
Thus on August 31 the bank had 137 of its
notes stored, an amount which we must deduct
from the circulation. The circulation of the bank
was on an average during the last five years from
38 to 40 millions. The total circulation of its notes
on August 31 was thus 128,811,482 drachmas,
adding to which the total of the two other banks,
we get a circulation of 145 millions for Greece.
This amount is not too large. Absolutely, it is
65 francs per head of the population. But you
will see more clearly that there is nothing dis-
quieting in this circulation when you call to mind
that beside it there exists no means of circulation
in the country. Gold is merchandise, and plays
absolutely no part in internal transactions. Cheques
are hardly known ; they are being introduced, but
slowly. All payments are cash — that is to say, in
notes, with forced currency. Far from looking
for the causes of monetary difference in the
10
146 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
quantity of forced currency notes, one may record
a very perceptible lack of money — that is to say,
of the legal medium — in economic transactions ;
and since the bank-note alone here plays this
part, we are right in affirming that the circum-
stances of the country imperiously demand a larger
quantity of money. In asserting that we do not
wish to advise the setting to work of the bank-
note press. The experiment would be dangerous,
and would probably lead to a terrible depreciation
of Hellenic paper-money ; but still, we distinctly
believe the reason of this depreciation would be
the moral effect, and not the abundance of notes.
It is undeniable that money — we speak always
of paper-money— is very rare in Greece. This
scarcity of money causes the rise of the rate of
interest — 6 to 7 per cent, at the banks, and 10 to
12 in private affairs. We must seek elsewhere,
then, for the causes of the monetary difference,
which, after having for a short time reached
57 per cent., has remained for some months at
about 40 per cent., which means that you must
pay 140 drachmas to buy 100 francs. There is
no need to explain the disastrous consequences of
this depreciation on the State budget, on com-
merce, and on the whole national revenue ; every
reader understands and can imagine them. But
whence comes this difference, and why is it so
considerable ?
The mere fact of the existence of the forced
FORCED CURRENCY 147
currency must produce a monetary difference ;
experience proves it, and logic makes it intelligible.
Gold disappears, and a piece of paper remains in
the country, a piece of paper which, from the
mere reason that it has no right to be paid abroad,
must undergo depreciation. But in Greece, in
addition to this natural cause, there exist special
reasons of which the effect is to increase the
monetary difference. Greece exports more gold
than she imports. The country, indeed, incon-
testably possesses no reserve of monetized bullion,
and even were it true that importation equalled
exportation, a metal reserve would never be
formed. In addition to that the afflux of gold
occurs once a year at a certain period — that is to
say, after the harvest — while importation goes on
all the year round, by the agency of draughts
on other countries. The gold coming into the
country is moreover very quickly absorbed by
speculation. It can be demonstrated this year
that, in spite of the good currant harvest, which
in a short time brought at least 40 millions into
the country, the agio did not go down at all.
These two factors — the lack of metallic reserve
and the requirements of the import business — are
always active ; they have existed in the same
force ever since the introduction of the forced
currency. If in spite of them the agio could keep
for five years at a height of 20 or 25 per cent,
at most, it is because the third cause, of which
148 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the influence is the most direct, did not then act.
It has been elsewhere stated that out of 33-5
millions of yearly obligations from the debt, 29"5
are payable in gold. The whole of this sum goes
abroad. Even if it were established that 130
millions of the Hellenic debt were found in Greek
hands, one would have to admit that the whole
amount of interest goes abroad, for the Greek
bondholders discount their coupons abroad. To
meet this difficulty the State can follow two
courses : either buy the sum in metallic value on
the home market, or get it abroad, while other-
wise disposing of the budget credits thus liberated.
From 1887 to 1891 the Governments did not find
themselves under the necessity of buying the
equivalent of the interest on the home market.
The different loans, concluded during this period,
placed the necessary amounts at the disposal of
the Government. It would have been extremely
maladroit not to profit by these combinations
which permitted the Government to fulfil the
engagements of the State with an expenditure
equal to the bills falling due, and, if it had per-
sisted in collecting the amount of the yearly obli-
gation in the country, by paying the monetary
difference and the cost of transfer, without counting
the serious disturbances which this proceeding
would have caused in the money market. If the
loans had been concluded with the sole object
of facilitating the payment of the interest (Greece
FORCED CURRENCY 149
has often been reproached with making new loans
to pay the interest of old ones), this system would
be at the same time detestable and ruinous. But
since these loans would have had to be concluded
anyway — in the chapter on the public debt will
be found a detailed statement of their origin and
employment — the country was for five years
spared the unfortunate consequences of the forced
currency by profiting by the facility offered by
these credits which Greece had abroad. Since
then events have furnished the proof, that without
these combinations the situation to-day as to the
height of agio would long since have been
established. The movement of the agio demon-
strates it with almost mathematical precision. In
1887 and 1888 the agio remained at 128 and 126
respectively. It fell considerably during the two
following years, 1889 and 1890, of which the
average was 122. These were the years of the
greatest abundance of gold, coming from the
loans of £\-2 millions and 5 millions, and the
Peiraius-Larissa loan. The change of Govern-
ment in October, 1890, raised the agio to 127.
It was, however, able to stop at this point, with
slight variations during all the first half of 1891,
as the Government had no need to buy the first
six months' obligations. It was only in the
second half of this year, when the Government
commissioned certain banks to collect gold on
its account, that the market felt the effects of it.
ISO GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The rise was slight at first, but from the moment
the conduct of the Government was known, specu-
lation interfered in it, and the agio rose to 140
and more. Since then it has come below this
average for a few days only. Under the pro-
visional Constantopoulos Ministry the rise even
continued; the napoleon cost 31 "20 drachmas,
which corresponds to an agio of 57 per cent.
But the result of the elections of May -{^^ brought
some improvement, and since then the rate has
been at 140, though always with a slight upward
tendency. We must observe, too, that the
internal loan of 16,500,000 concluded by the
Constantopoulos Ministry furnished almost the
whole of the first half year's interest. The
Government has got very little gold, then, on
the market, and since in spite of this circum-
stance the monetary difference is maintained, we
must infer that an agio of about 40 per cent,
corresponds to the actual circumstances of the
country.
The question of forced currency is of vital
importance to Greece. No other economic
question has interested people so powerfully, or
roused so many discussions. On this subject the
most opposite theories have been expressed, and
some have even gone so far as to pretend that the
monetary difference has not any physical cause.
And yet one and one only origin must be attri-
buted to it — the lack of a metallic reserve in the
FORCED CURRENCY 151
country. There is undoubtedly a considerable
quantity of precious metals, and even of gold coin,
in Greece, but all these sums are of no account as
circulation, seeing that they form the hoardings
of a certain class of the population and never
leave the old stockings or mattresses in which
they are hidden. The higher gold rises in value,
the more carefully its owners keep it. The small
metallic fund of the banks cannot act as a
counterpoise to the centrifugal tendency of gold.
Besides, the nature of Greek commercial activity
tends to strip her of gold. The sum total of her
exports and other resources may, expressed in
money, equal her imports ; but it does not come
to the same economic result. The imports —
articles of consumption and manufacture — are
paid for by the whole population, while the
exports — products of the soil — profit certain classes
only. Is it not remarkable that the essentially
agricultural countries — Russia, Austria, Hungary,
and partially the United States — have had to
undergo the extreme consequences of forced
currency, and can free themselves only in pro-
portion as their industries develop ? And can
it be insignificant that the two richest countries
as to metallic reserve, France and England, owe
their wealth to trade and manufactures? It is
because trade fosters the industry of the country,
while the exportation of agricultural products con-
tributes very little to the distribution of property.
152 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
This is not, of course, the primary cause of
monetary difference, but from the moment forced
currency exists, the disproportion between
economic value of import and export increases
it. However, the chief reason, the reason which
acts direcriy, is the requirements of the Exchequer
for the interest on the debt.
Let us picture the situation of Greece in this
respect. Gold, there is none, except a few
millions belonging to the banks. This reserve,
once consumed, would be renewed with difficulty.
What there might have been over and above
this well-guarded reserve has long since left the
country ; in fact, you can come upon Greek
money anywhere except in Greece. The exports
leave no surplus. From whence, then, take the
30 millions which the State has to export every
year ? At all events the necessity of looking for
them on the home market increases the demand.
Objection will, perhaps, be made that there is
not generally, for the matter of that, a real export
of metal since the payment is made by draft.
But that does not prevent the buyer, as he has
no hard cash to offer, from having to accept the
conditions of those who sell him their credit.
The natural conclusion from all these reflections
would be that Greece ought, even at the price of
great sacrifices, to re-establish her metallic circula-
tion. This operation was made in 1884, but with
mediocre success. The agio did not disappear.
FORCED CURRENCY 153
and if it was not heavy, that is because the big
external loan, with which the forced currency had
been revoked, had introduced a lot of money into
the country. In 1885 the forced currency was
re-established ; to meet military necessities, it is
true, but no one doubts that this necessity would
have arisen all the same, though perhaps rather
later. The situation to-day proves it.
Let us examine the practical consequences
which the withdrawal of the forced currency by
an external loan would entail at this moment. A
hundred millions would be quite enough, as it
would be a condition of the withdrawal that the
State should pay the National Bank its metallic
debt, 14 millions, and withdraw all the notes in
circulation on its account, at present 71 millions.
The analogous operation with the other banks
would cost from 6 to 7 millions — a total, then,
of 90 millions. As to the 14 millions of smaller
notes, we think they might very well continue to
circulate without a metallic fund under the double
guarantee of the State and the bank. After this
operation, then, the agio would disappear, and
could not reappear as long as the bank continued
to give cash for every note. But that is the very
misgiving which first arises. This metallic fund
of the bank may be indifferently in gold or silver.
Would not an agio come on gold if the bank
persisted in changing its notes into silver?
Further, we fancy that the metallic fund of the
154 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
bank, fixed at a third of its circulation, is not
enough for the large requirements of the country,
and especially for the exports on the State s
account. Accordingly it is to be feared that
after a certain time the money which came into
the country through the loan will be consumed,
and then there will come quite naturally a premium
on gold, and from that moment it will be im-
possible to stay its flight. From that to the
re-establishment of forced currency it is not far.
Observe, too, that the loan for the removal of the
forced currency would increase the debt, and
consequently the interest — by from 5 to 6 millions
— and that this interest would contribute to hasten
a new calamity. Everything then leads us to
believe that the sudden removal of the forced
currency would be premature ; at any rate, it
is well worth while avoiding the sacrifice of a
hundred millions, if it is not certain to succeed.
If Greece manages to establish real stable
equilibrium in her budget, her credit will feel the
effects of it. A considerable improvement in the
value of Greek securities cannot remain without
influence on monetary difference ; it will fall, for it
is always found in inverse ratio to external credit.
If, at the same time, the economic conditions of
the country change ; if the production of the soil
increases so that Greece produces herself all that
she consumes ; if with the progress of science
they get to increase the value of their exports ;
FORCED CURRENCY 155
if, meanwhile, the country can create an industry
which would in part suffice for its wants — then
gold would be undoubtedly more abundant, or,
rather, less in demand, and consequently the agio
would fall. With the monetary difference come
down to 15 per cent, for instance, the removal of
the forced currency will be a much easier affair
than at present, and will have — what is still more
important — much better chances of permanent
success. While waiting for this favourable
moment to present itself, the Government might
undoubtedly make use of some expedients, if
only with the object of somewhat animating their
languishing commerce. There has been talk of
an external loan of 40 or 45 millions, and pay-
ment by its means to the banks — in the first place
to the National Bank — of the metallic debt of
the State due to them. That done, the National
Bank would dispose of a metallic fund of at least
25 millions, which would inevitably lower the agio
for a considerable time, especially as it would
enhance the foreign credit of the bank. This
operation, of which the economic utility would be
great even in case it did not last long, would have
the advantage of not aggravating the State burden,
as it is simply a question of borrowing abroad to
pay the internal debt. As everything points to
Greece having entered on a period of serious
reform and retrenchment, we must believe that a
preparatory operation of this kind, added to the
iS6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
happy effects of a combination which would
Hghten the charges for the making of the Peiraius-
Ldrissa Railway, might bring much nearer the
moment of the regeneration of Greece, which
should be crowned by the withdrawal of the
forced currency.
In concluding this subject, it may perhaps be
useful to examine how far the National Bank is
prepared to resume cash-payment. On August 31,
1892, its metallic funds consisted of 7,974,647
francs, to which must be added 1,727,607 francs,
bills at sight on the Treasury, and 1,161,337
francs, notes of other banks, which would have
cash value as soon as the forced currency was
withdrawn. It is one of the stipulations between
the Government and the bank that the former,
before removing the forced currency, withdraws
all the circulation on its account, and pays the
bank the whole of the metallic debt it owes it.
This debt is twofold : the forced currency debt
of 14 millions, and the provisional loans of
5,477,265 francs. From the moment of the with-
drawal, the bank then would have 27,451,939
francs in cash, and 1,161,337 francs in the notes
of other institutions in its coffers. In conformity
with its charter, this fund would be sufficient to
guarantee a circulation of 84 millions ; the nominal
circulation of the bank was, however, at the same
date 49,817,242 francs. This circulation, then,
would be covered, at the moment of the re-
FORCED CURRENCY 157
establishment of the metalHc circulation, by nearly
50 per cent. Probably this circulation would not
suffice for the needs of the country, and the bank,
sooner or later, would find itself obliged to in-
crease it. But even in this case it would not find
its resources exhausted, as, in order to reinforce
its cash, it would only have to sell part of its
stock of State obligations in gold ; of these it
possesses 18,666,227. The moment after the
removal of the forced currency, which would un-
doubtedly have raised Greek prices, would be
specially propitious for this operation. The bank
can, after the removal, at any moment bring its
metallic funds to 45 millions, which, according to
its articles, is enough to guarantee a circulation of
130 millions, an amount sufficient for the needs
of the country, especially as there would be along-
side of it the metallic circulation. Whether a
metallic fund of 33 per cent, offers the necessary
guarantees for the stability of the value of its
notes is another question.
[ 158 ]
CHAPTER XI.
FINANCE (CONCLUDED).
M. Beckmann's Deductions — The 1893 Estimates — Municipal
Finance.
M. Beckmann's deductions may be tabulated as
follows :
I. Though Greece has borrowed a large amount
of money, she has something to show for it :
Thessaly, many miles of roads, many miles of
railways, a respectable little navy, and a very
rapidly developing commerce.
II. Her budgets have been gradually improving,
and are now nearly in stable equilibrium.
(i) The estimated revenue shows a greater
correspondence with the amounts last
collected.
(2) The estimated expenditure is moulded as
far as possible on the amounts collected.
(3) Such economies as are possible are intro-
duced in all departments, notably in
that of the Minister for War.
FINANCIAL CONCLUSIONS
159
(4) Greater stringency is observed in the
collection of taxes.
The Estimates for this year (1893) are as
follows :
Revenue.
Drachmas.
Drachinas.
Indirect taxation ...
. 22,110,634
Taxes on consumption
. 36,003,000
Duties
• i9.53«.9o7
Monopolies
• 11,342,806
Income from public property
3,953.232
Sale of public property ...
2,976,674
Recovery from expenditure
1,551,000
Light dues ...
450,000
Telegraph ...
500,000
Elementary Education receipts ..
3,401,200
Police
1,800,000
Sundries
• 5.558,000
Total ordinary revenue
109,185,453
Extraordinary receipts
306,000
Loan for highways
1,000,000
Total extraordinary revenue . .
1,306,000
Total revenue
110,491,453
EXPENDIT
URE.
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Interest on national debt ...
■ 35.468,596*
Subsidies ...
131,899
Pensions ...
4,893,000
Civil list
1,325,000
Parliamentary
504.258
Foreign Office
1,916,658
Ministry of Justice
■ 4.589,951
* Lepta are omitted under the separate heads, but included
in the total.
i6o
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Expenditure (continued).
Drachmas.
Drachmas.
Ministry of Interior ... ... 8,904,758
„ Religion ... ... 6,924,104
War 14,364,230
Marine 5,034,254
„ Finance i,776,o7S
Administration ... ... ... 8,105,011
Sundries ... ... ... ... 1,863,000
Total ordinary expenditure ... 95,800,797
Extraordinary expenditure for national debt pur-
poses ... ... ... 8,690,656
Total expenditure .. ... 104,491,453
Municipal Finance. — The revenue of Athens
was, in 1891, 2,219,323 drachmas, with an ex-
penditure of 1,994,480 drachmas. Only about
half of the income is provided by rates, so that
the annual burden per head is only about 10
drachmas, the expenditure being just 20 drachmas
per head. This is very small in comparison with
the expenditure of other capitals :
Milan...
Berlin ...
Bucharest
Vienna
Washington
Paris . . .
Brussels
Munich
Prague
The total municipal indebtedness of Greece
does not reach 20,000,000 drachmas.
30
francs.
44
))
61
1)
67
)j
102
>»
122
j>
124
»)
153
»
X85
>»
[ i6i ]
CHAPTER XII.
PUBLIC ORDER.
Justice' — Crime^Police — Prisons — Bankruptcy — Mendicancy.
Justice. — In 1833 there were only three law-
courts in Greece — at Argos, Thebes and Meso-
longhi — and these were of criminal jurisdiction
only. At present there is (beginning at the top)
the Areopagos, or final Court of Appeal, consist-
ing of a President (9,600 drachmas a year), Vice-
president (7,800), and fifteen other judges (7,200).
Next to these is the Court of Appeal, which has
five courts, viz., at Athens, Nauplion, Patras,
Kerkyra and Larissa. There are forty-nine judges
of appeal, with salaries of 4,800 drachmas a year
(presidents 6,000). There are twenty-two Civil
Courts of First Instance, viz., at Athens, Syros,
Chalkis, Lamia, Amphissa, Nauplion, Tripolis,
Kalamai, Sparta, Kyparissia, Patras, Mesolonghi,
Pyrgos, Zakynthos, Leukas, Kerkyra, Keph-
allenia, Arta, Ldrissa, Trikkala, Volo and Kar-
ditsa. The judges number 158, with 2,400
II
i62 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
drachmas a year each (presidents 3,600). Lastly
there are the County Courts, with 226 magistrates,
paid at from 2,160 to 1,200 drachmas a year.
M. Antonios Ronteres, in an article on the Greek
Law Courts in the 1892 ' Panhellenic Companion,'
says, ' It is certainly believed that we are the most
litigious people in the world.' He gives the
total number of cases for 1890 as Areopagos, 402 ;
Courts of Appeal, 4,588 ; Courts of First Instance,
34,831 ; County Courts, 155,708. He contends,
and I think most people will be inclined to agree
with him, that while in an old-established country
litigiousness may imply an unpleasant ethical
state, in a land only set free a score or two of
years from a semi-anarchic tyranny, and having
only within the last few years emerged from the
unrest and insecurity consequent on centuries of
slavery, litigiousness is itself a happy proof that
the people understand that it is better not to take
the law into their own hands, and have learnt
the difficult lesson that the State is strong enough
to punish those who will not so understand. It is
even more than this ; it goes a long way towards
proving that the State is strong enough to punish
those who disregard its authority. M. Ronteres
goes so far as to say ' The policecourt is the
principal agent of civilization in our country,' and
if these two statements are read together, and
assented to, we must admit that the civilization of
Greece should be proceeding at a great pace.
PUBLIC ORDER 163
The decided cases have been as
follows :
Civil.
1887. 1888.
i88g.
i8go.
Areopagos
353 293
213
238
Courts of Appeal ...
4,879 5.°72
.i.736
4,588
„ First Instance
43.824 41,039
•r^,74o
34,831
County Courts
128,212 145,892
155,708
132,048
Total
177,268 192,296
Criminal.
202,397
171,705
1887. 1888.
i88g.
i8go.
Areopagos ...
158 193
187
164
Courts of Appeal . . .
1,172 1,380
1,186
1,132
Police Courts
35,583 39,394
36,993
32,385
Inferior Police Courts
36,811 54,948
51,364
39,006
Total 74,724 95,915 89,730 73,687
It appears that in both civil and criminal matters
a climax was reached in 1888, that is to say, that
the new Themis had been worshipped with so
much ardour that there could but come a time
when her votaries would see that she preferred
the law-abiding even to those who forsook the
dagger for the law court.
There are also commercial tribunals, on the
French projection at Syros, Nauplion and Patras.
Athens is the only town which has a separate
Inferior Police Court. In all other cases the civil
judges sit also in Crown cases. In spite of this
the number of judges appears to English eyes
comically excessive, but yet the whole 440 only
1 64 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
cost about ^120,000 a year, or less than twenty-
two of our judges (one- twentieth of the number)
cost us. For my part I am inclined to think the
number might be considerably reduced, and the
salaries slightly increased. At the same time, we
must not forget that in the Ionian Islands we were
unable to do with numerically weak benches. Even
as it is, disciplinary measures had to be adopted to
thirty-six County Court judges, and two judges of
First Instance in 1888, to fourteen County Court
judges and two judges of First Instance in 1889,
and to thirty-two County Court judges and three
judges of First Instance in 1890. This means
14 per cent, of the Court of First Instance, and
5 1 per cent, of the County Court judges, removed,
fined or reprimanded in three years ! Even this
is rather a hopeful sign, for a few years ago they
would have had to be very naughty judges,
indeed, before any official notice was taken of
them. A little more severity, a little more
certainty of severity, and a decently pure judiciary
may be found. And this will have a very great
effect on the cause of law and order in Greece,
although its first result may be an apparent in-
crease of litigiousness. The Athenian Bar may
be roughly divided into three ranks : A few, who
can be counted on one's fingers, make from 36,000
to 48,000 drachmas (^1,200 to .1^1,600) a year ; the
middle division earn from 6,000 to 12,000 drachmas
(^200 to ^400) a year ; the rest, who form the
PUBLIC ORDER
i6s
great majority, have practices confined to County
Courts and police courts, and struggle after a
dollar a day. The provincial barristers are usually
of this last kind, although in the chief centres a
few gain 6,000 to 12,000 drachmas a year.
Although justice is still somewhat uncertain,
it is neither noticeably nor incurably so, nor is it
as dilatory as is commonly supposed, and a
foreigner is quite sure of not being unfairly dealt
with, at any rate if he is on the spot, which is
more than can be said of some bigger countries,
which pretend to possess a civilization on an
altogether higher plane.
Crime. — ^This is the section of Greek con-
temporary life which is most likely to depress the
Philhellene. The figures speak for themselves
only too well :
Murder and manslaughter ..
Wounding
Rape, etc.
Robbery
Theft
Fraud
Forgery
Coining
Perjury
Arson
Various
attempted
Total
1888.
i8go.
2,344
2,301
i 802
869
255
212
472
442
201
186
665-
586
20
22
30
38
8
8
16
18
30
15
240
igo
■ 4,883
4,880
I have but imperfect figures for 1889, for which
i66
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
year an enormous reduction of crime is claimed ;
there can be no doubt that there really was much
less crime than in 1888 or 1890. In the latter
year 2 per cent, of the condemned were of superior
education ; 60 per cent, were more or less educated,
and 38 per cent, illiterate ; 66 per cent, were un-
married ; only 51 were females. In 1889 49 per
cent, were illiterate, and 51 per cent, not so, while
62, per cent, were unmarried. The classes chiefly
involved were farmers, 2,952 ; shepherds and
swine-herds, 495; of independent means, 199;
labourers, 127 ; car-drivers and cab-drivers, 95 ;
shoemakers, 92 ; business men, 91 ; soldiers, 85 ;
sailors, 81 ; butchers, 58 ; iron- workers, 56 ; civil
servants, 53 ; tailors, 51 ; coffee-shopkeepers, 44 ;
servants (male), 43 ; general dealers, 40.
The influence of weather on Greek criminality
is very striking :
iSgi. Murders. '„ / Robberies.
461 9
47 7
67 1 II
100 1 9
102 3
132 4
156 7
180—) 6
149 / 6
97/ 7
Not only the first, second, and fifth columns show
a great increase in the hot weather, but even
January
■ 37
February
•• 33
March
.. 47
April ...
•• 45
May ...
•• 43 \
June ...
- 54 \
July ... .
.. 73 \
August
.. 76-
September
.. 64 /
October
■• 48/
PUBLIC ORDER
167
thefts, which can only be partially explained by
the greater opportunities then offered.
The actual murders (not including man-
slaughters) and attempted murders in 1889 are
thus geographically distributed :
Murders
Attempted
Murders.
Total.
I to — of
Population.
Attika-Boiotia
.. 50
174
224
1,15°
Achaia-Elis
.. 49
64
i'3
1,864
Zakynthos...
10
9
19
2,319
Arkadia , . .
16
42
58
2,SS6
Phthiotis-Phokis
27
24
SI
2,676
Messenia ...
■• 34
34
68
2,694
Akarnania-Aitolia
■■ 30
21
51
3.176
Euboia
12
18
30
3.448
Argolis-Korinth
- 15
23
38
3.811
Arta
2
6
8
4,111
Lakonia . , .
.. i6
14
3°
4,202
Kephallenia
7
12
19
4,219
Kyklades ...
10
13
23
S.717
Trikkala ...
16
9
25
S.72S
Larissa
•• IS
8
23
7.3°8
Kerkyra . . .
7
2
9
12,726
It is rather a bad sign that Attika should be the
most murdersome province in Greece ; under the
very eyes of the Government, at the very head-
quarters of the police, not to speak of the centre
of education and learning, there ought to be less
difficulty than elsewhere in getting the peace
decently kept. Nor is Athens a populous enough
city to afford a set-off on the score of police
difficulties. The secret of all this crime will be
shown somewhat in the next table :
1 68 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Condemned to death
23
\y
penal servitude for life
255
u
3J
years
1,476
)j
imprisonment
with hard labour . . .
1,489
))
gaol
...
1.637
This is for 1890. There were 2,301 homicides
(from murder downwards), and twenty - three
prisoners were condemned to death — i per cent !
There is, however, a more hopeful side :
Convicted for the first time
4,486
J,
))
second time ...
266
,,
jj
third time
5°
J)
,)
fourth time
14
),
n
fifth, etc., time
13
1 89 1 was a still worse year than 1890. At the
time of the general election in Greece last year
the Tricoupists scored considerably by instilling
into the public mind and imagination the lesson
of the criminal statistics under the rival leaders.
This is one of the tables used. It is compiled
from the figures published in the ' Ephemeris ' :
1889 i8gi
{M. Tricoupes, (M. Deleyannes,
Prime Minister). Prime Minister).
Murders ... ... 316 821
Attempts to murder... 473 i)925
Mysterious deaths ... 24 96
Rapes, etc. ... ... 51 197
Thefts 513 1,117
Robberies ... ... o 135
When M. Deleyannes fell there were in Lakonia
alone {with a population of 126,000 souls) 1,247
&
PUBLIC ORDER 169
fugitives from justice. His opponents asserted
that a good deal of the support he was likely to
get would be from those who ought to be in
g-aol ; and there can be no doubt that the fear
of losing popularity had made him very tender
towards the criminal part of the population.
Certainly the vote is at the bottom of the lawless-
ness in Greece. However, after the release of
the Gweedore folk perhaps an Englishman ought
not to say much.
An examination of the criminal statistics brings
out the fact very prominently that crime in Greece
is not caused by dishonesty, or by vice in any of
its most unpleasant shapes. Quickness of temper
is the cause of nearly all of it. Brigandage is
dead ; it was buried with Mr. Vyner's murderers
in 1870. A distinguished archseologist will never
again be seen tied shirtless to a tree, sketching
his similarly posed and unattired companion in
misfortune, while the footpads in the background
carry off their booty. Nor is there much thieving
in Greece. It is true that among the country
folk the distinction between meum and tuum is
not well developed, but then it is nearly as vague
on the meum side as on the tuum. There is
a good deal of philoxenous and neighbourly
socialism. The crimes of violence, which are the
black spots on the fair fame of modern Greece,
are largely due, as we have seen, to climate.
There is a conversation over a business bargain.
I70 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
on family matters, or what not ; there is a dis-
agreement ; the blood of all concerned is at
boiling-point ; knives are close at hand in their
belts ; one strikes, not intending to kill, or intend-
ing anything ; the other falls. When staying at
Megalopolis for some six weeks, assisting at the
excavation of the theatre, I had several oppor-
tunities of finding out how it is done. The
exclamation ' symploke !' (a row) was a very
common one with us, and someone would go to
the balcony to see what it was all about.
But though the Greeks are quick-tempered,
they are not ill-tempered. The old vendetta
spirit once de rigetir in Maina, and very common
in the Ionian Islands, is now almost extinct.
Except in love-affairs, or occasionally as a sort of
lynch-retribution for cattle stealing, there is very
little premeditated murder. Unfortunately there
is very little popular antipathy to homicide.
Everyone is so smeared with the same pitch,
through his relations and friends, that no one
lends a helping hand to arrest a runaway man-
slayer. Until manslaughter becomes either
dangerous or ridiculous, it will not be checked.
Both these cures ought to be tried. Just for one
year every murderer ought to be put to death,
and a crusade of satire should be carried on by
the whole press against this particular crime. At
the same time, the Holy Synod should make a
combined effort to persuade the people of the
PUBLIC ORDER 171
eternal danger of it ; and the schoolmasters should
do everything In their power to show the young
Hellenes not only the heinousness of killing a
fellow-creature, but the ugliness and the absurdity
of all displays of temper. If Greeks could only
see the effect this yielding to the short madness
of anger has on 'change, they would surely be
patriotic enough to restrain themselves.
Police. — Next to finance, this is the most
difficult problem the Government has to solve.
Of course, if they could manage the former, this
would be much easier ; probably if they could
successfully deal with this, it would considerably
simplify the former. There can be no doubt that
the country has, so far, been under - policed.
Athens, with 120,000 inhabitants, has had to
keep itself in order with only 200 policemen, or
one to every 600 ; while London has one to every
200. The pay of the average constable is about
^18 a year at the present rate of exchange, so
that, allowing for paucity of numbers and not too
intense popular sympathy, ' a policeman's lot is
not a happy one,' and the result is that 'con-
stabulary duty ' often remains undone. The
present Prime Minister is making a great effort
to remedy this state of things, making use of
military assistance. The Athens police force has
been raised to nearly 400.
Prisons. — There are four kinds of prison in
Greece :
172 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
(i) Sophronisteria, large establishments (like
our Portland) where the discipline is the most
severe, at Athens (256), Aigina (326), Kerkyra
(179), Kephallenia (139), and Zakynthos (243).
(2) Prisons (like our county prisons) at Chalkis
(120), Ithaka (46), Ldrissa (65), Nauplion (269),
Pylos (314), Rhion (163), Trikkala and Zakynthos
(179)-
(3) Reformatory prisons (of a milder kind) at
Athens (212), Amphissa, Arta (26), Kalamai (274),
Karditsa (85), Kerkyra (73), Kyparissia (187),
Lamia (221), Leukas (118), Mesolonghi (92),
Patras, Pyrgos (no), Sparta (157), Syros (93),
Tripolis (234), and Volo (67).
(4) Lock-ups in all the towns.
Life-sentences and other Jong terms are served
in (i) and (2), hard labour equally in (i), (2), and
(3), and simple imprisonment also in these three,
but chiefly in (3).
The Syngros is the best ; it is on the Auburn
system, and can accommodate 300 prisoners, and
has generally nearly this number. It is managed
by seven officials and seventeen warders. Ninety
per cent, of the prisoners are satisfactory in their
conduct, and 81 per cent, in their work.
The Greek prison system is faulty from two
points of view — in the first place, their sanitary
condition is, for the most part, bad, though
probably not much worse than the homes from
which the prisoners come ; and in the second
PUBLIC ORDER 173
place, there is an almost alarming lack of discipline.
When a prisoner tells a magistrate in England
that he would rather go to prison than the work-
house, he means rather to abuse the latter
establishment than to flatter the former ; but the
little terror that the idea of prison has for the
average Greek is quite simply because prison-life
is made so easy. Take, for instance, the social
opportunities of life in the Palamidi (Nauplion) ;
the prisoners have almost as many chances of con-
versation — the luxury which every Greek enjoys
above all others, especially when it verges on
debate, as it is sure to do — as in their village
caf6s, and the dramatic past of their fellow-talkers
supplies a spice they could not get so generously
at home. Then the necessary cigarette is not
prohibited ; nor is the owning of a .peculiwn, to
build up which he is allowed to offer to visitors
the product of his forced industry. The idea of
discipline is absolutely repugnant to the Greek
character ;• so much so, that I almost believe that
if there were no punishment in their prisons but
mere confinement and a rigid iron enforcement of
rules — no talking, no smoking, no money, regular
exercise — they would find they had a much
stronger deterrent than they have at present.
So many people have had a little holiday under
mild State supervision and at State expense, that
there is practically no stigma attached to im-
prisonment. The idea has not yet penetrated
174 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the Hellenic masses (you cannot, however, think
of Greek ' masses ' like you can of English or
French — partly, of course, from the absence of
huge populations seen collectively ; but partly, I
think, from the greater independence of the
Greeks) that crime is an injury to the nation, to
the very soul of Hellenism, and to every in-
dividual Hellene.
Bankruptcy. — The figures are rather alarm-
ingly progressive ; at the same time, insolvency
savours of modern civilization, and the recent
increase may only mean a development of the
speculative spirit.
In 1880...
••• 157
In 1886 ...
... 263
„ 1882 ...
... 128
„ 1888 ...
... 423
„ 1884...
... 190
„ 1889...
... 516
In the last-named year 201 of the cases were at
Athens, 1 1 3 at Patras, 50 at Syros, 3 1 at Nauplion,
and 23 in the Parnassid.
Mendicancy. — Although begging was pretty
common fifty years ago, Greece is now freer from
this proof of misery and degradation than any
other country I know, England not excepted, and
stands out brilliantly in contrast with her neigh-
bour Italy. The pride and independence of
character of the Greek, which sometimes do him
an ill turn, here stand him in good stead, making
his fatherland appear prosperous and contented,
the latter of which it really is.
[ 175 ]
CHAPTER XIII.
EDUCATION.
Elementary — Secondary — The University — Cost — The Institu-
tions subsidiary to the University — Female Education —
Technical Instruction — Summary.
A GREAT deal has been written on the general
question of the educational zeal of Modern Greece.
The scope of this chapter will simply be the
collection of facts, with a few comments on them.
The data up to 1877 are taken directly from Mr.
Sergeant's ' New Greece,' for later years from the
Panhellenic Companions, 1890 to 1893.
Elementary. — Before 1820 there had been a
few schools, but the revolution brought education
to an abrupt halt.
In 1830 there was practically no education
going on. Kapodistria had right intentions, but
did not accomplish much.
In 1834 a training-school for teachers was
established.
In 1840 there were 252 elementary schools,
176
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
with 22,000 scholars, under Government control
and dependent upon Government support, and
private schools, with an additional 10,000 scholars,
a total of 4 per cent, of the population.
In 1855 there were 450 schools, with 35,273
scholars.
In 1872 there were 73,219 scholars in public,
and 7,978 in private, schools; total, 81,197, or
5^ per cent.
In 1877 there were 74,561 scholars in public,
and 10,650 in private, schools; total, 85,211, or
still 5^ per cent.
In 1889 there were public schools as follows :
I. Mainland:
Denies.
Schools
Boys,
Girls.
Teachers
Attika-Boiotia . .
28
132
6,409
4,354
190
Phthiotis-Phokis..
36
160
4,877
841
108
Aitolia-Akarnania
34
177
4,866
686
89
Larissa
38
201
5,611
2,000
13s
Trikkala
■ 27
189
3,633
332
47
Arta
8
5°
1,373
120
13
Euboia ...
24
195
109
1,018
3,542
797
9,130
77
Total
30,301
659
//. Peloponnesos :
Argolis-Korinth ..
32
163
7,086
2,011
133
Arkadia ...
33
181
6,938
878
130
Lakonia
28
IS4
6,700
349
105
Messenia
31
172
6,880
1,450
130
Achaia-Elis
30
212
7,466
1,374
139
Total
154
882
35,050
6,062
637
///. Kyklades
39
127
6,173
2,588
144
EDUCATION
177
IV. Ionian Islands .
Demes.
Schools
. Boys.
Girls.
Teachers.
Kerkyra
22
117
3,354
567
lOI
Kephallenia
20
93
2,751
459
75
Zakynthos
10
41
1,176
180
25
Total
52
251
8,281
1,206
201
Aggregate
440
2,278
78,815
18,986
1,641
This is nearly 5 per cent, of the population,
but does not include private schools, which bring
it up to rather over 6 per cent.
The province which succeeds best in getting
its children to school is the Kyklades ; next,
Argolis-Korinth ; third, Lakonia ; while the three
worst are Aitolia - Akarnania, Zakynthos, and
Trikkala, which last gets less than 3 per cent, of
its population to school.
Achaia-Elis and Trikkala with 7, and Arta
with 6'2, have the greatest number of schools per
deme ; while Euboia with 4"5, Zakynthos with
4' I, and the Kyklades with 3 '2, have the least.
In Attika-Boiotia there are 1-4 teachers per
school, and in the Kyklades I'l ; while in Arta
and Trikkala there are four schools to every
teacher.
In Attika-Boiotia 40 per cent, of the scholars
are girls ; in the Kyklades, 28 per cent. ; in
Ldrissa, 26 per cent. ; but in Arta and Trikkala
only 8 per cent., and in Lakonia only 5 per cent.
The elementary education of boys in Lakonia is
thus quite the best in Greece.
12
178 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Before going further, it will be as well to
mention that the general scheme of education,
as at present applied in Greece, is founded almost
entirely on that in force in France. Three years
are spent in the deme schools, three in the Hellenic
schools, four in the gymnasia, and four in the
University.
Beginning at the base, with which so far we
have alone been dealing, we have the deme
schools, of which we have seen that there are
2,278, or 57 to every deme, and just one to
every two of the 4,575 villages, a splendid abun-
dance.
Secondary Education is given in Hellenic
schools and gymnasia ; the latter resemble French
lyc^es rather than our grammar-schools. Of the
Hellenic schools, which are sometimes called
grammar-schools, and come between the deme
schools and the gymnasia, there were, in 1855,
80, with 4,224 scholars, and in 1875, 136, with
7,945 scholars. There are now :
Schools. Scholars. Teachers.
Mainland 120 7,548 —
Peloponnesos 117 8,325 —
Kyklades 28 1,312 —
Ionian Islands ... 16
i>oS5
Total 281 18,240 538
Messenia, Lakonia, and Achaia-Elis are at the
top; while Kephallenia, Trikkala, and Kerkyra
are lowest. The two largest schools are those at
Meligala (near Ithome) and Gytheion ; but there
EDUCATION
179
are seven of these schools at Athens. Next
higher come the gymnasia, of which the Var-
vakeion may be taken as a type, though it is, in
fact, the best of them. It has seven classes, with
the following obligatory curriculum : (i) scientific
— Greek, English, French, German, religion,
history, geography, mathematics, natural history,
physics, chemistry, and mineralogy ; (2) technical
— writing, drawing, gymnastics, and drill. In the
first 3 classes there are 33 hours' instruction a
week ; in the 4th and 5th, 34 ; and in the 6th and
7th, 35. The first three classes correspond to
the three classes of which the Hellenic schools
(or grammar-schools) consist. There were :
In 185s ...
7
968
„ 1875 ...
18
2,460
„ 1888 ...
• 35
4.704
„ 1890
• 36
S.312
„ 1893 ...
41
■ 7-r 1 •
] T\^
Gymnasia. Scholars. Teachers.
187
Attika-Boiotia, Achaia-Elis, and Messenia show
the best figures.
Compared with other countries, the provision
for education of the lycde kind in Greece is :
Lycees
to
Inhabitants.
Lycee Scholars
per 10,000
Inhabitants.
Greece
53.347
27
France
40,000
26
Belgium
36,580
25
Italy
28,500
22
Roumania
100,000
15
United States ...
... i73.°oo
II
i8o GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The only gymnasium head-master I have had
the pleasure of conversing with, M. Kasimates
of Dimitzana, was a man of culture and energy,
an archaeologist of considerable research, and the
very man to inspire the young men of a mountain
fastness in Arcadia with a love of country that is
not jingoism, and a love of learning that is not
pedantry.
Passing over for the present certain technical
schools, we come to the University.
The University was opened in 1837 with 28
professors, and in 1841 numbered 292 students —
167 in law (57 per cent), 53 in arts (18 per cent.),
52 in medicine (18 per cent.), and 20 in theology
(7 per cent.). Sixty-nine of these students came
from abroad, so also had a large proportion oif the
money (a quarter of a million) subscribed up to
that time, especially from Alexandria, the Ionian
Islands, and Constantinople. In 18-55 there were
550 students. In the first reign of King George
there were over 1,100. In 1872 there were :
Natives.
Foreign
Greeks.
Total.
Per C
Theology
20
6
26
2
Law
■- 556
66
622
50
Medicine
299
124
423
34
Arts
75
45
120
10
Pharmacy
45
8
S3
4
Total ... 995 249 1,244
It will be observed that more than half the foreign
EDUCATION
Greeks were medical students, a more auspicious
fact than the 56 per cent, of native Greeks who
were to graduate in law.
In 1886 there were 36 students in theology
(i per cent.), 1,281 in law (49 per cent.), 867 in
medicine [T)?) V^^ cent), 410 in arts (15 per cent.),
and 40 in pharmacy (2 per cent.), a total of
2,634.
The year 1888-9, gives this analysis :
Theology
24
Law
■•• 1,370
Medicine ...
797
Arts
519
Pharmacy
97
Total.,.
... 2,807
Total Students. Freshmen.
5
384
202
199
40
830
The percentages under each faculty since the
foundation and now are :
Since the
Now on
Fresh-
Actual
Foundation.
the Roll.
men.
Numbers
Theology
■■• 3
I
I
401
Law
■ ■■ 43
49
46
6,433
Medicine
... 30
29
24
4,552
Arts
20
18
24
2,940
Pharmacy
4
3
5
56s
In 1889-90 there were 3,331 students, 905 of
these freshmen, and arts was rather more popular
than medicine. Their provenance was :
l82
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Freshmen.
Total.
Mainland
■ ■ 243
890
Peloponnesos
287
1,096
Ionian Islands
•• 65
223
Kyklades
73
231
Epeiros and Alkania
46
157
Asia Minor Islands ...
34
154
Crete
34
152
Macedonia
23
145
Asia Minor ...
42
133
Thrace
10
52
Varna
2
24
Constantinople
13
21
Cyprus
3
13
Of the freshmen the Varvakeion suppHed 66,
and the other Athenian gymnasia 144, Patras 72,
Syros 43, the Peiraius 40, Chalkis 27, Nauplion
23, Pyrgos 21, Sparta 20. The Great School of
the Race at Constantinople supplied 24, and the
Evangelical School of Smyrna 15.
In theology there are 5 professors and 7
lecturers, and the course lasts 4 years.
In law there are 10 professors and 17 lecturers,
and the course lasts 4 years.
In medicine there are 16 professors and 33
lecturers, and the course lasts 4 years.
In arts there are 22 professors and 16 lecturers,
and the course lasts 4 years.
The pharmacy school is annexed to that of
medicine, and has no separate professors or
lecturers, but the course lasts only 3 years.
That which I have called the arts course the
EDUCATION 183
Greeks themselves call philosophy ; it includes
literature, archaeology, and natural science, as
well as philosophy in the English academic
sense.
The programme of the lectures is too long to
reproduce (11 pages), but a few lines from the
art course may not be uninteresting :
N. G. Polites — (i.) Greek mythology, Fridays ;
(ii.) Archaeological exercises ; (iii.) Greek archae-
ology, Tuesdays and Saturdays ; (iv.) Aristotle's
Constitution of Athens, Wednesdays.
K. Stephanos — (i.) Differential calculus, Mon-
days, Thursdays, and Fridays; (ii. ) Integral
calculus, Tuesdays and Saturdays.
D. Ch. Semitelos — (i.) Greek metre; (ii.) College
exercises.
S. K. Sakellaropoulos — (i.) Roman philology
from Augustus to the end of the Roman Empire
in the West ; (ii.) Virgil's yEneid XI.
K. A. Mylonas — (i.) History of the arts, and
especially the plastic, among the Greeks ; (ii.)
Practical demonstration on the site of the monu-
ments preserved ; (iii.) Greek epigraphy and
what it teaches of Athenian topography.
P. Kavvadias — (i.) History of Greek art and
sculpture ; (ii.) Demonstration in the central
museum.
G. Tserepes — ^Sanskrit grammar and translation.
The University is organized on the German
system.
1 84 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Cost. — The amount of money spent on educa-
tion in Greece was 873,026 drachmas in 1846,
2,106,410 drachmas in 1876, and has increased
enormously since.
The demotic schools in 1890 cost the State
(including the local governments) 2,727,627
drachmas, the pay of the 1,641 teachers being
1,911,640 drachmas, or about ^38 a head, in
addition to which they had houses provided (or
lodging allowances) of 304,040 drachmas, i.e.,
165 drachmas, or about ;^5 los. each.
The salaries of the gymnasium teachers vary
from ^20 to ^200 a year, the great majority
receiving from ^100 to ^120 a year. The
teachers' salaries per scholar vary from 15
drachmas a year at Andritsaina to 266 drachmas
a year at Arta, from 100 to 150 drachmas a year
being the general amount.
The amount spent by the State on the Uni-
versity was in 1876 :
Drachmas
On the four Faculties ...
... 333,240
,, Library ...
33,900
„ Observatory
14,220
„ Botanical Garden
7,760
„ Archseology
... 123,690
Total ...
... t;i2,8io
The amount of the State subsidy has scarcely
increased since 1876.
EDUCATION 185
The Institutions subsidiary to the University-
are :
(i) The Observatory, built in 1842, at the
expense of Baron Sina, of Vienna. The director,
M. D. Aiginetes, has three assistants.
(2) The Botanical Gardens, once the county-
seat of a Turkish vaivode, has a German curator
and a Scotch head-gardener, with a couple of
under-gardeners.
(3) Anatomical laboratory, with two professors
and two assistants.
(4) A chemical laboratory, with two professors
and one assistant.
(5) A pharmacy laboratory, with one professor
and one assistant.
(6) A toxicology laboratory, with two professors
and one assistant.
(7) The Municipal Hospital, with six professors
and four assistants.
(8) A clinical hospital, with two professors and
three assistants.
(9) An ophthalmic hospital, with two professors
and an assistant.
(10) A children's hospital.
(11) A lying-in hospital, with one professor
and two assistants.
(12) A lock hospital, with one professor (the pre-
sent Chancellor of the University) and one assistant.
(13) A natural science museum, with three pro-
fessors.
i86
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
(14) A botanical museum, with a curator.
(15) A pathological museum, with three pro-
fessors.
(16) An anthropological museum, with a curator.
(17) The national library, with five curators
and two assistants. It contains 170,648 books,
and 1,312 manuscripts; in the reading-room all
the principal scientific and literary reviews and
magazines are to be found. The majority of
the manuscripts were brought from the Dorikos
and Meteora monasteries ; they are nearly all
ecclesiastical. The most remarkable are two
Gospels of the tenth and eleventh centuries,
splendidly illuminated, and a small beautifully
written manuscript which belonged to the Emperor
Cantacuzene. There are also three golden bulls
of the Andronici. The books are :
Greek literature
Latin „
Modern „
History ,,
Geography
Theology ...
Law
Medicine ...
Physics
Philology ...
Miscellaneous
Recent additions
Volu7nes.
10,000
5,000
8,500
r 1,000
3,600
12,500
7,600
8,000
7,200
4,200
74,890
18,790
Female Education. — Ever since the noble
work of Mr. and Mrs. Hill in the earliest days of
EDUCATION 187
modern Greece a good deal of attention has been
paid to the education of girls. In 1836 the
Education Society was founded with this object,
and with the generous help of M. Apostolos
Arsakes, an Epirot Greek, the Arsakeion was built.
It has now 1,500 pupils, and a capital of 1,300,000
drachmas, and has yearly subventions from the
Government and local governments. The pupils,
many of whom become school-mistresses, are
supposed to spend six years in it, after having
spent three in the elementary schools. There is
an infant school under the same management.
There is a similar school for girls at Kerkyra,
founded in 1868, with over 200 pupils, as well
as at Eleusis, Gaurion, Kotachovon, and Menidi.
The society has in its service altogether 40
professors and 59 school-mistresses. From 1836
to 1890, 43,963 pupils have passed through
these schools, of whom 2,500 have become
teachers.
The number of pupils of the Arsakeion has
been :
1836 ...
... 150
1866 ...
595
1846 ...
224
1876 ...
■ •• i>432
1856 ...
... 650
1886 ...
... 1,471
1890 ...
... 1,500
The amount of money spent has been 8,944,295
drachmas. The amount spent on the Kerkyra
school has been 1,108,379 drachmas, which is
included in the above total. Its total pupils
1 88 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
number 4,648. Over 3,000 girls have passed
through the other four schools, which have been
founded nearly thirty years. 250 of the poorer
girls receive this higher education without pay-
ment. The expenditure on the six schools in
1889 was 327,044 drachmas.
There are a good many private schools for girls
in Athens.
The result of all this effort is that Greek
women get a very fair education, and can get
a very good one. The girls, however, do not
make anything like the use of the schools that
the boys do, chiefly through parental dislike to
trust them out of sight, a prejudice which is not
yet entirely unreasonable, though it is no doubt a
legacy from Turkish times. This is gradually
being overcome, and then no doubt the girls
will be allowed to take advantage to the full of
the ample opportunities offered to them.
Technical Instruction.— (i) The Metsovian
(from Metsovo, the birthplace of its founders)
Polytechnic consists of two departments— an art
school founded in 1863, and a science school
founded in 1887. The former had, in 1891, 9
professors and 122 pupils — 32 for drawing, 6 for
sculpture, 9 for wood-engraving, 56 for decoration
and designing. The full course requires seven
years, except for decoration, which needs three
only. The science school teaches mechanics,
engineering, land surveying, road and railway
EDUCATION 189
making, building, mineralogy, forestry, book-
keeping, telegraphy, and applied chemistry. It
had, in 1891, 21 professors (with 5 assistants) and
170 pupils. The full course requires four years.
The yearly income of the Polytechnic is only
about 17,000 drachmas, but it has State aid to the
extent of 134,020 drachmas.
(2) Agricultural Schools. Kapodistria founded
a school at Tiryns in 1831, and provided it with
both land and funds ; but it did not realize ex-
pectations, and was closed in 1865. The school
at Aidinion, near Almyros, has seven instructors,
and spends about 60,000 drachmas a year. It is
much less theoretical and more successful than its
precursor. There is also a farming school at
Athens, with ten instructors. Its forestry depart-
ment is good ; besides disseminating instruction,
it distributes about 15,000 trees a year. It has
an aesthetic as well as a utilitarian aim.
(3) Navigation Schools. Greece, having great
expectations nautically, has been wise enough to
provide ample special instruction for her sailors.
The nucleus of the necessary fund was supplied
by the patriotic Varvakes (from whose name and
purse comes the Varvakeion). The earliest was
opened at the Peiraius in 1882. There are now
seven. The Peiraius school gave 96 certificates
between 1887 and 1891 — 15 to Andrians, 15 to
Kasiots, 1 1 to Kymiots, 10 to Ithakans. The
other schools are at Syros, which gave 50
I go GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
certificates in 1891 ; at Spetsai, which gave 10;
at Hydra, which gave 20 ; at Galaxidi, which
gave 30 ; at Volo, which gave 1 5 ; and at Argos-
toli, which has given 150 since its institution.
Naval officers of high rank sit on the examining
boards.
(4) The services are quite sufficiently supplied
with the means of instruction. The army has :
(i.) The School of the Evelpids, established
in 1828, for engineers and artillery —
originally at Nauplion, now at the
Peiraius ; all its students must already
have certificates from the gymnasia.
The course lasts five years. There
are over 100 students,
(ii.) The Subalterns' School, with a three
years' course, for infantry.
(iii.) The Reserve School, also requiring
gymnasium certificates.
(iv.) and (v.) The Cavalry and Artillery
Schools for officers already commis-
sioned.
(vi.) A small Engineers' School.
The Naval School, founded at the Peiraius in
1888, has 37 students. The course is four years.
(5) There are clergy schools at Chalkis, founded
in 1857, with 22 students ; Tripolis, founded in
1858, with 32 ; and Syros, founded in 1862, with
20. They all need to be reformed and made
attractive. Perhaps a short attendance at them
EDUCATION 191
should eventually be made compulsory for all
young men seeking orders.
(6) Archaeological Schools. Although the
students of these schools are not Hellenes, yet
they have such an important influence on the
future of Greece that they cannot well be omitted
from a list of the technical schools of Greece.
To many people Greece means archaeological
wealth rather than agricultural or commercial, so
that the technical education most a propos would
be the archaeological. Although there is nominally
no Greek school, yet archaeology is very well
looked after in the University and by the Archae-
ological Society, which has 180 members, and
receives 1,000 drachmas a year from the University.
The archaeological schools are :
(i.) The French School, founded in 1846,
with which are associated the names of
Beul6, Burnouf, Collignon, Paul Fou-
card, Garnier, Girard, Hanriot, Haus-
soullier, Homolle, Lebegue, Lenormant,
Martha, Reinach, and Riemann. It
has, since 1870, published eight times
a year a Bulletin de Correspondence
HelUnique.
(ii.) The German School, founded in 1874.
The names best known in connection
with it are those of Adler, A. Botticher,
Bohn, Curtius, Dorpfeld, Forchhamner,
B. Forster, Hirschfeld, Jahn, Kaupert,
192 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
H. Lolling, Michaelis, Milchhofer, and
A. Mliller. It has, since 1876, published
a quarterly journal, Mittheilungen des
Deutschen Archiiologischen Institutes,
in Athens,
(iii.) The American School, founded in 1881.
It was the home of L. Beier, Fowler.
Richardson, and J. R. Wheeler, and
still is of Dr. Waldstein, the curator
of our Fitzwilliam Museum. It has
published ' Papers of the American
School of Classical Studies at Athens '
yearly since 1883.
(iv.) The English School, founded in 1886.
Its most familiar names are those of
Mr. Penrose, for many years the chief
authority on the Parthenon and Athenian
architecture generally, and Mr. Ernest
Gardner. Its work is chronicled in the
Journal of Hellenic Studies. It has
had 32 students.
Summary. — There are two objections brought
to the educational system — the one that Greece
is under-educated, the other that she is over-
educated. Nor does the one objection answer
the other ; for the former may be meant to apply
to elementary education, and the latter to higher
education, or vice-versa. The facts displayed in
the preceding pages go to prove that Greece has
considerably fewer children in her primary schools
EDUCATION 193
than most other European nations, although the
deficiency is largely caused by feminine truantism,
and, at the same time, a larger proportion than in
other countries proceed to severer studies. The
obvious retort of the Greek to a charge of rest-
less ambition founded on these facts is that,
through the unwisdom or inexperience of the
parents, the children are often not sent to school ;
but when they do go, the fondness for learning
inherent in the Greek heart impels a large pro-
portion of them to continue the pursuit of learn-
ing. The truth, as usual, lies between these two
extremes. The parents, especially in the country
districts, would often rather have their boys at
work on their little farms than trying to be better
than their fathers, with the unpleasant possibility
of lessened respect, apart from the simple reason
that knowing nothing of books themselves, they
see no good in them. The boys not only learn
to read, and so become the natural prey of ambi-
tion, but have their feelings of rivalry aroused.
As novel-reading can become a dangerous stimu-
lant, so with these raw country youths political
talk, which they soon get to understand and take
part in, has an exciting effect. Curiosity makes
the old home routine look very dull ; they must
go to the nearest gymnasium. The influence of
town life on country boys is not incontestably
good, besides which the secondary schools are
accused by Greek educational experts of usurping
^3
194 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the functions of the gymnasia. The same thing
goes on while they are there, but with extended
knowledge and wider wonder and hopes ; they
must go to Athens. After this it is quite simple
to choose a professional career. The wiser choose
medicine ; the more ambitious or sentimental arts ;
the greatest number law, chiefly because there
will be more talking to do, or, rather, perhaps
because they unconsciously fancy that there will
be less working than talking, and all Greeks love
talking, and many of them are good talkers.
The Bar is not a prosperous body ; ;i^i,ooo a
year is very rare among them, and an eight-
penny fee is not always refused. There are
nearly as large a proportion of barristers out of
work in Greece as in England, and they have not
the same length of paternal purse to fall back
upon when clients refuse to come. As for the
arts men, some of them go in for politics, and
some for journalism, and some into the Civil
Service. The best of them, those with grit as
well as versatility, succeed ; many of them fail.
It must not be imagined that these first-genera-
tion professional men necessarily smell of the
plough or the fishing-boat. By no means. Most
of them take a certain amount of polish very
rapidly. A barrister whom I knew very well
when I was at Athens had worked his way up in
the manner I have described ; but his affection
for his humble home in the Peloponnese, for the
EDUCATION 19s
old couple, and even for the girl he left behind
him, was very real and dignified. He was not
one of the failures ; nor was his ambition obtrusive.
He meant to get on, and he worked. He had
picked up French and German, and got a little
English out of me ; and the last I heard of him
was that he meant to travel for a year or so —
Italy, France, England, and the United States.
The remarkable thing about him was his polish —
the j'e ne sais quoi which made you admit he was
a gentleman. Nor was it merely external ; I
could not imagine him doing a mean thing. You
will think perhaps that his is an altogether ex-
ceptional case. I admit that he was above the
average ; but yet in many of the young Greeks
whom I have met there has been something of
this same gentlemanliness.
I have perhaps in this sketch laid myself open
to attack from those who assert that what Greece
wants is not men of culture, but of agriculture.
But this does not follow — is not even in probable
sequence. There are plenty of strong arms left
to till the fields ; a few thousand students more or
less can make no appreciable gap. And these
very students will some of them teach farming,
some will make roads, some will write leaders
tending to the diminution of crime, and all of
them will spread around them the desire for
knowledge. The standard will be raised. Im-
proved general knowledge in the country means
196 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
improved agriculture, stimulated commerce, and,
above all, that increased reverence for the State
and her laws which make better farming and
wider industries possible. Mr. Lewis Sergeant
says that even if the students did make a big
hiatus in the ranks of manual labour, ' it would
be difficult to decide upon the comparative ad-
vantage to their country of men who sacrifice
knowledge to gain, and of men who sacrifice
gain to knowledge.' The whole question was
fought out and settled in England when public
elementary education was decided on, and has
been determined by all other civilized countries
in the same way. If it is rather out of date to say
that a man is over-educated, the same thing is
surely true of a country. If a man's hiring- value
goes up with his increase of mental weight, a
couple of million men's hiring-value will do the
same, and part of this value goes to make up the
wealth of the State.
The case is very well stated in Professor Jebb's
' Progress of Greece.' He says : ' Where a school
and university education is opened free of charge
to a people of keen intellectual appetite, it is
natural that an unusually large proportion of
persons should go through the university course.
And where, as in Greece, agriculture is under a
system which gives little scope to the higher sort
of intelligence, while there is neither public nor
private capital enough to provide employment for
EDUCATION 197
many architects or civil engineers, it is natural
that an unduly large proportion of university
graduates should turn to one of the liberal pro-
fessions, or to some calling in which their literary
training can be made available.' He then goes
on to show that it is the influx of Greeks from
Turkey that aggravates this abundance of educated
men into a surplus ; but, quoting M. Lenormant,
who says that ' the j'ole of Greece in the con-
temporary East closely resembles her role in
antiquity,' shows that, although over-education
may for the present be a difficulty to Greece
herself, the Levant in general is immensely obliged
to her for it. It may be mentioned that in all
post-Byzantine days, even although Greece was
not free, she has been fulfilling this duty. The
important underlying truth to remember, however,
is that, whether with conscious intention or not,
Greece is thus paving the way for herself to Con-
stantinople — is building a fortress-ring, not only
of hearts that beat to the Panhellenic inspiration,
they have long been ready, but of trained intel-
ligence which shall give her the alternative choice
of superior military skill or talented diplomacy.
Meanwhile, these lithesome brains are gradually
finding something to do. Although university
graduates are more numerous at Athens than
ever, the number unemployed is slowly but
steadily decreasing. With extending commerce
come openings for barristers, journalists, and
198 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
intelligent business men. For some years to
come these ambitious young men, adventurers in
an inoffensive sense, will embarrass their relations
and the Government ; but the corner has been
turned, and in the end what they have learnt
will well repay their country and, let us hope,
themselves.
[ 199 1
CHAPTER XIV.
CULTURE.
Books — Newspapers — Learned Societies — Fine Arts —
Physical Culture.
Books.
It would be foreign to my purpose to give a
history of modern Greek literature. The object
of this chapter is simply to show what the
people read. I think the safest way of doing
this will be to give a sample-page or two from
the last catalogue of the chief publishing -house
in Athens, the ' Hestia ' :
/. — School-books.
A thanasoulas — Calligraphy
Apostolopoulos — Reading-book ...
Bratsanos — Alphabetarion ...
„ The New Robinson —
Drachmas.
... -50
... I-I5
... -30
- (i.e.,
Crusoe) geographical
Bratsanos — Old Testament History
... 1-25
I
New
... -So
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Drachmas.
Bratsanos-
—Scenes from the Greek Revolt
1-
tion
... ... • ■ . • ■ •
• 1-25
Bratsanos-
—Geography of Greece
• 1-25
Drosines—
-Tales
. -So
■> >
A Campaigner's Stories
. -So
Kondyles-
-Elementary Natural History .
. -So
>j
,, Botany
. -So
J)
Zoology ...
. -So
//. — Dictionaries.
Amongst the dictionaries we notice :
Drachmas.
Barbates — French - Modern Greek Dic-
tionary ,., ... ... ... ... 25
Bontyras — Dictionary of History and
Geography ... ... ... ... 300
Rangabes — Dictionary of Greek Archae-
ology 30
Lascarides — English -Modern Greek Dic-
tionary ... ... ... ... ... 24
///. — General.
Drachmas.
The Holy Passion and the Holy Resurrec-
tion (656 pages, bound) ... ... ... 3
Anninos — Here and There (historical
essays) ... ... ... ... ... 4
Apostolides, P. — Animation ... ... 5
Arabantinos — Collection of Popular Songs
of Epiros ... ... ... ... ... 10
CULTURE
Drachmas.
Arabantinos — Annals of Epiros ... ... 25
Athanasieff — Microbiology (translation) ... 6
Abadie Leroy — Elementary Pathological
Anatomy (translation) ... ... ... 6
Apostolides, N. Ch. — The Animal King-
dom ... ... ... ... ... 28
Basiliades — Attic Nights (poems and
essays, 4 vols.) ... ... ... ... 20
Balaorites — Poems (2 vols.) ... ... 7
Blachos — Lyric Poems ... ... ... 5
„ Translations from Lamartine . . 3
„ Lessing ... 4
,, The Homeric Question ... 2
JV.~Novels.
There is not yet the same standard of national
romance-writing as of verse-making ; most of the
novels advertised are translations, among the
authors being Mrs. Craik, Mary Lafone, Mayne
Reid, Scott, Dumas, Victor Hugo, Paul de Kock,
Ohnet, Sue, and Jules Verne.
V. — De luxe (bound).
Paganeles — Across the Isthmus ...
Memoirs of Kolokotrones
Soures — Poems
Meliarakes — Zoology
,, The Cat
Drachmas.
4
3
12-50
7
2-50
202 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Drachmas
Rangabes — Herakles and other Dramas ... lo
,, Theodora ... ... ... lo
Athens — Album of Twelve Photographs... 5
Lists I., III., and V., are taken in alphabetical
order from the catalogue.
Newspapers.
There are 131 papers
Dublished in
Greece thus
distributed :
Papers, i to
— Inhabitants.
Attika-Boiotia
■ 56
4,602
Kyklades
• IS
8,769
Zakynthos ...
• 5
8,814
Larissa
II
15.275
Kerkya
6
19,089
Kephallenia ...
4
20,044
Achaia-Ehs ...
9
23,412
Lakonia
4
31-522
Akarnania-Aitolia .
• 5
32,404
Argolis-Korinth
■ 4
36,209
Trikkala
• 3
47-714
Arkadia
■ 3
49,428
Euboia
2
51-721
Phthiotis-Phokis
2
68,235
Messenia
2
91,616
Total
i6,6q6
It may seem odd that Messenia, which ranks
so high in intermediate education, should publish
CULTURE 203
the fewest newspapers ; perhaps it reads the
Athenian papers more than other provinces, or
perhaps it prefers books to newspapers.
The number pubHshed on the mainland, then,
is 79, or 60 per cent, of the total ; in the Pelopon-
nesos, 22 ; in the Kyklades, 15 ; and in the Ionian
Islands 15. As to towns, Athens supplies 51, or
nearly 40 per cent. ; Hermoupolis, 8 ; Ldrissa, 6 ;
Patras, Zakynthos, and Volo, 5 each.
Sixty are political and social, 9 political and
literary, 9 political and legal, 9 political and com-
mercial, 28 scientific and literary, 6 legal, 2 com-
mercial and financial, 6 satirical.
The names are so suggestive that I think the
list is worth giving :
'Archaeological Journal,' founded in 1837.
' Palingenesia ' (Regeneration), founded in 1857.
'Children's Journal,' 'Word,' ' Times,' 'Journal,'
'Aristophanes,' 'Athens Messenger' (in French),
' Hestia,' ' Phcebus,' ' Thesmoi ' (after Drako's
laws), 'Morning,' founded from 1861 to 1870.
'Calm,' 'Children's Improver,' 'Journal of Greek
and French Jurisprudence,' ' Helikon,' ' Akro-
polis,' ' Globe,' ' New Journal,' ' New Themis,'
'Day,' 'Providence,' ' Paleanthropos ' (Scamp),
' Hermes,' ' Report of the Historical and Ethno-
logical Society,' 'Review,' ' Romeos,' 'Attic
Museum,' 'Apollo,' 'Week,' 'Greek Farming,'
'City,' 'Greek Guide,' 'Ladies' Journal,'
204 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
' Saviour,' ' Reform,' ' Acheloos,' ' Children's
Periodical,' ' World,' founded from 1871 to 1880.
' Pharmaceutic and Therapeutic News,' ' Athena,
'Themis,' 'Prometheus,' 'Nature,' 'Army
Medical Journal,' 'General Review,' 'Journal
of Handicrafts,' ' Parnassos,' ' Chance,' ' Econo-
mist,' ' Education,' ' Fine Art,' ' Agricultural
Progress,' 'Socialist,' 'Cat,' ' Phthiotis,' 'Ther-
mopylai,' ' Byron,' ' Aitolian Confederation,'
'Citizen,' 'Akarnania,' 'Popular Education,'
' Tax-payer,' ' Lantern,' ' Commercial Observer,'
'Proof,' 'Alpheios,' ' Peloponnesos,' 'Waker,'
' Mentor,' ' Patras Echo,' ' Kalamai Journal,'
' Erane Echo,' ' Lakonia,' ' Dawn,' ' Combat,'
'Sparta,' 'Arkadia,' 'Tripolis,' 'Tegea,' 'Argolis,'
' Independence,' ' Progress,' ' Agamemnon,'
'Euripos,' 'Reflux,' 'Fatherland,' 'Sun,"Truth,'
'Orient,' 'L'Orient' (in French), 'New Siphnos,'
'Time,' 'Hermoupolis Journal,' 'Thera,' founded
from 1 88 1 to 1890.
' Naxos,' ' Santorin,' ' New Andros,' ' Country,'
' People's Journal,' ' Inspector,' ' Concord,'
' Pegasos,' ' Rhegas,' ' News' Journal,' 'Hatchet,'
founded in 1891.
' People,' ' Improvement,' ' Hope,' ' Justice,'
' Spectator,' ' New Age,' ' Epoch,' ' National
Greatness,' ' Tempe,' ' Volo,' ' Trumpet,'
' Pagassa,' ' Nightingale,' ' Kissavos,' 'Constitu-
tional,' 'Tablet,' 'Voice of the People,' ' Karditsa,'
' Thessaliotis,' 'Caustic,' founded in 1892.
CULTURE
205
The circulation of all the 131 papers together
is, however, only 110,953, oi" ^ little more than a
third of the daily circulation of our Standard.
The ' Akropolis ' has the largest number of sub-
scribers — 10,000 ; and the ' Helikon ' the smallest
—25-
Roumania has 30 newspapers.
The Greek press originated in the enthusiasm
and energy of Col. Leicester Stanhope, who in
1822 began to print his first paper at Meso-
longhi, being assisted by Lord Byron. Stanhope
afterwards started a paper at Athens. Journals
were not numerous under King Otho, but they
contributed greatly to the popular zeal on behalf
of education and progress. At the Paris Ex-
hibition of 1867 nearly a hundred papers were
shown.
At the present time the Greek press is a very
powerful organ for good. There is no press
censure, and although in the spring of last year
this was in some quarters supposed to be regret-
able, there can be little doubt that to in any way
fetter it would be a great mistake. The case of
Egypt is by no means analogous. There a certain
number of papers are directly organized against
the English influence ; they are indirectly (per-
haps even directly) supported by France and
Russia. Their lying-power is to their intellectual
weight what a thousand horse-power would be in
a steamer of twenty tons burden ; and there are
2o6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
no papers in the English interest to counteract
them. In Greece, on the contrary, if the papers
are sometimes exaggerative in their facts and
vehement in their exhortations, they are at least
up to the French standard in truthfulness, and
not much below it in literary merit. Indeed,
there is a picturesqueness in Greek journalistic
style which is not to be found elsewhere, due
partly, I surmise, to their Orientality, and pardy
to their familiarity with the best literature the
world has produced.
Learned Societies.
I need hardly remind Philhellenes of the part
taken by the Syllogoi in the liberation of Greece.
These societies have always had an ostensible
intellectual object, but willy-nilly the Panhellenic
idea has almost invariably forced itself into their
notice. They exist to-day in greater numbers
than ever, both in Greece and out of it, especially
in the big Greece of Hellenic dreams — to. KpcTtj
Tov a'lfjLov, as they call Turkey, Roumania, Bulgaria,
Servia, and Montenegro. There is, indeed, a
freemasonry of blood which binds the Greeks of
free Hellas to those of still enslaved Hellas. The
most important syllogues in Athens are :
(i) The Parnassos Literary Society, founded
in 1865, had, in 1891, 849 members. It meets
once a month, and gives weekly public readings.
It maintains a school for poor boys, some of
CULTURE
207
whom are Cretans. In 1890 they numbered
161.
(2) The Byron Society, founded in 1868.
Byron's heart is still at Mesolonghi, and he is
loved in Greece as much as his poetry is admired
in England. The Panhellenic Companion for
this year opens with a Greek version of the lines
beginning :
' He who hath bent him o'er the dead,
Ere the first day of death is fled — '
The society erected a statue of Lord Byron at
Mesolonghi, which was unveiled on September 24,
1 88 1, when the little town was en fete for three
days, a considerable force of infantry and artillery
having been sent to join in the grateful demonstra-
tion. The society is chiefly engaged In educa-
tional work, and sends consignments of books for
public use to different towns and villages ; its
attempts in the direction of free village libraries
have not yet succeeded. It published a periodical
from 1877 to 1 88 1.
(3) Society for the Propagation of Hellenic
Literature, founded in 1869, with a present
membership of 1,200, and a capital of 1,500,000
drachmas. It consists of four sections :
(i.) Law and Politics,
(ii.) Literature and Archaeology,
(iii.) Physics,
(iv.) Fine Arts.
2o8 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
It has founded and maintains several schools ; it
grants subsidies in aid of poor schools ; it prints
and distributes school - books ; it pays for the
education abroad of fifteen young men destined
to become teachers, and takes an especial interest
in Greek geography. It succeeds in doing a large
amount of useful work.
{4) The Society of the Friends of Education,
whose splendid operations have been already
mentioned (page 187).
(5) The Historical and Ethnological Society,
founded in 1883. It has a museum containing
126 historical pictures, and 8,000 documents.
(6) The Physical Science Society, founded in
1887, had a membership in 1892 of 120. It
organizes tuition, lectures and demonstrations,
and scientific excursions into the country. It is
about to open a special scientific library and read-
ing-room, and commence a periodical.
(7) The Athens Scientific Society, founded in
1888, with a very professorial membership, seeks
to promote scientific investigation and training in
various way, and publishes the 'Athena.'
(8) The Teachers' Society, founded in 1873,
has as its object the improvement of middle and
higher education. It had 300 members in 1892.
It has several times successfully memorialized the
different Governments in the interest of educa-
tion. It has a library of 3,000 volumes, and a
reading-room, and publishes the ' Plato.'
CULTURE
209
(9) The Orient, or Asia Minor, Society, lool<;s
after the historical and archaeological interests of
Asia Minor.
(10) The Academy, founded in 1859 ; at least,
King Otho in that year laid the foundation-stone
of the beautiful building which Baron Sina, of
Vienna, presented for the purposes of an academy.
It cost about three million drachmas. The Baron's
widow added an endowment of ;^io,ooo. But
there are no academicians ; there is something of
the English prejudice against picking out a team
of forty and giving them national colours for life,
and there is also the difficulty of the original
selection. It would, at any rate, have to be
either by the King or by the whole nation — say,
at a new Olympian Congress, or by a newspaper
referendum.
The Library of the Chamber of Deputies
should also be mentioned ; it contains over i 35,000
volumes, and has a splendid collection of Greek
works of all kinds written between the capture of
Constantinople and 1833, got together with the
express intention that the continuity of spirit
from at least Byzantine days may have a living
force.
There are a great many societies distributed
over the towns of Greece : fine art societies, as
at Kerkyra ; law clubs, as at Kalamai and Sparta ;
dramatic societies, as at Kerkyra ; commercial
guilds, as at Nauplion ; political societies, as at
14
210 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Zakynthos ; and teachers' societies, as at Kerkyra ;
besides clubs, which are partly social and partly
literary.
Fine Arts.
In the early days of King Otho there was still
a Greek school of painters ; they were almost all
trained on the Holy Mountain, and journeyed
about Greece painting pictures and screens for
the churches. This painting is still done ; but
there is no special school, and no special excel-
lence. It was never very high art at its best.
At present painting is almost entirely neglected,
although during the last few years the subject has
aroused considerable interest in Athens, and in
1 89 1 M. Giallinas, a water-colour painter, ex-
hibited in London with some success, and M.
Rhoilos in the Salon. In the same year there
was an exhibition in Athens of paintings by
Greek ladies.
Sculpture is in a rather more forward state,
some of the copies of Tanagra works showing
genuine talent (although many of these are done
by Italians) ; the statue of Varvakes by the late
M. Drosos, placed in the Zappeion Square, is
generally pronounced excellent.
Music is not neglected. The Odeum, founded
in 1876, has M. Trikoupes for its president, and
has done a great deal towards introducing
Western music in lieu of the weird Turkish
chaunts which had almost come to be looked on
CULTURE 211
as national. It has not penetrated the Pelopon-
nesian fastnesses yet, and a music-hall entertain-
ment such as you get at Megalopolis or Sparta is
a thing not to be easily forgotten. The dances,
too, so admirably described by Mr. Rodd, are
trodden to the old Turkish hum. In Athens
itself all this is changing. At the music-halls
there and in the streets you hear the more or less
latest airs from London and Paris. The Odeum
has 14 professors, including several Germans,
and teaches the theory of music, the various
instruments, singing, and elocution. It has over
300 pupils, and gets financial help from the
State.
The Philharmonic Society, founded in 1888,
has the special aim of fixing the Greek style of
music. It has over 400 members, some very
distinguished honorary members, such as Gounod,
Thomas, Saint-Saens, and Kremser, and is very
"popular"..; It gives about half a dozen concerts a
year.
There is a Byzantine Sacred Musical Society.
French and Italian companies, though not of
very great calibre,, come to Athens and Phaleron,
and assist in the process of education. What
struck me most was the very high average of
piano-playing, very much higher than in England.
The country-people are very fond of their music,
such as it is ; but the too minute sub-division of
the tone, and the too great assistance derived
212 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
from the nose, make their singing very unmusical.
It may be argued that if they had really had
music in their souls, they would not have tolerated
the Oriental monotone, and would have invented
a proper scale on their own account ; but I think
this is asking rather too much. I believe when
once their musical tendency is directed into a
good German channel, they will prove themselves
to be a very musical people.
Physical Culture.
As Greece rather models her civilization on
that of France than on that of England, it will
be surmised, and rightly, that her physical educa-
tion is in a backward state. At the same time,
Greece is not a land of big cities, and plenty of
exercise can be obtained in a country which is
half mountain without a M.C.C. or a Rugby
Football Union.
There can be no doubt about the wiriness of
the race. Their physical endurance was an object
of frequent admiration during the War of Inde-
pendence, and they have by no means deteriorated
since. An ' Olympia at Athens ' is often mooted.
There is a rowing-club at the Peiraius, and three
cycling-clubs at Athens and one at the Peiraius.
[ 213 ]
CHAPTER XV.
ARCHEOLOGY.
As this treatise has an economic and political
design, Greek archeeology pure and simple has
no place in it. But Greece and Italy are in this
respect differently situated from the rest of the
world. They possess extra capital in their anti-
quarian treasure quite out of proportion to their
agricultural and commercial wealth. Although
England is by no means poor in antiquities, yet
their ratio to her total wealth is insignificant. In
Italy and Greece this is not so. In the case of
Greece, indeed, it is by no means certain that her
antiquarian wealth does not actually exceed her
other capital. It may be argued, perhaps, that
though an American syndicate might make an
offer to buy and transplant the Parthenon to
Beacon Hill, Boston, and might not haggle about
a few million dollars more or less in the price,
expecting it to prove of infinitely greater drawing
power than the Eiffel Tower, the Greeks would
2 14 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
never dream of parting with their ' marble lily.'
Of course they would not ; but it is always there
as a reserve fund. And if the Parthenon would
draw at Boston, where it would be out of harmony
with nature, not to speak of the utter incongruity
of mixing the Hellenic idea with the Bostonian,
why should it not draw ' in its violet crown,'
where the echoes of old Greek life are wafted
through the pellucid air, and flowers and birds
and human faces are as of yore ?
Italy finds its currency difficulties much lightened
by the golden millions left in the country every
year by tourists. So far, Greece only gains a few
thousand pounds in this way ; but every year,
especially with Egypt under our protection, brings
her more guests. It is true that Hellenic pride
is so great that she will not take their money for
her great peep-shows. In this her lofty spirit is
antipodean to the Italian humble avarice that
demands a lira or so every time you go from one
room to another in her museums. But if she
levies no direct tax, we may be sure that she will
get no slight gain indirectly when the tourist
world shall have found out Greece. At present,
apart from the passage des anglais from Egypt,
Greece is visited only by antiquarians, Phil-
hellenes, and le tres hatit ton ; but, as in the case
of the Rhine and Switzerland and Italy, so in the
case of Greece, the footsteps of milords and
savants will be trodden in sooner or later by the
ARCHEOLOGY 215
nouveaux riches and the vietix pauvres, and some
day we shall find Cook organizing great expedi-
tions of working-men to Athens and back under
the auspices of South Kensington or the People's
Palace.
But her antiquarian wealth has another, per-
haps finally greater, value to Greece. By its
means her children add with wonderful ease a
higher culture to their practical and technical
education — a culture which not only must make
them pleasanter and more orderly citizens, but
must become of cash-value to them. Nor can
we deny that a real appreciation of the glories of
the Akropolis, the mysterious charm of her moun-
tain temples and fortresses, and the bold memories
of Olympia, are likely to accentuate the already
wide-spread Panhellenic idea. And this, if it
anticipates greater responsibilities, also expects
the greater wealth which goes with wider territory.
Another gain to Hellas from her marble
treasures is the development of good taste in
architecture. Modern Athens was spoilt by the
Bavarians, who were neither artistic designers
nor artful builders. However, she now has
several fine buildings, notably the University,
the University Library, the Academy, and the
two museums. Her new streets are well laid out
and well built in the Parisian style ; her wealth
in buildings, public and private, should at no
distant date be very considerable.
2i6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The actual wealth of her museums is enormous.
In Athens there are the Central Museum {i.e.,
central for all Greece), with its magnificent statues,
friezes, reliefs, tombstones, and coins (this depart-
ment is very well looked after ; it contains 527
gold, 10,638 silver, 19,275 bronze, 1,979 lead, 38
others, 268 facsimiles, 5,356 badly preserved — a
total of 38,081); the Polytechnic Institute, with
Mykenian (and Egyptian) antiquities — a wonder-
ful display of gold — vases, terra - cottas, and
bronzes; the Akropolis Museum, with the treasures
found on the sacred hill itself ; not to speak of
the private collections of M. Karapanos (Dodona
finds), M. Lambros, M. Philemon, M. Rhou-
sopoulos, the late Dr. Schliemann (chiefly Ilian),
and the various archaeological schools. There is
also a Christian Archaeological Society, under the
patronage of the Queen, which has a well-filled
little museum and an almanack.
Outside Athens, too, museums are very plenti-
ful. If Greeks do not like their treasures carried
off by strangers, no more do the different towns
like theirs carried off to Athens. The old inde-
pendent State feeling is still very strong. Sparta
would indignantly resent sending such hostages
to Athens. In addition to this feeling, the Greek
Government believes that t\i& pieces de demonstra-
tion can teach their lessons more clearly on the
spot than they would if all congregated at Athens
— a proof of their sincerity when they maintain
ARCHEOLOGY 217
that the Elgin Marbles would be of more service
to art in Athens than in London. Besides, if we
may again import a commercial aim, the amount
of money spent by travellers making the round
of the principal local museums at Mykenai,
Sparta, Olympia, Delos, Delphi, etc., not to
speak of the smaller ones at Dimitzana, Larissa,
Syros, Thespiai, Epidauros, Tanagra, Messene,
Chaironeia, and, in fact, in nearly all towns on old
sites, would be something considerable. The
civilizing effect of this contact with the West is
also of very great importance.
The great interest now taken by Greeks in the
unburying of her past is also proof of the progress
she has made in the last thirty years. From the
fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, although
the Renaissance had done much for Greek litera-
ture, it had done little for Greek archaeology, by
which alone the literature could have the freshness
and accurate vigour of life. The eighteenth cen-
tury and the first part of the nineteenth opened
the way to investigations of great value ; this was
the English period, the heyday of the Dilettanti
and at its close of the immortal Leake. When
Greece became free, she invited the help of
Europe, and France and Germany joined Eng-
land in the explorations. In 1858 the Greek
Archaeological Society was founded, and thence-
forward the Greeks have done a great deal of the
work for themselves. But, not only is this zeal
2i8 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of theirs a proof of their intellectual and aesthetic
progress, it is still more a pledge of their solvency.
Is it humanly conceivable that a race with such
traditions to be proud of, with such heirlooms to
hand on to their children, would ever repudiate
their just debts and run the risk of seeing, not
only their dearest hopes abandoned, but the very
relics of their ancestors in the hands of an inter-
national official-receiver ?
The real position is exactly the reverse. Greece
is herself the natural guardian of the greatest art-
treasures in the world, and is morally responsible
for their safe keeping. Whether from this motive
or not, in this spirit she acts. The careless treat-
ment of works of art spoken of by travellers fifty
years ago has entirely ceased. At the same time,
the world makes no return to Greece for her careful
and, for her, expensive guardianship. Although
she has never repudiated, and never can, she is
always treated by the financial world as if she
were on the verge of repudiation. The case of
trustees is proverbially hard ; but they can usually
relinquish their trusts. Greece cannot even do this,
for she sincerely believes that such relinquishing
would itself be a breach of trust ; and whoever
has contrasted the impression made on him by
the antiquities in situ, in their proper colour-
surroundings and their only fitting environment,
with those he received when visiting the British
Museum — and not only the sentimental impres-
ARCHEOLOGY 219
sions, but the knowledge assimilated equally —
will hold that Greece is right. At least in
sympathy, Greece has great claims on the civi-
lized world which are never met.
Leake, writing in 1821, mentions the following
places as those where excavations might be made :
In the Peloponnesos. — Amyklai, Asine, Dyme,
Elis, Epidauros, Gytheion (G.), Hermione,
the Isthmos, Kainepolis, Kleitor, Korone,
Mantineia (F.), Megalopolis (E.), Messene,
Nemea, Olympia (Gen), Orchomenos,
Pallene, Phigaleia, Phlius, Prasiai, Psophis,
Sikyon (A.), Thuria, Thyraia, Troezen,
and the Hieron near Epidauros (G.), the
Heraion near Argos, and the Sanctuaries
of Zeus and Despoina in Arkadia.
In Attika, Boiotia, etc. — Delphi (F.), Eleusis
(G.), and many others of the Demi of Attika,
Elateia, Eretreia (A.), Histiaia, and several
other cities of Euboia, Haliartos, Herakleia,
the Grove of the Muses on Mount Helikon,
Chaironeia (G.), Coroneia, Cyrrha, Opus,
Orchomenos (Schliemann), Plataia (A.),
Tanagra, Thespiai, Thronion, the Oracular
Fane of Apollo on Mount Ptoon (F.), and the
temple of Athena Iloneia in Boiotia.
In Thessaly. — Demetrias, Gomphoi, Kyretiai,
Metropolis, Pagasai, Pelinnaion, and Thebes.
In Akarnania. — ^niadai, Argos, Stratos
(Ger.), and Thyreia.
2 20 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
In Aitolia. — Kalydon and Thermos.
[In Epiros.— Gytomai, Kassope, Kichyros,
Pandosela, Passaron and Phoenike.J
He says 'In all these places the state of the
soil appears to indicate that the sites have been
little disturbed since the respective places fell to
ruins, and to promise a rich harvest of ancient
remains.' [The letters placed after the names of
places signify the school by which the site has
been explored and excavations made : A. =
American school, E. = English, F. = French,
G. = Greek, Ger. = German.] It will be noticed
that the Greeks have done a great deal of the
work themselves. Besides these little-disturbed
sites, a great many others have been excavated —
notably various parts of Athens, Mykenai, and
Tiryns (by Schliemann), and Delos (by the
French).
Excavation is not, however, quite as expensive
an amusement as might be imagined, although
where occupiers have to be expropriated and
houses pulled down, as at Delphi, it may even
exceed expectation. The usual viodits operandi
is for a couple of members of the school to go
and prospect ; the director, acting under his
committee, decides whether excavation is to be
begun. If they decide in favour of it, the director
communicates with the Greek Government, which
consults its head ephor. Permission is almost
invariably granted, subject to the two conditions.
ARCHEOLOGY 221
that all treasure-trove be surrendered, after a fair
period for examination, to the Government, and
that an ephor be present during the excavating
to represent Greek interests. The ephors are,
generally speaking, men of good general attain-
ments, as well as experienced practical archaeo-
logists, especially M. Kavvadias, the chief ephor
and able cataloguer of the Athenian Museums,
M. Leonardos, and M. Kastromenos, brother-in-law
of the late Dr. Schliemann. They are not likely
to create much difficulty. Having taken up your
abode in the nearest village to your site, or, if
there be none conveniently near, pitched your
tent close to your scene of operations, you set
about your task. In the former case you will
have no difficulty as to labour ; in the latter you
will have had to bring your labourers to the spot
and either encamp them or build temporary huts
for them. The labour itself is cheap, men
receiving from is. ^d. to 2s. a day, and girls
about half that amount. So you have 50 men
and 50 girls working from sunrise to sunset for
about ^200 a month ; though, allowing for the
customary holidays, it is always a good deal less.
The English school is unfortunately by far the
poorest of the four. The French and German
schools get grants from their respective Govern-
ments in aid of their work, and the American
school gets dollars in abundance from its
millionaire patrons at home. Meanwhile, the
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
English school, even with the help of the
Hellenic Society and the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge, cannot afford to spend more than
about ;^300 a year on excavations. It indeed
has only a score or two of subscribers. I hope
it will not be thought mal a propos either to the
matter or to the manner of this treatise for me to
append the name and address of the secretary —
Walter Leaf, Esq.,
Old Change, E.C.
Subscriptions to the school not only assist in
increasing our knowledge of ancient Greek life,
but distinctly help to bring Greece back again to
life, to the full Periklean life ; and while doing
this, they shed lustre on the name of England.
It may be well, perhaps, to refer to the question
of the restoration of the Elgin Marbles. Every
year or so it is rumoured in Athens that we are
going to send these stolen treasures back. Eng-
land is the only nation in the world which has
ever been known to surrender valuable territory
unthreatened and simply on sentimental grounds.
If England gave up the Ionian Islands, they
argue, worth several millions sterling, why should
they not give back the marbles, which, if put up
to auction in lots, would hardly fetch a million.
Captain Trant, writing in 1830, said that it was
reported that the King of Bavaria, who was a
great Philhellene, had expressed his intention of
ARCHAEOLOGY
223
making his Glyptothek at Munich disgorge the
Aiginetan Marbles and restoring them to Greece.
He, rightly, thought it problematical, and they
are, of course, still at Munich. Oddly enough,
the people who abuse us most for having robbed
the Parthenon are not the Greeks, but the
French, who have done more of that kind of
thing than any nation since the Romans. This
occurred to Chateaubriand (who confessed to a
certain amount of mild spoliation himself), and he
attempted to contrast our thefts with those of his
compatriots ; his- first distinction that they did
not pull down to take away is plausible, but will
not bear examination, as the bare places they left
behind them in Italy were quite as great eyesores,
and the precious prey did not stand in so great
need of protection ; his second distinction, that in
their case the glory of France required it, smells
too much of vanity for us to have anything to do
with it. The question of the restoration of the
Elgin Marbles is one of artistic expediency. Few
Englishmen would maintain that we had a moral
right to keep them longer than is necessary in the
interests of art. The first question to be decided
is whether they are more useful to the world in
London or in Athens. If it be in doubt, the
original ownership of Athens should shift the
balance of proving the superior advantages of
London on to us ; if it be admitted that Athens is
the more suitable place for them, the question
224 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
resolves itself into selecting the right moment for
their restoration. This will obviously be when
they will be in no danger from either a foreign
enemy, or a revolutionary mob. I am inclined to
answer the first question in favour of Athens.
To the second, I should reply that as long as
Deleyannism exists the marbles must stay in the
British Museum, which means that, before they
go, the criminal statistics must show a very
marked improvement, and the drachma must get
to within lo per cent, of its nominal value. Pro-
bably it would be better if Greece had already
obtained possession of Constantinople.
[ 225 ]
CHAPTER XVI.
RELIGION.
Organization — Monasteries — Priests — Summary.
It is a truism to say that the religion of a com-'
munity has great influence on its material pros-
perity ; but to estimate at all approximately what
that influence is, is often extremely difficult, and
the methods by which an at all definite conclusion
can be arrived at are extremely complicated.
What we wish to discover about the Orthodox
Church is : (i) What has been its influence in the
past ; (2) What is its influence to-day ; (3) What
is its -influence likely to be in the future. The
solution of the first two problems will help us
materially with the third. In order to arrive at a
result of any value, we must understand clearly
the organization of the Orthodox Church. With
its doctrine we need not immediately deal.
There are now said to be between twenty-five
and thirty thousand Roman Catholics in Greece,
being most numerous in the Kyklades, where
15
226 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
they have six monasteries, most of them with
schools attached, the Jesuits, Capuchins, Fran-
ciscans, and Dominicans being represented.
Athens, Kerkyra, and Naxos are archbishoprics,
and Kephallenia, Syros, Tenos, Thera, and
Zakynthos bishoprics. They have about sixty
churches, of which two-thirds are in the Kyklades.
The Greek Church is quite independent ; it is
alHed to the Russian Church, but does not acknow-
ledge the Czar as its head. In 1833 it attempted
to throw off the authority of the Patriarch of
Constantinople, which, owing to that dignitary's
practical subjection to the Sultan, had been ex-
tremely baneful to it ; by the Synodal Tome of
1850 the severance was complete except as to
a few nominal rights of an entirely trivial
character.
The government of the Greek Church is now
in the hands of the Holy Synod, a compact little
college of five ecclesiastics and a royal commis-
sioner, the former being at present the Metro-
politan of Athens, President, the Archbishop of
Ldrissa, the Metropolitan of Demetrias, the
Archbishop of Mantineia, and the Bishop of
Thaumakos.
There are altogether 40 dioceses, the sees
which have as their centre the capital of a
nomarchy being archbishoprics. Accordingly, in
addition to the members of the Holy Synod,
there are archbishops of Argos, Arta, Kerkyra,
RELIGION 227
-Korinth, Messenia, Syros, and Zakynthos, and
bishops of Hydra, Karystia, Naupaktos, Naxos,
Platamon, Thera, and Triphyllia. There are also
' widowed,' or prelateless, dioceses — namely, the
archbishoprics of Akarnania, Chalkis, Kephal-
lenia, Patras, Sparta, Trikkala, and Phthiotis, and
the bishoprics of Andros, Gardiki, Gortyns,
Gytheion, Ithaka, Kalavryta, Kythera, Leukas,
Oitylos, Paxos, Pharsala, Phokis, Stagoi, and
Thebes, making a total of 2 metropolitans, 9
archbishops, 7 vacant archbishoprics, and 8
bishops, with 14 vacant bishoprics.
The head of the Church receives a stipend of
6,000 drachmas a year, with an allowance of 3,000
drachmas more, making a total income of about
^300 a year (though considerably less at the
present rate of exchange). Archbishops get
5,000 drachmas a year (say, £160), and bishops
4,000 drachmas a year (say, ^130); the four
members of the Holy Synod receive extra allow-
ances of 2,400 drachmas a year.
Monasteries.
At the time of the Revolution there were 593
monasteries in Greece, although many of the
buildings were in decay and tenanted by a single
monk. The Government of King Otho paid
early attention to them, and they were gradually
reduced in number, till in 1857 there were only
152, of which four were for women. Those
228 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
which were suppressed were placed under Govern-
ment control, their revenues being in theory-
devoted to religious and educational purposes,
although it is rather doubtful how the moneys
were applied. No doubt they helped to make
the early confusion of Greek finance more con-
founded. It is somewhat remarkable that the
confiscation met with no public disapproval ;
possibly the affairs of the seculars did not appeal
to the popular imagination as an indignity to
their parish priests would have done ; perhaps
even there was an unconscious acquiescence in
Bentham's theories of government, which, by the
way, had been very persistently dinned into the
ears of the original leaders by Col. Leicester
Stanhope.
In the Eastern Church there are two kinds of
monasteries :
(i) Ccenobitic (living in common), in which all
dress and live in the same way, the government
being monarchical. The head, or ' Hegoumenos,'
is, as a rule, the most learned of the monks, and
not necessarily the oldest ; his term of ofifice is
limited. Each monk on joining gives up to the
monastery all his property, which, however, is not
generally extravagantly great.
(2) Idiorhythmic (each living in his own way),
in which there is much greater freedom, the
government being more nearly republican, or, at
least, constitutional. There is a governing com-
RELIGION 229
mittee of three — the Hegoumenos, and two
Epitropoi or Symbouloi, elected every five years.
Each monk owns a particular share of both the
realty and personalty of the convent, in the former
case working his allotment himself, although he
often has a lay helper. Instead of taking their
meals in the common refectory like the Kaloyers
(Kalogeroi = good old men), as the Coenobitic
monks are called, they have ' commons ' of bread
and wine dealt out to them, which they consume,
with whatever else they choose to buy, in their
own cells.
At present there are 186 convents in Greece —
31 in Trikkala, 21 in Achaia-Elis, 15 in Argolis-
Korinth, 14 in Arkadia and Kephallenia, 13 in
Attika-Boiotia and the Kyklades ; 176 are for
men and 10 for women, although a good many
are in reality mixed.
The largest are :
/• — For Men. Monks. Nuns.
The Taxiarchs, in the deme of Aigion 112 9
Megaspelaion, in the deme of Kerpine 109
The Gardeners, in the deme of
Katogetai ... 63 6
St. Luke, in the deme of Distomia ... 56
The Death of the Virgin, in the deme
of Ithome 5° 3
The Fountain of Life, in the deme of
Naousa ... ... ... .. 48
47
3
46
2
43
2
41
2
41
41
230 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Monks. Nuns.
The Death of the Virgin, in the deme
of Letrinai ...
St. Laura, in the deme of Kalavryta
The Death of the Virgin, in the deme
of Aigion ...
The Death of the Virgin, in the deme
of Chaironeia
St. Dionysios, in the deme of
Zakynthos ...
St. Seraphim, in the deme of Petra ...
The Birth of the Virgin, in the deme
of Agraiai ... ... ... ... 39 2
St. Athanasios, in the deme of
Leukasion ... ... ... ... 39
Dekes Ireni, in the deme of Skotoussa 39
//. — For Women.
The Death of the Virgin, in the deme
of Tenos ... ... ... ... i iii
St. Constantine, in the deme of
Kalamai ... ... ... ... 2 68
Lazarus, in the deme of Thera ... 3 65
St. Gerasimos, in the deme of Omalai 19 47
The average number of monks in each monastery
is less than 10, and there are barely 2,000 monks
and nuns in the whole of Greece.
Mr. Sergeant, in 1879, gave 10,000,000 drachmas
as the total estimated value of conventual property ;
RELIGION 231
but the revenue in 1889 was 2,326,804 drachmas,
and the expenditure 1,849,437 drachmas, or about
^30 per head per annum. The richest houses
are Phaneromene (in Salamis), with 45,000
drachmas, or about 5,000 drachmas per head per
annum ; The Angels (near Athens), with 77,000
drachmas, or about 3,080 drachmas per head per
annum ; St. Elias (in the Parnassid), with 45,000
drachmas, or about 1,350 drachmas per head per
annum ; St. Laura, with 55,000 drachmas, or
1 , 1 90 drachmas per head per annum ; St. Luke,
with 55,000 drachmas, or 980 drachmas per head
perannum; The Taxiarchs, with 105,000 drachmas,
or 930 drachmas per head per annum ; Voulkano,
with 45,000 drachmas, or 900 drachmas per head
per annum ; and Megaspelaion, with 95,000 drach-
mas, or about 870 drachmas per head per
annum.
It should be added that there are about 700
male and 80 female novices, and about 1,000
attendants, who are not all included in the above
tables. The age of admission is thirty for men
and forty for women.
In order to appreciate the present position of
Greek monasteries, we must remember that their
principal duties in the old days, and still under
Turkish rule, were of a charitable and hospitable
kind. They were not learned brotherhoods as in
the West, although there were not infrequently
learned men of their number. In fact, throughout
232 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the Turkish period these estabHshments were
required to act as inns, and were bound to accept
and entertain whatever traveller came ; in return
for this important public service, the Porte saved
the monastic revenues from the sticky hands of
its underlings. It is hardly necessary to add that
this traditional hospitality is still kept up, and
that an Englishman especially always finds a
warm welcome in these reverend khans.
Priests.
There are rather over 8,000 priests for an
orthodox population of 1,635,698, or one to every
200 souls. They have no ' livings,' and no
stipends from the State or elsewhere ; and the
fees they receive for the more private of their
holy functions are very small. The Athenian
priests receive from 1,800 to 3,000 drachmas
(;^6o to ;^ioo) a year, while those in the provinces
get only from 600 to 1,440 drachmas (^20 to
;^48) a year, and even this pittance is worth 25
per cent, less at the present rate of exchange.
As a consequence, they have to earn a living like
their parishioners ; they usually resort to agri-
culture or shopkeeping. Their duties are prin-
cipally liturgic and ritual ; they do very little
preaching. However, they are in a sense the
heads of their villages, not officially, but by the
unspoken decree of the community ; it is to them
the stranger applies for information or hospitality.
RELIGION 233
They wear their hair and beards long as a pro-
test against the West — and for the same reason,
perhaps, they are generally married, though a
bishop must on being enthroned renounce his
wife — and their top-hats brimless in revenge-
inspiring memory of the Turkish ordinance which
thus exposed their eyes to the glare of the
Southern sun. The Ottomans had a strange
hostility to Giaour eyes, as may be seen from
their treatment of the sacred pictures in Greek
chapels : they commonly pricked out the eyes of
the saints. I fancy that numerous as the priests
are — four times as numerous as in Great Britain,
and, indeed, in a thicker ratio to the population
than in any other country in the world— there
are even more chapels than priests. There are
even more chapels per square mile than there are
in Cornwall. The reason for this is that in the
early history of the Church it was usual wherever
possible to turn every temple, perhaps even every
temenos, into a Christian chapel. Cave-temples
dedicated to the Nymphs or Pan were re-dedicated
to the Panaghia Speliotissa (Virgin of the Cave) ;
Theseus became St. George ; Helios or Apollo,
Elijah ; Athene the Virgin, and so on. And as
in the days of the old faith it would have been
monstrous to in any way encroach on a place
consecrated to Divine use — whence the word
' temenos ' — so tradition maintained that what
was once a chapel should be always a chapel.
234 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Where population placed itself a chapel was
built ; when the population ebbed away to more
fertile land or a higher perch out of the reach of
pirates, the chapel still remained. They are,
however, all of them small, with the exception of
a few of the modern ones at Athens, and are all
Byzantine in style, the women being treated
somewhat as in our House of Commons. The
site of a ruined chapel (Eremoklesia) is usually
marked by a little covered stand, on which is a
picture of the tutelary saint ; the pious, as they
pass, cross themselves, and say a prayer and
leave an obol or two.
Summary.
In order to fully grasp the present state of the
Greek Church, we must not forget its origin.
St. Paul was struck by the something between
religiousness and superstition of the Athenians,
and by the profusion of altars and shrines
dedicated to their gods. The missionaries who
followed him found that, although the Christian
philosophy was exactly suitable to the Greek
mind, there was a clinging to old myths and
ritual which could not be evicted. So they made
the best they could of the strange circumstances.
They instilled the ethics and the beliefs of the
New Testament, and allowed the familiar fairy
tales to bear a new import, and the old ritual
to have a fresh sacred charm. Almost every
RELIGION 23s
custom which the traveller finds foreign to Roman
tradition can be traced back to pre - Christian
times. In this way the priesthood remained dear
to the people, and thoroughly national. In this
way was the Church enabled to hold her own,
and by her influence the Greek race remained
comparatively pure, and the Greek language was
saved for better days. That the priests cannot
themselves have entirely believed the quaint
fictions indulged in by their parishioners is
probable, though it is not improbable that with
their little learning a credulous habit crept upon
them too unawares. But even when they did
not believe, it is not unlikely that they felt it
more comfortable to allow these innocent super-
stitions to go on while they retained their in-
fluence over their flocks. In all times and climes
there has been a tendency to have an esoteric
alongside of an exoteric religion. In order to
counteract the dangers that threatened when they
dared to interfere with the vulgar excrescences
on the faith — for they did sometimes dare to
interfere — they stiffened their authority by the
increase of fast-days. As a counterpoise in the
reverse direction, they allowed the ritual to replace
the didactic.
In most countries except our own it is a
generally received doctrine that nations likely to
thrive must not forget their national fetes. With
us the Queen's birthday is more or less of a
236 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
holiday, especially as it is generally kept on a
Saturday ; the Prince of Wales' is the day on
which the three gas plumes over London shops
advertise their owners' good fortune ; and
November 5 is given over to the naughtier
among small boys In Greece the great days
are observed by thanksgivings in church in the
morning, and general hilarity for the rest of the
day.
Such is the history of the influence of the
Greek Church on the people, and their present
inter- relation is just what would be expected.
The people have great faith in their pastors, and
are obedient to them, but their obedience does
not entail the hardest kind of hardship ; certain
small payments and rigid fasts and attendance at
chapel on sundry occasions. There is no strict
censorship over their lives, no set attempt to
make the people live in harmony with the teach-
ings of the text-book of their faith. As in
Ireland the priests are largely drawn from the
same classes as their congregations, and with the
result observable in Ireland- — great sympathy,
especially on national questions, but utter in-
capacity to raise them beyond themselves in the
domain of morality.
Sir Thomas Wyse, her Majesty's Minister in
Athens, says (in 1858): 'It is not an over-fed
Church, nor an over - officious Church, nor a
fashionable Church, nor a rough-riding, filibuster-
RELIGION 237
ing Church ; its tone is less than modest, and we
hear nothing of oppression or complaint,' which
is a faithful portrait of the Greek Church in 1893.
There is only one new factor of any consequence
in the situation, and that seems rather a sad one,
although its final effect it is difficult to forecast.
In the last thirty years it has been increasingly
common for young men to go to Paris to com-
plete their education, and in Paris they find
religion laughed at. Being young they do not
cast out from their faith what there may be of
the ridiculous lurking in it, but cast out the faith
itself neck and crop. Few of them are dis-
illusioned by the void they afterwards discover,
but seek to fill it by some liberty-capped fetish,
or some idol anx Camdlias. When they get
home again they are at first very revenants for
the scare they cause, but on s habitue a tout, and
after two or three decades of this the effect is
plainly felt in Athens. One would be inclined at
first to prophesy for Greece the wholesale
degeneracy which has taken place in France, but
luckily, though the Church is established by law,
it has neither state subsidy nor political power.
Still less does the Church seek temporal
supremacy, and so provoke license of thought as
in Italy. So on the whole it is more likely that
the touch of agnosticism will produce a reaction.
In this the stranger cannot help Greece much.
The Greek Church has never been aggressive,
238 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
and it resents aggression ; the old feud between
it and Romanism is almost bitterer than the
hatred of the Mohammedan oppressor. Protest-
antism — at least, the /in de siecle Protestantism
which cannot quite decide against the admission
of Darwin to its calendar — is not understood.
Attempts to proselytize are looked on as attempts
to denationalize. The utmost the stranger can
do is, when mixing with Greeks, whether in
Greece or abroad, to point out in conversation
the immense necessity of reform from within. It
is not a question of deposing some time-honoured
dogma. It is purely a question of practice.
There is no dangerous purgatory, no misinter-
pretable confessional to get rid of. What is
needed is spirituality, life, especially, perhaps,
the vitalizing spirit of self-sacrifice. It would be
easiest to begin at the top. This has not been
the usual method of Christianity, indeed, from
the days of the fishermen of Galilee to those of
' General ' Booth, but the cases are not parallel.
In Greece you have a splendid machinery for
regeneration. Inspire the Holy Synod, and
through them the bishops and hegoumenoi, and
half the work is done. Let us hope that before
the sensuous mockery of Paris can get at the
heart of the Hellenic race the leaders of her
religious thought will see the peril, will not be
deceived by false hope and friendly memory as
to its imminence, and will rouse themselves to
RELIGION 2 39
make their Church the power for moral and
spiritual good that it ought to be.
The unscholarliness of the priests became
patent to the great minds of Greece soon after
the national independence had been achieved ;
and in 1841 the brothers George and Manthos
Rhizares founded a seminary, which is named the
Rhizarion, in their honour. It has a foundation
of 1,700,000 drachmas, but though as a school it
has been very useful, it has failed to act as a
priest-making machine. Only about 120 pro-
spective or actual priests have availed themselves
of its advantages. It had in 1889 13 pro-
fessors and 52 pupils. There are also clerical
training-schools at Chalkis, Syros, and Tripolis,
and their pupils are obliged in theory to take
orders afterwards, but they are not very suc-
cessful.
[ 240 ]
CHAPTER XVII.
ARMY AND NA VY.
Army — Distribution — Navy — Defence — Attack.
Army.- — It is very difficult to arrive at an exact
estimate of the fighting-strength of the Greeks in
the War of Liberation. In some cases the figures
reported were exaggerated either through com-
fortable optimism or the hope of frightening the
Turks ; in others, owing to the inaccessibility of
the mountain rendezvous, detachments were alto-
gether omitted. There was very little cavalry or
artillery ; the infantry was very largely irregular,
though not on that account less suited for the
particular kind of fighting it had to do. Perhaps
a hundred thousand men took part in the war.
King Otho had a bodyguard and a gradually
increasing army, although it never became
numerically strong.
King George soon after his accession set about
the reorganization of his forces, and the state in
1877 was :
ARMY AND NAVY 241
10 battalions of infantry
... 8,700 men.
4 ,, rifles (Evzonoi)
... 2,000 „
I battalion of artillery ...
900 „
I „ engineers
500 „
I „ cavalry
420 „
Total... ... 12,520 „
If the gendarmerie is included, the total was
about 14,000 men. The National Guard, how-
ever, or army on a war footing, was supposed to
number 200,000 men, although their organization
was not very complete.
In more recent years the regular army has
varied in number from 26,000 to 29,000 men.
The period of service is two years, although the
conscription taking place on October i, and the
military year ending on June i, it is practically
twenty months ; after this there is a further period
of ten years in the reserve. The length of service
in the National Guard is eight years (with the
exception of ten years for cavalry), and a further
period of ten years in the reserve. The National
Guard can only be called out in case of actual
war, and its reserve in case of invasion. The
conscription is universal, for all who are not
physically unfit, from the age of 21 to 51, the
minimum height being i'56 metres (61^ inches)
for infantry, and slightly higher for artillery and
cavalry. The obligation to serve is personal,
with no power to buy a substitute.
Each infantry regiment consists of three bat-
16
242 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
talions, but the third is always a skeleton, for
economy's sake ; for the same reason Evzonoi
battalions exist only on paper. Each cavalry
regiment consists of four squadrons, the total
strength being i,8oo men and 800 horses; most
of the latter are Hungarian. The artillery em-
braces three regiments, divided into twenty
batteries.
The weapon of the infantry and Evzonoi is the
1874 French Gras rifle, which carries rather over
a mile, and can be discharged about twelve times
a minute. With its bayonet it weighs 476
kilogrammes, or 10^ lbs. Each soldier is allowed
175 cartridges, of which he carries 78 on his
person. The ordnance supplied to the artillery
include field, mountain, and garrison guns (Krupp
manufacture), of 7-5, 87, 10-5, 15, and 17 centi-
metres, and mortars of 15 centimetres ; 272 rounds
are carried per gun.
The country is divided into three districts, with
headquarters at Ldrissa for the nomarchies of
Ldrissa, Trikkala, and Phthiotis-Phokis ; Meso-
longhi for Aitolia-Akarnania, Achaia-Elis, Arta,
Kerkyra, Kephallenia, and Zakynthos ; and
Athens for the remainder.
The distribution was,, in 1 890, as follows :
ARMY AND NA VY
243
Place.
Regiment.
1
.3
1
•3
s
■■5
."2
.12
Si .
^1
Athens . . ,
No. I Line
7
12
II
27
4
—
3
)) ...
No. 7 „
7
rr
14
24
3
—
4
„
No. 2 Battalion
Evzonoi
3
4
5
10
1
—
2
,,
No. 2 Cavalry...
4
3
5
13
2
—
2
,,
No. 3 „
4
3
6
14
2
—
2
,,
No. I Artillery..
7
5
8
13
2
—
4
,,
No. 2 „
6
6
7
15
3
—
3
jj
No. 3 „ ...
6
6
7
12
3
—
4
jj • ■ •
Engineers
4
9
II
37
I
—
3
Chalkis ...
No. 2 Line
7
13
14
25
3
—
3
Kalamai . . .
No. 3 „
S
10
13
24
2
—
4
Nauplion ..
No. 8 „
7
12
15
25
4
—
4
Larissa . . .
No. s „
6
[2
15
27
4
—
2
Volo
No. 4 „
6
12
15
23
3
—
4
Trikkala...
No. 4 Battalion
Evzonoi
2
4
5
10
I
—
I
Kalambaka
No. 7 Battalion
Evzonoi
3
4
5
6
I
—
I
Tyrnavos . .
No. 8 Battalion
Evzonoi
3
4
S
5
—
—
I
31
No. I Cavalry...
5
3
3
14
2
—
2
H)pata ...
No. 9 Battalion
Evzonoi
2
3
4
8
I
—
I
Mesolonghi
No. 9 Line ...
6
13
14
30
3
—
4
Kerkyra ...
No. 10 Line ...
6
12
13
22
3
—
4
Arta
No. 6 Line
5
12
12
16
4
—
2
)? • "
No. 3 Battalion
Evzonoi ...
3
4
4
4
—
■ — ■
I
Agrinion . . .
No. I Battalion
Evzonoi
3
,■;
5
7
I
—
I
)j
No. 6 Battalion
Evzonoi
3
3
5
8
I
—
I
In the chief
towns of the
noraarchies
Gendarmerie ...
Stores Dept. ...
7
5
7
12
45
II
49
24
—
—
—
244
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
s fc
K
Piaire. Regiment. ■^■^ x.
Nauplion... Arms Dept. ... i 3 3 4 —
Athens ... Engineers' Dept. 4 5 3 6 — — ■ —
„ ... Artillery Dept. .3 2 — — —
In the chieH
military h Hospital Dept. . i 2 3 3 68 21 10
centres J
Athens ... Military Law
Dept. ... 16 10 — I —
(Recruiting Dept. 16 16 16 16 —
Financial Dept. 2 19 17 30 - - 14
Athens ... Education Dept. 27 15 20 14 8 — 2
Athens,'
Kerkyra,
and Nau-
plion
Garrison
Total ... 211 278 341 577 131 21 90
There are also a few staff-officers not included In
this table a dozen generals, and 22 chaplains,
bringing up the total number of officers to rather
over 1,700. It will be remarked that one-third of
the whole are sub-lieutenants, and they are found
in large numbers in important positions, as in the
educational and financial departments ; the chief
reason of this is that they do not become lieu-
tenants in the speedy quasi-automatic way that
second-lieutenants do in England, the secret being
the same as that of the blank battalions — lack ot
money.
The proportion of officers to men is unneces-
ARMY AND NAVY 245
sarily large. This is due very largely to the
abundant supply — not to say plethora — of men of
officerly status who are obliged by the conscrip-
tion to serve in the army. In F" ranee, by the
volunteer system of shortened service, young men
of good family are induced to go into the ranks ;
but Greece, while too democratic en gros to allow
of such a distinction, is not democratic enough en
detail to accept the hardships of a full period in
the ranks. In addition to this both superior
education and ardent patriotism tend towards a
commission, and the very sentiment of democracy
itself makes for the multiplication of officers,
though its final outcome would be, as ludicrously
as logically, regiments in which all were officers,
and, indeed, all colonels.
The pay of officers in the army is as follows :
General of Brigade ... 7,080 drachmas {j[,2iG) a year.
Colonel
Lieutenant-Colonel
Major ...
[highest
Captain -i ,
'^ (lowest
Lieutenant
Sub-lieutenant...
At the present rate of exchange they actually
receive about 25 per cent. less.
In 1892 the total rank and file of the army was
28,1 14 ; this year it is reduced to 22,607, of whom
13,839 are infantry and Evzonoi, 2,277 artillery,
6,960
)'
{£n^)
5>76o
))
{£^9^)
5,280
))
(-^176)
3.720
3)
(^124)
2,640
))
(;£88)
1,920
>J
{£(>A)
1,680
))
{£sz)
246 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
1,413 engineers, 1,146 cavalry, 305 army hospital
corps, and 3,229 gendarmes, with 1,690 horses
and 303 mules. There are 1,855 officers, or about
I officer to 1 2 men.
The expenditure on the army in 1892 was
16,642,374 drachmas ; in 1893 it is to be
14,364,230 drachmas.
Bulgaria has an army of 33,463 men, Rou-
mania of 18,532, and Servia of 13,000.
Navy. — The early history of the Greek navy
is much like that of her army. Her admirals and
her commodores were the klephts of the sea. The
phrase ' Greek fire ' was quite as alarming in the
old days as its analogue 'torpedo' is now. It
was a guerilla warfare among the hills and valleys
of the deep, in contradistinction to the pitched
battle between squadrons on the open plain of
the sea. There was no gay uniform then either
for'ard or aft; and when it was all over in 1834,
and the new Government wished to show its ap-
preciation of its heroes, old pyrpolete Kanares
ambitioned nothing higher than lieutenant's rank.
(Of his descendants now in the service one is a
rear-admiral and two are commanders.) The first
attempt at naval organization was made in April,
1833 ; there was not much of a fleet to organize,
only the gallant but broken-winded crocks of the
ten years' struggle — brigs and brigantines and
schooners anchored in the ports of Hydra,
ARMY AND NA VY 247
Spetsai, and Poros. A commission, however,
under Miaoules and Kanares, visited the different
harbours, and selected Poros as the naval port.
Within three years two spacious establishments
were built, big enough to accommodate 1 50 hands.
Shortly afterwards, in 1838, they sent out a small
student mission — Sachines to France, and Sach-
toures and Koumelas to England — an experiment
so successful as to be repeated in 1844 and 1846.
So, too, Tompazes, who was chief constructor of
the two first ships built at Poros — the Louis and
the Amalia — had studied for many years in
England. Two other ships — the Orphetis and
the Ariadne — were given by the Russian Govern-
ment.
In 1859, under Athanasios Miaoules, it was
decided to introduce steam, and three small
boats were bought from a Clyde yard — the
Nauplion, the Plexaura, and the Aphroessa — and
three larger — the Salaminia, the Paralos, and the
Pan ope. Their average maximum speed was about
10 knots. Under King George naval matters at
first proceeded very quietly ; but in 1876 the
BoubouLina, an ironclad, and the Psara, a torpedo
depot ship, were built, and the smaller Delphin
and Aspis. In 1877 the navy consisted of two
ironclads and twelve wooden vessels. In 1878
the King's father lent him some Danish officers,
whose services in elucidation of the new weapons
248 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
were very valuable. The torpedo, with its mystery
and deadliness and demand for science and heroism,
appealed very strongly to the popular imagination,
and there was a big boom in sugar-torpedoes —
a trivial fact that would have been considered in
old times of dire portent to the enemy. In 1880
a torpedo- school was established under a Danish
chief, and six torpedo-boats were brought from
England at ^14,400 each. Four Thames passenger
steamers also were bought for torpedo-work, and
later 20 more torpedo-boats from England. It
had become obvious to the authorities that the
little port of Poros was unequal to modern require-
ments, so in 1878 the Government yards had
been moved to Salamis. It was finally ready in
1 88 1, and the little town which arose in con-
sequence has now a population of 5,000 people.
Six more torpedo - boats have been purchased
from Stettin and nine from La Seyne.
In 1889 to 1 89 1 the first really ambitious stride
was taken.
The ships of the Greek navy are at present :
Armoured.
Displace- , ,, jj„„.„ Aj-mour: Indicated <L i. ^"S
ment: ^."S"'- ■ ^/'''" ■ Belt. Battery. Horse- \\ *|
Tons. ^''- '"■ ■"■ '"■■ Jn. In. power, i^!^ ^ «
Hydra 4,885 3340 51 10 14 I4an(ii2 6,700 17 1889
Psara 4,885 3340 51 10 14 i4andi2 6,700 17 1891
Spetzai 4,885 3340 51 to 14 i4andi2 6,700 17 1890
Olga 2,060 230 o 59 o 4| 4 i>95o 10 1869
King )
ARMY AND NA VY
249
Unarmoured.
Admiral Mia-
ou les
Amphitrite
Hellas
Sphakteria
Mykale
Aktion
Ambrakia
Hydra
Spetzai
Acheloos
Alpheios
Eurotas
Peneus
Aphroessa
Nauplion
Plexaura
Syros
Paralos
Salaminia
Displace-
ment .
Tons.
1,800
1,380
1,300
1,000
1,000
469
469
440
440
420
420
420
420
380
380
380
380
380
380
Length :
Ft. In.
246 O
256 O
200 2
23s o
210 6
128 o
128 o
124 8
124 8
138 o
138 o
138 o
138 o
124 7
124 7
124 7
124 7
123 o
123 o
Beam, :
Ft. In.
36 c
36
37
3°
32
23
23
29
29
24 II
24 II
24 II
24 II
22 II
22 II
22 II
22 II
23 II
23 II
Indicated
Horse-
power.
2,200
1,500
1,700
1,000
380
680
400
400
400
400
160
160
160
160
204
200
„, , Date
Speed: .
^"o"- Launch.
15
II
14-5
10
"■3
10
10
10
lo'SS
9
9
9
9
879
890
878
88s
880
890
890
881
881
858
856
856
881
858
858
The armament (all of French manufacture) of
the ironclads Hydra, Psara, and Spetzai, consists
of 3 27-centimetre breech-loaders, and 5 of 15-
centimetres, with 5 fixed tubes or launching-
carriages for discharging fish - torpedoes. The
Olga has 4 breech-loaders of £7 centimetres {5^
tons, long Krupp), 2 also of 17 centimetres (3I
tons, short Krupp), 2 machine-guns, and 4 light
guns. The King George has 2 breech-loaders of
21 centimetres (iC' tons, Krupp), 2 machine-guns,
and 4 light guns.
Of the unarmoured ships the Admiral Miaoules
250 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
carries 3 breech-loaders of ij centimetres (long
Krupp), and i also of 17 centimetres (short
Krupp). The Hellas carries 12 breech-loaders
of 15 centimetres The guns carried by the
others are chiefly 9"6 and 87 Krupp breech-
loaders, though the Hydra and Spetzai each carry
one 26-centimetre 26-ton Krupp breech-loader.
There are 36 small steamers, some fatted for
spar-torpedoes, and others used for custom-house
work, and a royal yacht, and a transport — the
Bouboulina — of r, 170 tons, and 1,800 horse-power.
There are 34 torpedo-boats, in four classes, 6 being
of 85 tons displacement, 128 feet length, 15^ feet
beam, 1,050 horse-power, and 19 knots speed,
built at Stettin, and 6 others of 48 tons, 100 feet
length, 600 horse-power, and 19 knots speed,
built by Yarrow. There is also a torpedo depot
ship — the Kanares — of 1,100 tons, and 500 horse-
power, with 2 lo-centimetre Krupp breech-loaders,
2 Whitehead-torpedo launching-guns, and 2 under-
water torpedo-tubes ahead ; her speed is 14 knots.
The number of officers and men was, in 1892,
3,550, of whom about 140 were officers, a much
smaller proportion than in the sister service. The
number of all ranks this year is 3,041 ; but there
is a naval-reserve of men under thirty-four years,
which numbers about 5,000.
The naval expenditure for 1892 was 6,730,564
drachmas, the principal items being : Pay, 2,040,000
drachmas ; maintenance, 1,230,000 drachmas ; and
ARMY AND NA VY
251
repairs, 1,378,000 drachmas. But the total esti-
mated naval expenditure for 1893 i^ 5,034,245
drachmas only.
The pay of officers in the navy is as follovirs :
£
s.
d.
Admiral of the Fleet
.. 13,200 drachmas (440
0) a year
highest
C^P'^'" ilowest
11,160 ,
(372
°) „
6,480 ,
(216
°)
)
. (highest
Post-captain jj^^^^j
.. 7,608
(253
12
0)
»
.. S>o88
, (169
12
0)
J
(highest
Commander-,
(lowest
5.424
4,104 ,
(180
, (136
8
16
0)
0)
highest
Lieutenant ],
(lowest
3,744 ,
(124
16
0)
)
2,664
(88
16
0)
)
Sub-lieutenant
1,800
(60
0)
)
The English equivalent at the present rate of ex-
change is about 25 per cent. less.
Bulgaria has ten steamers on the Danube,
Roumania twelve steamers, and Servia none.
Defensive. — Greece was never a difficult
country to defend as far as its land-approaches
are concerned. Its present boundary - line is
practically unassailable except in two places.
The first weak spot is the region of Mount
Olympos. There are three passes — the first to
the south-east by Platamona, turning into the
Vale of Tempe ; the second by Petra, between
the true Olympos and the Pierian Mountains ;
the third by the Turkish fortress of Servia,
between the Pierian Mountains and Mount
Amarbis, the route of Sarandaporos. There is
also a very poor bridle-track over the lower part
252 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of Olympos, by which the Romans entered
Greece. None of these routes are really much more
practicable for a modern army than the almost
passless mountain- country between Tyrnavos and
Arta. It is the very happy hunting-ground
of Klephtic warriors like the Greeks. If they
got magazine rifles, as they would if war-clouds
threatened, and quick firing six - pounders and
Maxims, they ought to have no difficulty in holding
the Olympian passes against any numbers the
Turks would ever be likely to bring against them.
The further west the Turks go to attack the Greeks,
the more complicated their task becomes. There
is not only the getting their men and stores over
many miles of rough roads ; there is the very
doubtful loyalty of the Albanians and Epirots. In
AH Pasha's time there was very little love between
the dwellers round Joanina and the genuine
Ottomans ; some of the Skipetar have from time
to time turned Mussulman, but their race sym-
pathies are much stronger than their religious
attachment to Turkey. There may no longer be
Suliots nor Pargiots to give the world a reminder
of Thermopylean bravery ; but there are many
fustanella-wearers who on the craggy heights of
the frontier would show the Turks that, predilec-
tion apart, they know that the Hunnish wave is
ebbing to flow no more against Europe. At Arta
this would especially be the case. The town is
not well fortified, taking any ordinary Western
ARMY AND NAVY 253
criterion ; but allowing for the rising ground and
the river, and especially the mote than uncertain
friendship of the neighbouring hillmen, there is
very little fear of an attack from this quarter.
Besides, granting that an enemy might in this
way get to Agrinion and Mesolonghi, he has an
insurmountable array of mountains before he can
get Into Phokis and Boiotia. We may conclude,
then, that having once got the Turks out of
Hellas, the Greeks need be under no appre-
hension of their ever returning by land. In war-
time Greece could easily raise 50,000 men, and
properly arm 10,000 of them, more than enough
to secure their frontier against the Turks.
By sea the case is rather different. The
Greeks, as we have seen elsewhere, have an
enormous range of coast-line to defend. This
they could not do with their navy, nor could they
do it by submarine mining, against a strong naval
power. But at present it is not for them a ques-
tion of Russia, but of Turkey, and their fleet is
already very nearly equal to the decayed and
ever-decaying navy of the Porte. Their torpedo-
boats mancEuvred with the skill with which
Kanares and Miaoules handled the brulots during
the War of Independence would soon quench
the Sultan's thirst for invasion. But supposing
there were a complicated European war, or
supposing that it was no longer a question of
Turkey, but Russia, how then .'' We are assuming
254 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
that even Russia would think twice before ven-
turing a worse than Plevna before Olympos,
and would attempt an invasion from the sea.
The defence of little Hellas would no doubt be
difficult ; but I am not sure that it would be im-
possible. In the first place, she has admirable
heliograph stations (vide the beginning of the
' Agamemnon ') ; the top of Parnassos overlooks
almost the whole of Greece ; the Akrokorinth,
low enough never to be cloud clothed, has an
enormous outlook ; a few signallers on Olympos,
Mount Ocha (in Euboia), Hymettos, the Akro-
korinth, one of the Argolid Mountains, Kolokera
(above Monemvasia), some high point in rather
Southern Maina, Mathia (above Pylos), Samikon,
the east side of Erymanthos, Mount Zygos (above
Mesolonghi), and Leukas, and you have a splendid
signal-ring. In the second place, Greece rather
resembles the watertight - compartment arrange-
ment of a modern ironclad. There are a good
many places where the enemy could land, which
might safely be abandoned ; they would be
practically culs-de-sac ; it would be signalled that
troops had been landed on a certain little plain,
and the little Peloponnesian railway would soon
bring up enough men to defend some almost
impassable mountain - road. Then, again, her
rugged and rock-guarded coast would itself make
the landing of an army-corps, or a quarter of an
army - corps, in many places an impossibility.
ARMY AND NAVY 255
There would remain certain larger plains like
those of Olympia, Messenia, Sparta, Argos, and
Athens, which would require scientific defence.
This, of course, I shall not attempt to deal with.
It is enough to say that modern mining at the
hands of men defending their homes — of men as
crafty and as fearless as the successors of the men
who won their freedom sixty years ago, would
not be unlikely to find out how to make it exceed-
ingly hot for an invader. I do not think it would
be a question of 100-ton guns, or of heavy
ordnance at all ; Gardners and Maxims, and
plenty of them, and above all the ingenious use
of submarine explosives of high power.
Attack. — Greece is never likely to attack any
other country, except perhaps Turkey ; and in at
all the immediate future, even Turkey only in her
most accessible weak spot, Crete. Even such
an attempt is improbable, unless the eyes of
Europe are turned for the time in another
direction. Were this to happen, it is by no
means unlikely that, aided by the Greek Cretans,
the Greeks would capture Crete. Nor in the
present, and still more in the future, state of the
Ottoman Navy should it be impossible for the
Greeks, having taken possession, to hold their
prize. But Greek aspirations are not limited to
Crete by any means. They want Crete, for the
sake of the Cretans ; for themselves, they want
"H ITdAic, Constantinople. They could obviously
2S6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
never get there by sea. The Dardanelles are so
narrow that no navy but ours — and perhaps not
even ours — could force its way through. Could
the Greeks get to Stamboul partly by land ? I do
not suppose they could. But I cannot admit that
it is impossible. Naturally, if Turkey was free
to concentrate all her forces against Greece, it
would be impossible. But if Turkey were engaged
with Russia in the North, even with the Bul-
garians neutral, or busy with Servia, Greece
might not stand aloof as in the last Russo-Turkish
War. She might happen to remember the fragile
nature of the promises of the friendly powers, and
prefer to try the chances of war on her own ac-
count. She might possibly land at Dedeagh almost
unopposed. She would there intrain to Kouleli-
Bourgas, and from there, if the Turks were
being hard pressed elsewhere by the Russians,
would have a straight run in. It would be a
Wolselian exploit, requiring careful pre-arrange-
ment and bold fulfilment, but I do not think it is
quite outside the bounds of possibility. It is true
that once in Constantinople, her troubles might
begin, Hannibal-like. But if the war were the
great general European conflagration, which
everyone more or less expects in the not very
remote future, the general result of the great
struggle might be in her favour, and she might
thus conceivably be left in possession of the
much- coveted prize.
[ 257 ]
CHAPTER XVIII.
CONSTITUTION.
Articles of Constitution analyzed — Parliaments — Administra-
tions — Monarchic Democracy.
This is not the place for a detailed description
and analysis of the Greek Constitution. The
aim of the preceding chapters has been to provide
data on which to safely form an opinion as to
whether in the region of population, agriculture,
commerce, finance, education, and other parallel
matters, the country had shown a satisfactory
development during the reign of his Majesty
George I. This chapter will of necessity differ
from them in that it cannot to any serious extent
avail itself of the solemn evidence of figures.
And not only are facts generally, when recounted
in running prose, less easy to grasp and less faith-
demanding than facts in tabular form, but the
particular facts incidental to, and descriptive of,
political life are liable to be weighed by different
measures. A barrel of gunpowder and a barrel
17
258 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of soft soap affect the balance very unequally.
We must get as nearly as possible into a state of
mind and feeling equipoised between that likely
in the atmosphere of a meeting presided over by
Tom Mann and that suitable to a Primrose
League Habitation. We want to conscientiously
investigate the progress of Hellas politically
towards the ideal, or, should the facts prove
retrogression, to be quite sure of their teach-
ing. For we may assume that the political
movement of the last thirty years has had im-
portant effects on the economic and commercial
state of the country ; looking at politics in what
seems to us its most elementary feature, public
order, we know that neithei- in theory can there
be, nor in experience has there been, either con-
siderable commercial development or economic
stability without it. The justification of the
Powers who obtained autonomy for Greece
largely depends on the result thus arrived at,
not to speak of the support which may be given
to her in the attainment of her wider ambitions.
The science of politics may be treated either
historically, as in the wonderful papers of the
Federalist, on which the United States Constitu-
tion was largely based, or psychologically, as in
the writings of Professor Sidgwick. To treat the
constitutional history of modern Greece in the
former way would require far more space than
this chapter affords, an ample volume at the least ;
CONSTITUTION 259
the second method would prove too disputatious,
as many features of Greek character would them-
selves be matter of controversy. Accordingly, I
shall assume as a sort of middle ground, with
which, of course, both schools of theorists may
disagree, that in political development the usual,
or perhaps more exactly the average, course is
from autocratic socialism through constitutional
individualism to constitutional socialism ; append-
ing axiomatically that in a state of human per-
fection the socialistic and individualistic would
coincide.
The constitutional history of modern Greece
may be thus summarized :
On March 25, 182 1, the flag of liberty was
uplifted at the monastery of St. Laura ; and on
the same day the Messenian notables met at
Kalamai under Peter Mauromichales, and pro-
claimed the freedom of Greece. This conference
having been of too local a character, the Pelopon-
nesians met on the following May 26 at the
monastery of Kaltetsai, in Lakonia, and appointed
a Peloponnesian Senate, which afterwards met at
Stemnitza. There were also meetings on the
eastern and western mainland. The great Epi-
dauros Convention first met on December 20.
The earlier gatherings had dealt rather in detail
with questions of police, recruiting and taxation,
but this at once set about the framing of a Con-
stitution. Its chief provision was that legislative
26o GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
authority should lie in an elective Senate and a
Supreme Council of five, also elected, and for one
year only. It was partly ancient Greek and
partly French republican. On August i, 1825,
under stress of circumstances, the Assembly at
Nauplion placed Greece under the absolute pro-
tection of Great Britain. On February 3, 1830,
the Powers decided on the complete indepen-
dence of Greece, and determined that its Govern-
ment should be a hereditary monarchy. The
Assembly now met at Argos, but under Kapo-
distria there was no Government worthy of the
name, and there was something like a small civil
war before King Otho arrived. The Convention
between the Powers and Bavaria decreed a
Regency during the minority of the young King,
but unfortunately not one of the three Regents
selected by King Louis was a Greek, so Greece
lived her first ten years under a tyranny, not, it
is true, very cruel, but very incapable, and not at
all in harmony with the rather ultra -academic
ideas of Democratic Government, which had so
far underlain Hellenic attempts at Constitution-
making. At the expiration of the Regency the
King still continued to rule through his Bavarians.
However, the Greeks were much too sincere in
their love of independence, and much too con-
scious of political capacity, to be long content
with such a state of affairs. On September 15,
1843, the necessary revolution came; no lives
CONSTITUTION 261
were lost. The King dismissed his Bavarians,
appointed a Greek Ministry, and summoned a
National Assembly. A committee of twenty-one
met in the following November, and drew up a
Constitution, chiefly based on the French Con-
stitution of 1830, and on that of Belgium. It
was drawn up in a hurry, and with none of that
wise care and debate which had .been so remark-
able in the making of the Constitution of the
United States. In aggravation of this, as Mr.
Sergeant observes, ' the interference of the
Powers in the affairs of Greece can hardly be
said to have grown less frequent or less imperious
under the constitutional regime ; and, indeed, the
exercise of supreme political authority by men
like Maurokordatos, Kolettes, Trikoupes, and
Tsavellas, young in the art of government, and
often rash from a novel sense of power, was cal-
culated to afford ground for more or less reason-
able intervention on the part of England, France,
or Russia. Corresponding with the distinct
policies of London, Paris, and St. Petersburg,
there were political parties in the Greek Assembly,
which went by the names of English, French,
and Russian, and which were undoubtedly
encouraged by the action of the three Govern-
ments. This rivalry for diplomatic supremacy at
Athens had the effect of checking the growth of
independent statesmanship, and it swells the
aggregate of responsibility incurred by Europe
262 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
towards the kingdom of Greece.' The legislative
work of King Otho's Assembly calls for little
comment. The country was disturbed within as
well as from without ; its creditors had driven it
a long way in the direction of bankruptcy, and
the people had not yet had enough political
experience to enable them to deal successfully
with such complicated questions as constantly
embarrassed them.
On October 22, 1862, there was again a revolu-
tion. Still, with all their democratic enthusiasm,
on expelling King Otho, the Greeks asked for
another King. Indeed, to be strictly accurate,
they chose one for themselves. They took a
plebiscite, which selected the Duke of Edinburgh
by 230,016 votes against 4,865 votes given to
eight others; while 1,917 were given for 'an
orthodox king,' 1,763 for 'a king,' and 93 for a
republic. However, the Duke was barred by
the understanding entered into by the Powers on
the creation of the kingdom ; and on June 5 the
Powers, at the instance of England, recognised
Prince William George of Schleswig-Holstein-
Sonderburg-Gllicksburg as the new King. The
National Assembly had already enrolled a
National Guard, decreed universal suffrage, and
appointed a Provisional Government. Their
efforts were directed to the framing of a new
Constitution, which was ratified by the King on
November 21, 1864. Abolishing the old Senate,
CONSTITUTION 263
it established a Representative Chamber of 150
deputies, since increased to 190, and again to
307, elected by ballot by all males over the age
of twenty-one, from equal electoral districts (they
were afterwards elected by nomarchies ; the
system now is by eparchies). Mr. Sergeant gives
the number of electors (in 1879) at 311 per 1,000,
but I do not know what he does with the women
and minors, who must be about 75 per cent of the
population. The present number of electors
is 450,000, or 205 per 1,000. The King has
considerable power : he is irresponsible ; he
appoints and dismisses his ministers and all
officers and officials ; and he can prorogue or
suspend Parliament. Nor is his power merely
nominal. In 1866 the Chamber behaved illegally,
and the King promptly dissolved It; in 1875
again the King successfully steered his country
out of a whirlpool of corruption ; and, lastly,
in 1892, his Majesty, finding M. Deleyannes
obstinate in his financial dilatoriness, dismissed
him.
In order to thoroughly grasp the really
advanced nature of the last Greek Constitution,
we shall do well to look at it from a two-fold
point of view — let us say from the Liberal and
Conservative standpoints. The former I shall
assume (although I know that, as far as English
parties are concerned, these distinctions are not
admitted in theory, and in practice are by no
264
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
means always true) to be a standpoint embracing
especially the increase of the liberty of the subject
in all directions, and the latter an outlook of
narrower range but greater distance, commanding
especially the remoter effects of legislative Acts,
and so having a tendency to restrain individual
liberty for the good of, and for the sake of, the
State as a whole.
The four-square effect of the proper relation-
ship of depth to breadth will become very notice-
able if we arrange some of these quasi-antithetical
clauses in parellel columns.
Ordinances Showing
Liberal Progress.
Article i. — Every other
recognised religion is to be
tolerated.
Article 3. — All Greeks are
equal before the law, and con-
tribute without distinction to
the public burdens propor-
tionately to their incomes.
Article 4. — Personal liberty
is inviolable.
Article 10. — Greeks have
the right to assemble quietly,
and without arms.
Ordinances Showing Con-
servative Progress.
Article i. — The established
religion in Greece is that of
the Eastern Orthodox Church
of Christ.
Proselytism, however, is for-
bidden.
Article 3. — Only Greek
citizens are to be admitted
into any branch of the public
service.
Article 10. — The police may
be present at all public meet-
ings. Meetings in the open
air may ,be forbidden, should
public safety be thereby en-
dangered.
CONSTITUTION
265
Article II. — Greeks have
the right to form societies,
. . . which (z.«.,the laws) can
never make this right de-
pendent on previous Govern-
ment permission.
Article 12. — Each man's
dwelling is inviolable (asylon).
Article 13. — In Greece a
human being is neither bought
nor sold ; a purchased slave
or serf of any race or religion
is free as soon as he sets foot
on Greek soil.
Article 14. — Everyone may
publish his opinions in speech,
writing, or print. . . .
The press is free. The
censorship, as well as every
other preventive measure, is
forbidden. So also the seizure
of newspapers and other
printed matter is forbidden
either before or after publica-
tion.
while they observe the laws
of the State. . . .
Article 16. — Everyone has
the right to establish private
schools. . . .
Article 17. — No one is to be
deprived of his property. . . .
while he observes the laws
of the State.
The seizure after publica-
tion is permitted in case of
insult to the Christian re-
ligion, or to the person of the
King.
Only Greek citizens are
allowed to publish news-
papers.
Article 16. — Higher instruc-
tion is provided at the expense
of the State; and the State
also contributes to demotic
education according to the
needs of the demes.
conformably with the laws
of the State.
except for public necessity.
266
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Article 21. — All authorities
proceed from the State. . . .
Article 33. — The secret
articles of a treaty cannot
annul its public articles.
Article 62. — A deputy can-
not be prosecuted, or in any
way whatsoever examined,
touching an opinion or vote
given in the exercise of his
duty as deputy.
Article 66. — The Chamber
consists of deputies chosen
by the citizens who have the
suffrage by direct universal
and secret voting, by ballot.
properly shown, when and as
the law may direct, and always
with previous compensation.
and are exercised in what-
soever way the Constitution
directs.
Article 24. — No proposal
concerning an increase of
estimated expenditure for pay
or pension, or generally for
personal emolument, pro-
ceeds from the Chamber of
Deputies.
Article 56. — The Chamber
of Deputies cannot debate
and decide any question with-
out the presence of at least
half its members plus one.
Article 67. — Deputies re-
present the nation, and not
only the Eparchy by which
they are elected.
Article 70. — To be elected
a deputy it is necessary to be
a Greek citizen, of the Eparchy
by which he is elected, or to
have been domiciled at least
two years in it, with enjoy-
ment of municipal and political
rights, to have completed the
thirtieth year of his age, and,
further, to possess the qualifi-
CONSTITUTION
267
but not with those of officers
in active service.
Officers may be elected. . . .
Article 77. — No member of
the royal family may be ap-
pointed Minister.
Article So.- — The Chamber
has the right to accuse
Ministers before the proper
tribunal.
only with the consent of the
Chamber.
Article 91. — Judicial com-
missions and extraordinary
tribunals may not be estab-
lished under any pretext what-
soever.
Article 92. — The sittings of
the courts of law are public. .
Article 93. — The system of
trial by jury is maintained.
Articlei)^. — Political crimes
are judged by juries.
cations required by election
law.
Article 71. — The duties of
a deputy are incompatible with
those of a paid public official
or demarch. . . .
but when elected are placed
on half pay during the entire
duration of the representative
period, and remain in this
position until their recall to
active service.
Article 82. — The King can
pardon a condemned Minister
— but in the higher ranks. . . .
except when publicity would
be injurious to good morals
or public order.
Article 96.— A judge is not
268
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
allowed to accept any other
salaried employment except
that of professor in the Uni-
versity.
Article 107. — The revision
of the Constitution, as a whole,
is not allowed. . . .
but limited ordinances not
fundamental to it may be re-
vised.
Article no. — The observa-
tion of the present Constitution
is dedicated to the patriotism
of Hellenes.
Parliaments. — Before commenting on this, it
may be well to give a table showing the duration
of Greek Parliaments.
I. Under King Otho :
Assembled.
September 7, 1844
July 28, 1847
October 30, 1850
October 30, 1854
December 7, 1856
October 29, 1859
February 15, 1861
Dissolved.
April 14, 1847
July 22, 1850
October 27, 1853
October 29, 1856
May 24, 1859
November 16, i860
September it, 1862
II. Under King George:
Assembled.
May 28, 1865
April 25, 1868
June 5, 1869
March 24, 1872
February 14, 7873 April 26, 1874
July 25, 1874 March 28, 1875
Dissolved.
December 21, 1867
December 10, 1868
December 27, 1871
July 21, 1872
CONSTITUTION
269
Assembled.
Dissolved.
7 •
... August II, 1875
July 14, 1879
8 .
... October 20, 1879
March 12, 1881
9 •
... October 9, 1881
February 11, 1885
10
... May 9, 1885
November 5, 1886
II
... January 22, 1887
July 25, 1890
12
... October 29, 1890
February 20, 1892
13 ■
... May 3, 1892
The pay of a Minister of State, of whom there
are six, is 9,600 drachmas a year (worth at this
moment about ^^250), the Prime Minister drawing
half as much again.
Administrations. — The statesmen who have
been Prime Minister more than once are :
Under
King Otho.
A. Maurokordatos, 5.
D. G. Boulgares, 5.
G. Koundouriotes, 3.
K. Kanares, 3.
Sp. Trikoupes, 2.
Rudart, 2.
A. Miaoules, 2.
Under
King George.
Al. Koumoundouros, 10.
Ch. Trikoupes, 6.
Ep. Delegeorges, 6.
B. Rouphos, 4.
D. N. Boulgare=, 3.
A. Moraitines, 2.
Z. I. Balbes, 2.
Ih. Za'imes, 2.
Ih. Deleyannes, 2.
Before King Otho there were 4 administra-
tions ; under his rule 24(13 before the Constitu-
tion was granted and 11 after), 10 in the
interregnum, and 42 under King George. This
gives 70 administrations in 62 years, or about
one every \o\ months, or, deducting the two
kingless periods, 56 administrations in 60 years —
that is, with an average duration of nearly 13
2 70 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
months. This compares for stability very well
with the duration of French Ministries, 28 of
which have lasted 22 years, or about 9^ months
each. It should also be stated that there has
been a distinct tendency to greater Ministerial
longevity of late years in Greece.
Under King Otho there were seven Parlia-
ments in 18 years, which allows 2 years and 7
months for each Parliamentary period. Under
King George there have been 13 in 28 years, or
with a life of 2 years and 2 months each.
However, we know that Parliament had not
the same free play under the first King that it
has had under the second ; and, besides, the
present Parliament, considering the Prime
Minister's enormous majority, is likely to con-
tinue some time, and bring up the Georgian
average.
We now come to the lessons to be learnt from
the foregoing facts.
Monarchic Democracy. — The most striking-
inference we are likely to make is the wonderful
balance of the monarchic and democratic ideas.
Antiquarians may be inclined to see in this a
survival of the notions of Government prevailing
in the different states which went to make up old
Greece, and although it is probable that there is
a considerable substratum of truth in this ex-
planation, it is also adequately explicable on
modern grounds. The fact is that, although
CONSTITUTION 271
monarchy as exemplified by King Otho had not
been as successful as Greece and her well-
wishers had hoped, it had not been altogether a
failure, and the leading spirits of the era of the
new Constitution were more inclined to attach
the blame of unrealized ideals to the old Con-
stitution than to the King. Now, the old Con-
stitution was chiefly of the French republican
order, and consequently lop-sided. With a
mature nation used to self-government, in no
danger of public disorder, left to themselves by
the outside world, it might have worked pretty
well, but under actual conditions it was doomed
to failure. Accordingly the Greeks not un-
naturally turned their eyes to the form of Govern-
ment under which England had shown itself the
most stable and steadily ruled country in the
world — perhaps in all history. We had no con-
stitutional code for them to annex, but the spirit
of our Constitution, and the most salient features
of its body, were reproduced, with such differ-
ences as the Greek law-makers thought advisable
under their different circumstances. In addition
to this revulsion against republican ideas, there
was also some doubt as to whether the Powers,
being all monarchical, would sanction any change
in an anti-monarchic direction, and probably the
selection of the Duke of Edinburgh, and the
anglicizing of the Constitution, were not uncon-
nected.
272 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
There have been no notable changes of the
Greek Constitution since its first promulgation,
though there has been a natural expansion,
especially in the judicial section. This very fact
is of itself a vindication of Hellenic national
stability. There is no bevy of pretenders as in
France, no nihilistic network as in Russia, not
even a Home Rule party as in England.
Inextricably, and almost inexplicably, mixed up
with the individualist and socialist theories of
government is the convenient inter-relationship
of the legislative, executive, and judicial bodies.
Too great power in the first is ultra-individual-
istic ; in the two last, ultra-socialistic. The clause
fixing the Constitution as a whole comes into the
latter category, while there is at least one
objectionable clause from the opposite point of
view ; this I have not yet quoted. It states that
the authoritative interpretation of the laws belongs
to the legislature {i.e., Boule). But a law passed
since the granting of the Constitution, and in
interpretation of it, is liable to much more serious
abuse. I mean that which places the trial of
election petitions in the hands of the Chamber.
This was once the law even in England, and is
still the law in France, where it was abused after
the 1889 general election to the prejudice of the
Boulangists. In 1890 M. Deleyannes carried
his abuse of it almost to the ridiculous, ejecting
so many of his opponents from the Chamber that
CONSTITUTION 273
the rest stayed away for some time as a pro-
test.
In making up our minds as to the suitabiUty of
the Greek Constitution, we must look at it as
a foundation on which experience may in time
build up for them a Constitution exactly suitable
to their needs. I think both internal, evidence
and the history of the last thirty years go to show
that it was, in fact, very fairly adapted to the
development of the country. It was not only
a satisfactory basis, in so far as it was neither too
individualistic nor too socialistic, but it was both
in principle and in many details suited to the
specific probabilities of development inherent
in the characteristics of the nation. Take, for
example, the two sections dealing with the free-
dom of religion and the press. In the former
case liberty is limited, because for the time being
at least proselytism would not only be very
offensive to Greek feelings, but would not im-
probably (did, as a matter of fact, in March last
year) lead to a breach of the peace. On the
other hand, in a nation so politically and journal-
istically keen as the Greeks, absolute freedom of
the press can do little or no harm. Extravagant
language is often indulged in, no doubt, but
extravagance rebuts extravagance, and in time,
as far as Eastern richness of fancy and Southern
excitability may permit, extravagance will give
way to moderation.
18
274 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Taking, again, the two articles which state that
a deputy must have been domiciled two years in
the eparchy for which he stands, and that
deputies represent the nation, and not only the
eparchies which elect them These are both
clauses of the restrictive kind, although anti-
thetical. The first ensures to some extent that
the second shall cause no harm to the con-
stituents, while the second certainly attempts
to provide that the first shall cause no harm to
the State. As a matter of fact, the first is at this
moment of the greater importance in Greece,
although in England the second would be almost
infinitely the more valuable.
If we were to examine all the no articles of
the Constitution in this way, balancing clause
against clause, and reading them in their true
local colour, we should come to the conclusion
that the Constitution of 1864 is in itself valuable
evidence of the political progress of the Greek
poeple. It shows them to be neither reactionary
(of which, however, probably no one would think
of accusing them, unless it might be some rapine-
loving Communist orconstitution-hating Anarchist)
nor revolutionary, as is not uncommonly supposed
in England. It shows that they aimed at a high
ideal, and chose a path not unlikely to lead them
to it, a path which has already led them some
way towards it.
[ 275
CHAPTER XIX.
POLITICS.
The fight in Greece last year was a square, or to
be more picturesquely accurately, a trapezian one.
There were the two large parties that followed
M. Trikoupes and M. Deleyannes respectively,
and the two smaller ones that supported M.
Ralles and the locum tenens Government. The
last named expected in theory a majority in the
new Chamber, which it had not in the old, but
gave no outward and visible sign of existence in
the contest that was waged so merrily in the
provinces, although M. Philaretos, the Minister
of Justice, did make a tour of Thessaly of more
or less political significance. The Ralles particle,
too, counted for very little, having no assessable
influence outside Attika and Boiotia. There was,
however, supposed to be some sort of a compact
between M. Deleyannes and M. Ralles, that if
the former should be called on to form a Ministry,
the latter should have a couple of portfolios at his
2 76 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
disposal, while if M. Ralles should be sent for by
the King (an altogether unlikely contingency, as,
if his influence had been serious, he would have
been sent for in February) the former and his
partisans were to give him their thorough support
— a rather one-sided bargain, apparently. M.
Ralles had one advantage over M. Deleyannes,
namely, the support of the Palingenesia, the best
Athenian evening paper ; the best morning paper,
the Akropolis, being Trikoupist. That which
would have most astonished an Englishman
studying a Greek election for the first time on
the spot would be the 'group system.' In each
province there are usually two or more groups
centred round the leading provincial politicians.
At the outset considerable doubt often prevails as
to which way the leader, and consequently his
' combination,' will go. For instance, about three
weeks before the poll at the last election,
Pandragoumism suddenly came to the front at
Megara, which, being interpreted, means that
M. Dragoumes got his group well in hand with
almost certain prospects of success. In that
particular instance, as M. Dragoumes was not
only an ex- Minister of M. Trikoupes, but also
a great personal friend, there could be no doubt
as to which party would have the advantage of
his combination. This is not, however, in-
variably or even usually the case, and there is
no doubt that during the course of the contest
POLITICS 277
many of M. Deleyannes' provincial leaders were
won over to M. Trikoupes' side. The latter's
admirers asserted that while all those who hated
the ex-Premier might be reckoned on as certain
to support M. Trikoupes, the anti-Trikoupists
were not at all sure to back M. Deleyannes.
Moreover, M. Trikoupes' adherents rejected
combinations in toto, and advocated unalloyed
Trikoupism.
It is not a very easy thing to sketch the rival
programmes. In the most approved English
way, the literature and oratory of the Trikoupes
party asked the electors to compare the state of
the country then with what it had been twelve
months before, when their chief had gone out
of office, and, from a party point of view, the
local comparisons were very efficiently looked
after — that is to say, the domestic facts, such as
increase in crime, slackness in road-making, and
inefficiency of educational provision were brought
well home to the inhabitants of the most out-
of-the-way hamlets. Quite a formidable array
of figures was marshalled against poor M.
Deleyannes, those in relation to crime being
especially effective. But the political dis-agi-
tator, if we may call him so, did not simply rely
on his statistics. He spoke to audiences that
had had bitter experience of the lawlessness
into which the objection of M. Deleyannes to
see his friends in gaol had plunged them. The
278 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Akropolis followed the example of our Times in
the matter of a touring prophet, during the
course of the contest, but his tour received a
sad additional piquancy, though a party advan-
tage, from the telling of the tale of crime and
poverty in which he found the districts which
he visited. Greece being very mountainous, and
its road and railway systems incomplete, the few
weeks which elapsed between M. Deleyannes' fall
and the general election could not suffice to kill
Kordonism, an ism latterly associated less with
the personality of its hero than with the almost
criminal laisser faire, which resulted from his
lack of personality. In one place the tobacco
laws passed by M. Trikoupes, eighteen months
before, had not been put in force. In the same
village a school of 150 children was left with only
one teacher. The more ardent Trikoupists
openly accused their opponents of police-court
intrigue, and hinted pretty plainly that M.
Deleyannes based his electoral hopes on the
enormous number of criminals, convicted and
otherwise. To descend to what appears to us
impossibly trivial, the Trikoupists complained,
and possibly with good reason, for the Govern-
ment had not removed the ex-Premier's officials,
that the circulation of their newspapers was
often interfered with. Imagine Mr. Gladstone
giving private orders to all post-office officials
friendly to him to stop the delivery of the
POLITICS 279
Standard and Morning Post ! M. Trikoupes'
least popular but perhaps most praiseworthy
■ promise, was that he would , decrease the
personnel of the civil service, a promise which
he is fulfilling, and which should do a good deal
to make such an abuse of power impossible, and
such a charge unlikely.
As finance was the rock on which M.
Deleyannes finally and fatally struck, his
opponent naturally made this his rallying-cry — for
the leaders of thought. The press which repre-
sented his views accepted almost unreservedly
the financial programme which had recently ap-
peared in the Times, approving heartily of the
writer's demolition of certain French journals
which had denied the solvency of Greece. Of
course, the inference must not be hastily drawn
that M. Trikoupes took his policy from the Times
— a slander his enemies were not slow to pro-
pagate ; on the contrary, it only meant that the
Times writer was either very fortunate in the
source from which he obtained his materials, or
very masterly in the use he made of them. The
objections taken by the Gortynians (the ex- Premier
was a native of Gortys, of classical renown) to
M. Trikoupes' finance were inconceivably puerile.
They not only found fault with the principle of
conversion, the golden dream of modern budget-
makers — and an excess of silliness in that
particular instance, as M. Trikoupes had used his
28o GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
surplus in railways and other public works — that
is to say, productively — but even accused him of
having borro-wjed 444,600,000 drachmas, nearly
their whole debt ! As may be surmised, the
converter had nearly all the money of Greece on
his side, a fact which his opponents did not scruple
(we have seen the same kind of thing happen
nearer home) to make capital of. He also had
the support of the Greeks living outside the
kingdom, the Greeks of Alexandria, Smyrna, etc.;
some of whom joined very keenly in his crusade
against national bankruptcy.
The ex-Premier did not appear to have a
programme in our sense of the word. ' From
their lion's head proceed miscreant menaces ; their
programme draggles from their cur's tail,' said an
Opposition paper ; and again, ' they content them-
selves with provoking the most ignoble feeling in
the lowest way.' A partisan opinion obviously,
but M. Deleyannes' own words gave some
ground for it. ' What value,' he asked, ' has your
vote ? The crisis which is upon us happens to be
a significant crisis. It was not only insulting to
you, but it was insulting to the Chamber, and
amounts to a fraud on our constitutional rights.'
He thus alluded, in somewhat treasonous terms,
to our way of thinking, to the King's dismissal
of him from ofifice, while he still retained a
majority in the Chamber. But he showed that
he could be more disloyal than that on occasion.
In saying, ' Royalty cast me from power at the
POLITICS 281
very time when I was struggling to put to rout
the poverty of the State,' he imphed that the
corner was being turned, and that the King was
determined not to let him have the honour of
having helped to turn it — as unjustifiable an
attack on Royalty as ever was made. It was not
M. Deleyannes' lack of heroic finance, but his
failure to deal with the simple provision for the
hour, and culminating in his postponement of the
budget, which caused his humiliation.
The result of the ex-Premier's pseudo-Georgic
was that modern Harmodioi and Aristogeitones,
sometimes rather pigmy of stature and juvenile in
calligraphy, went about chalking up on the walls,
' Long live liberty !' ' Down with tyranny,' and
the like, though their catechism savoured more
of petty Parisian anti Royalty than of the old
Hellenic political experimentalism, which, after
all, had some raison d'etre, besides giving the
world an example of folly on a small scale, which
might have saved much pother since, had man-
kind been wiser.
The system of voting in Greece is now by
eparchies, and every voter may give as many
votes as there are candidates, but he may not
give more than one vote to any candidate. The
result is that the vote of each eparchy is, as a
rule, almost entirely of one colour. It is, how-
ever, thoroughly in harmony with old Greek life,
especially as many of the present eparchies were
then independent states ; and as, of course, the
282 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
geographical arrangement which caused the
ancient territorial divisions still exists, although
partially disturbed by a rapidly improving rail-
way system, the eparchy makes an admirable
electoral unit. In 1890, when it was the
nomarchy, the provincial unanimity was quite
as marked ; Arkadia with 1 2 members, and
Kephallenia with 7 were entirely Deleyannist,
while the Kyklades, Lakonia, and Achaia-Elis
were almost as decidedly in his favour. All the
constituencies poll on the same day, as in France.
The appended table contains the number of
successful candidates belonging to each party by
nomarchies. It must be borne in mind that
there were three parties — Trikoupist, Deley-
annist (the Rallists being merged), and Govern-
ment, as well as Independent candidates ; while
not only did each of these four run their men in
groups, but a good many candidates, though of
known party predilection, ran ungrouped.
Grouped. Ungrouped.
Mainland —
1
t
1
5^
1
Attika-Boiotia
■ IS
I
I
I
Phthiotis-Phokis ..
. 10
I
1
Euboia
. 8
I
I
I
Aitolia-Akarnania . .
■ IS
Arta
I
I
I
Larissa
• 9
I
3
I
Trikkala
. 12
I
POLITICS
283
Grouped.
Um GROUPED
Peloponnesos —
Argolis-Korinth
Arkadia
Achaia-Elis
Lakonia
Messenia ...
Kyklades . . .
Ionian Islands —
Kerkyra
Kephallenia
Zakinthos ...
^
^
S
^
13
10
TO
13
s
1^
020
8511
.13 S o °
4
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Si
"^
B
Ci
o
o
o
o
o
^3
I
O
o
o
o
6000IOII
yooiiooo
40000000
In its main division this is equal to
Mainland
Peloponnesos ...
Kyklades
Ionian Islands...
Trikoupist. Opponetits.
76 10
58 23
18 o
19 3
It will be seen from this that the revulsion of
feeling in M. Trikoupes' favour was extremely
widespread ; old Klephtic mountain villages and
busy little ports vied with Athens in their resolu-
tion to run no risk of national disgrace. Argos,
Korinth, Ithaka, Megara, Messene, and Thebes
were all solid for him, while of the 1 1 members
for Athens, M. Ralles was the only successful
anti-Trikoupist.
284
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
The next table shows that the ungrouped
system has probably received its death-blow :
Trikou- Deleyan-
Govern-
Indepen
pist. nisi.
ment.
dent.
Grouped candidates... 221 67
34
34
Successful... ... 154 15
6
9
Ungrouped candidates 96 31
14
146
Successful ... ... 17 2
I
3
The chances of winning were accordingly :
Trikoupist grouped ... 7 ...ungrouped...
•18
Deleyannist ,, ... -2 ... „
•06
Government „ ... -17 ... „
■07
Independent „ ... -26 ... „
■02
Trikoupist generally
SS
Deleyannist „
■17
Government „
■15
Independent „
■07
Of course, the chances of all anti-Trikoupists
were evidendy very small ; but it is important to
note that of 356 grouped candidates of all parties,
184 succeeded (-5) ; while of 287 ungrouped
candidates, only 23 succeeded ('08). After such
a lesson, one might suppose that the Greeks
would take a little more kindly to the party
system of government.
[ 28s ]
CHAPTER XX.
SOCIETY.
Of Athenian society as at present constituted it is
quite impossible to give a definition. In the first
place, you have the Court set, made up principally
of those who are honoured with more or less of the
personal friendship of the Royal family. Outside
this is a larger circle, consisting of all those who
get invitations to Court functions. These, in
harmony with the strong democratic side of
Greek sentiment are very numerous for so small
a capital. For the annual New Year's Court ball
considerably over a thousand invitations are
usually issued, and not only are many shabby
uniforms seen in the quite royally-proportioned
ball-room, but patent-leather chaussure is not
compulsory, and there is no particular prejudice
even against muddy boots. The Royal hospitality
has on occasion been extended to the whole
body of mayors and mayoresses of the kingdom.
Luckily, although between the accent of the
286 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
vvorld and the counter- world there are differences,
there is no fatal k to mark the gulf between the
two. The best people talk the best Greek, that
is, the purest from an antiquarian point of view ;
the halfway people are rapidly Atticizing, most of
the Greek they read is nearly up to New
Testament form ; the others are quite content
with the dialects of their provinces, tainted with
Turkish for Thessalians, and Italian for Ionian
Islanders. The chief distinction (allowing for
certain grammatical changes due to an analytic
tendency) between the old and new tongues is
the introduction of phraseology borrowed
especially from England and France. Person-
ally, I do not think this a failing. I feel con-
vinced that the unapproached wealth of expression
of the Greek of the golden age is largely due to
the readiness with which their talkers and writers
borrowed from all sorts of barbarians. At the
same time, the reason for the continuance of the
practice is largely due to the fact that, indigenous
literature being limited, they have to go to other
literatures for their culture ; when they see good
phrases, they are not ashamed to help themselves
and enrich their language.
To revert to society, it is, as may be imagined,
distinctly mixed. It consists, however, of four
principal elements. First, one has the old noble
families (the actual titles have no legal value or
recognition, and the King is not allowed to bestow
SOCIETY 287
any such honours, except on the members of his
family) of Austrian, Venetian, Servian, etc.,
origin, the Kapodistrias, Kolokotrones, Mauro-
kordatos, Mauromichales, Metaxas, and Soutsos ;
they do not aspire to the privileges of rank in
Athens, but the numerous old titles in the Ionian
Islands have still a certain amount of prestige.
Then come the names of Kanares, Karaiskakes,
Miaoules, and Botsares, whose lustre earned by
noble deeds during the War of Independence is
scarcely dimmed as yet. The third section is
larger and still growing ; it consists of those who
have struck oil in one shape or other, and includes
the names Syngros, Schouzes, Schouloudes,
Kalligas, Karapanos, Theologos, Pachys, Empe-
dokles, etc., each of whom is probably worth
over a quarter of a million sterling, one or two
even being sterling millionaires. Finally, we have
the political world par excellence, the hereditary
legislators (by the divine right of talent), the
Trikoupes, Koumoundouros, Koundouriotes, Dele-
georges, etc. Of course, some names appear in
more than one list, and assist in the cohesion of
society generally. It will be inferred that society
is not by any means a close corporation, nor has
it even any very eclectic coteries, such as we are
used to. There is constant regrouping within,
constant accretion from below. There is only one
jet of honour from the Royal fountain, the Order
of the Saviour, and that is very highly esteemed.
288
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Its ribbon is not in every button-hole, like that of
the Legion of Honour, nor have I ever heard of
a case in which its conferment has had to be-
cancelled. The analysis of the last-published list
yields the following results, which are of use in a
study of Greek social, and still more of Greek
politico-social, life :
Grand
Cross.
manders
{higher).
Com-
manders.
Knights.
Tota
Court
o
I
1
I
3
Ministers ...
2
7
12
21
Diplomatic Service
I
2
9
4
16
Civil. Service
o
3
17
51
71
Judges
I
1
10
38
SO
Nomarchs
o
2
6
II
19
Deputies ...
I
O
6
26
Zl
Army
I
i6
56
96
169
Navy
o
3
12
36
SI
Barristers
o
o
5
14
19
Clergy
o
10
10
Profes.sors
7
II
29
47
Medicine...
I
3
IS
19
Consular Service ..
o
2
20
22
Demarchs
o
o
7
24
31
Commerce
o
4
3
16
23
Miscellaneous
o
o
IS
IS
Totals
47
160
406
619
The Army and Navy accordingly get 35 per
cent, of the honours, a much larger share even
than they get in England (23 per cent.), and,
indeed, in proportion to population, they are
knighted twelve times as frequently. The crosses
bestowed on those not in State employ of one
SOCIETY 289
kind or another are very few ; but it is the fashion
of the times in all countries to give the social
plums in much greater plenty to those who serve
their country for pay than to those who serve her
for love. It is in harmony with the high estimate
in which the town unit is held that even provincial
mayors, to the number of thirty-one, can reckon
the blue and white ribbon within the range of its
ambition. Perhaps the cynic will wonder where
to find the much-vaunted democratic genius of
Greece, but he should not forget that in the great
Republic across the Atlantic every man aspires to
be at least a ' Judge ' or a ' Colonel,' and even the
Radical English tradesman arrogates to himself
the title of Esquire, while the particle is nearly as
much worshipped in half-communist France as In
quite-imperial Germany. Greece has set up in
her midst as her demigod the great equalizer
(and liberator and fraternizer too) Education. Not
only can they not possess a considerable hereditary
aristocracy, for heredity has practically had but
a couple of generations In which to do its gentle
work, surnames, in fact, only dating generally
from sixty years ago ; but, with the exception of a
small minority, they all go through the same
course of instruction. As the tourist rides about
the interior, he Is surprised perhaps at the
innocent communism of his muleteer, who, a/^e7^
drinking, passes his master the cup ; who, unless
restrained, will sleep in the same room as his
19
2 90 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
lordos (milord), but is somewhat reconciled when
he discovers that his servant (at a shilling or two
a day) is a briefless barrister, or a politician out of
work. Neither in public nor in private is heed
paid to social standing ; the democratic idea,
which permeates Greek life from Court to court,
is perfectly sincere ; exclusiveness there means
unsociability. A Greek is quite as willing to
extend his acquaintance downwards as upwards ;
in fact, to him generally up and down simply
mean money, and the absence of it.
Policies play a livelier part in social life than
in France, although not quite the same part that
they do in England. This difference is largely
accounted for by the existence of political pro-
fessionalism, which has here, as elsewhere, two
principal causes : the fact that all their members of
Parliament are paid, and the monstrous opening
for corruption which exists where the majority of
places in the Civil Service are retransferred to
political adherents with every change of Govern-
ment. The rewarding of political partisans has
been carried so far even (not under the present
Premier, of course) as the bestowal of a pension
for previous services on a convicted forger. The
play of social influences on elections has altered
somewhat of late, owing to the change of the
electoral area from nomarchies to eparchies. The
kind of influence which controlled the larger area
has not quite the same effect on the smaller ; there
SOCIETY 291
is scope for local wire-pullers which did not exist
before ; in fact, its effect is somewhat similar to
that which the lowering of the franchise has
produced in England. One feature which Greek
social life shares with most European countries is
the absence of ladies' political associations. Nor,
with one brilliant exception, can there be said to
be any salons. Not that femininity is uninterested
in such matters. Over their afternoon izat (tea d
la russe) there comes often much wit, and no little
wisdom, on the questions of the hour from the
matrons who are intimate with great personages.
Seeing the strides female education has made in
the last decade or two — and most girls at all in
society now know one or two languages besides
their own, to the extent even that you may hear
quite as much French as you hear Greek, and
nearly as much English, at a Court or Legation
ball — one may be sure that the fair sex are likely
to have a good deal to say on matters political.
It is not unnatural that they should not yet have
thrown off the last trace of Turkish oppression,
but the customs that still remain as a bitter
reminder of the child-tax days, are doomed to
speedy extinction. The ethical question, par
excellence, will deal with it, for in this the women
have the men at a great advantage. The chief
difficulty is the dot system. A young man gets
embarrassed financially ; what does he do ? Go
to the Jews.'' He cannot do that, for he is a
292 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Greek, and Jews do not flourish in Greek cities.
No, he looks about for a Hkely girl — that is to say,
the girl with the largest dowry, for whose hand he
would have any chance — and, with a little profes-
sional help, gets betrothed. His debts are paid,
and often enough they are unhappy ever after-
wards. This is not the only serious aspect of the
question. It is looked on as bad form, or worse,
for a brother to marry until his sisters are disposed
of, and for a younger sister to marry before an
elder. The result is that an over-sanguine eldest
sister celibifies the whole establishment. Another
unpleasant incident of the custom is the un-
welcome which meets the poor girl babe, not only
the first, because she is not a son and heir, but all
girl babes, for the simple reason that each will
have to be provided with money to catch and
keep a husband on. Shakespeare, the great
apostle of love-matches, is fortunately becoming
more and more read, and if English institutions
are copied rather than French, there is a chance
of disestablishing the dowry yet. At present I
am afraid that, although there is a strong socially
Philanglic set, the sympathy of Athens is more
with Parisian life than with English. The most
sombre Saxon admits that Paris is much more
attractive outwardly, and at first, than London ;
in London you have to hunt after a pleasure, but
in Paris it hunts after you. Not unnaturally, then,
the Greek likes French life and imitates it at
SOCIETY 293
Athens. But he will find out the superficiality of
it some day. Already the average Greek is
superior to the average Frenchman in several
matters of morals, just as he is superior — vastly
superior — to him in looks ; he is not yet more
learned, but he is more intelligent. It can hardly
be conceived, then, that Athens will long go
to Paris for her inspirations. What I imagine is
likely to happen is, she will copy in turns and in
fractions the socials of London, New York,
Berlin, and Paris, assimilate what is best of them —
or, at least, what she may find most assimilable —
and evolve a social life of her own, gay and
pleasing, and not unwise, and thoroughly natural
to her traditions and surroundings. Let us hope
that this will include love-marriage, though Greece
will have a hard struggle before she really
convinces herself that the holy bonds of love have
a happier, more abiding grip than the casual
bondage of lucre.
The greatest drawback to Greek social enjoy-
ment is the absence of country houses. This fact,
which is less Turkish than true Hellenic (although
Xenophon had a charming place with capital
hunting at Skillus, near Olympia), has baneful
effects on agriculture, political organization, and
society. There are suburban villas at Ambelo-
kepi and Kephisia (where Aulus Gellius had his,
and wrote his sometimes stiff and sometimes
chatty essays), and a leading banker has a house
294 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
as far afield as Marathon. But although Greece
teems with lovely sites — not historical, Heaven
forefend ! — for country mansions, even chateaux
have not yet made their appearance. The rich
families often go in the summer to what they
still call Europe, just as Cornishmen speak of
going to England ; the comfortably-off go to
Phaleron and Kephesia.
To an Englishman the chief social charms are
the constant reminders of the old Greek, and
especially Athenian, life, and the intensity of the
patriotism, not the aggressive patriotism of the
Champs Elys^es, that detects a personal insult in
all other national aspirations, and heedless of 1 8 1 5
and 1870-71, affects superior strength, and tenfold
superior value to that of half the world, but a
patriotism of sincere desire and solemn intention,
not unlike, but superior to our own on account,
perhaps, of its greater need. Surely there can be
few nobler causes or firmer cements of democracy
than genuine patriotism.
[ 295 ]
CHAPTER XXI.
PHILANTHROPY.
An elaborate system of benefaction is generally
indicative of a deep-rooted civilization, and is
rarely found in newly-established states. Nowhere
is the variety of charitable aim and method so
nearly infinite as in England, so immense that
the charities of London alone require a big
volume to describe them. So even in Greece
there are too many philanthropic institutions for
us to attempt to investigate them all. However,
we may form a fair general estimate of the
beneficence of the people by glancing at the
leading facts of the chief pious foundations of
Athens and the Peiraius :
I. The ' Hope' Hospital, founded in 1836. It
has a revenue of about ^5,000 a year. In 1891
it dealt with 1,453 cases, of whom 97 were
Athenians, 860 provincial Greeks, 450 Greeks
from 'unredeemed Greece,' and 46 foreigners.
It has medical and surgical sides, the former
296 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
embracing- about 60 per cent, of the cases, of
which 309 were of the respiratory organs, 229
were zymotic, and 106 of the digestive organs.
The most plentiful surgical cases were woundings,
of which there were 169.
2. The Ophthalmic Hospital, founded in 1843.
It attends to about 1,200 cases a year, of whom
65 per cent, are men, 20 per cent, women, and
15 per cent, children. It owns property to the
extent of over ;^i 5,000.
The blind number 7 per 10,000 of the population.
The deaf and dumb 5 „ ,, ,,
The lunatic 5 „ „ ,,
3. The Zaneion Hospital at the Peiraius,
founded in 1873. It attends to about 600 patients
a year.
4. The Naval Hospital at the Peiraius, founded
in 1880. In 1890 it treated 258 cases, of whom
only 7 died. Foreign sailors are boarded and
physicked for 2^, drachmas a day per head.
5. The Evangelismos Hospital, founded in
1 88 1. It owns over a million and a quarter
drachmas worth of property, and in 1892 ex-
pended 274,067 drachmas. In 1891 it dealt with
946 cases, each patient remaining in the hospital
on the average just six weeks. It is by far the
most important hospital in Greece. Paying patients
are admitted at 10 drachmas a day, everything
included. It boasts of 38 ' benefactors,' and 100
lesser benefactors, who have given donations of
PHILANTHROPY 297
between 10,000 drachmas and 1,000 drachmas at
a time.
6. The Lunatic Asylum, founded in 1885, con-
tains 72 men and 3.9 women. It is arranged on
the French sectional plan. Of its 206 patients
between October, 1887, and December, 1890, 74
were idiots, 46 had paralysis of the brain, and 29
were melancholiacs. Alcoholism is very rare. Its
expenditure is about 25,000 drachmas a year, and
its capital 300,000 drachmas.
7. The Hadji- Kosta Orphanage, founded in
1853. Its revenue in 1891 was 111,695 drachmas.
In 1858 it had a capital of a quarter of a million
drachmas, and maintained 10 orphans ; it now
has a capital of two millions, and maintains 230
orphans. They receive technical instruction, some
of them learning farming, as well as an elementary
education.
8. The Queen Amalia Orphanage, founded in
1855. Its present capital is about 2^ million
drachmas, and it maintains 1 50 orphans.
9. The Enfants Trouv^s, with its big collecting-
box ; it was founded in 1859. The annual number
of children exposed is said to fluctuate between
300 and 360, a total high enough, one would
think, to expose the impolicy of the system.
10. The Helen Zanes Orphanage, founded in
1875, maintains 75 orphans, who also receive
technical instruction. Its income is about 30,000
drachmas a year.
298 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
11. The Girls' Orphanage, recently established
at the Peiraius.
12. The Retreat for the Aged at the Peiraius,
founded in 1874 ; it spends about 7,000 drachmas
a year, and entertains twenty old men.
13. The Poor House, founded in 1864, but
removed to its present commodious quarters in
1872. One hundred and eighty poor men and
women are maintained in it. Its capital is 400,000
drachmas.
14. The Brotherhood of the Friends of the
Poor, established at the Peiraius in 1880. It
provides work and looks after the sick, taking
special pains with the convalescent.
15. The Brotherhood of Poor Macedonians,
founded in 1890. In its first year it relieved over
300 Macedonians who were found in needy cir-
cumstances in Athens.
16. The Brotherhood in Christ, founded in
1 89 1. Its aim is the moral, mental, and material
improvement of released prisoners.
17. The Ladies' Syllogue, founded in 1872.
Its principal undertaking is the provision of work
for needy women. About 400 are thus looked
after each year. Sewing employs about 100,
embroidery 40, lace-making 25, silk-work, etc., 80.
In 1890 it received 155,161 drachmas from sales.
It has also a school. Its capital is nearly half a
million drachmas. Its silk articles are particularly
good.
PHILANTHROPY 299
18. The Hymenaeal Society is a club for pro-
viding dowries. A subscription of 5 drachmas a
month for twenty years assures a dowry of 2,750
drachmas. The society has a revenue of 36,000
drachmas a year.
There are also societies for more or less mutual
benefit among the different professions and trades,
the doctors meeting for the good of their patients,
let us suppose, and the barbers in the interests of
art.
The hospitals which have medical schools at-
tached to them have been treated of on page 185.
The provinces are also very fairly supplied.
For instance, Kephallenia has a hospital, with a
foundling department, a poor-house, an institution
for poor priests and deacons, and a yearly alms-
giving ; while Syros has a hospital, a foundling
hospital, a society for the relief of the poor, a
Roman Catholic poor-house and hospital com-
bined, and a French brotherhood, which, amongst
other things, keeps a school of about fifty boys,
and teaches them French gratis.
It will be seen that old and young, poor, sick,
and imbecile, are all well cared for. Of these last
there are very few, probably a smaller proportion
to population than in any other country in Europe.
There is also extrernely little pauperism, one
reason for which is that living is very cheap.
The Greek peasant lives in comfort and even in
luxury on a few coppers a day. A cloudless sky,
300 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
a cigarette, and plenty of conversation, and he is
more than contented. The hospitals, although
containing plenty of beds, and officered by well-
read doctors and clever surgeons, are not quite
satisfactorily worked. A rheumatic patient does
not at all enjoy the washing-out of his ward in
the bucket-fashion common to all small Athenian
manages, and good nurses are rather lacking.
However, the Queen is quite devoted to hospital-
work (the Evangelismos is under her special care),
and is doing a great deal to improve the home-
side of hospital-life.
[ 30I ]
CHAPTER XXII.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Climate — Wind — Rainfall — Earthquakes — Mountains —
Mineral Waters — Flags — Travellers — Travelling.
This is a chapter of odds and ends which bear
more or less directly on the past and future pro-
gress of the country. It is obvious, for instance,
that the climate is an important factor in the
development of Greek agriculture, that earth-
quakes provide economic problems which have to
be reckoned with, and that Philhellene optimists
are likely to look to an increase of tourists as a
likely source of revenue.
Climate. — The mean temperature of the air at,
and sea near, Athens, calculated from the observa-
tions of M. Schmidt, the Director of the Athenian
Observatory, during a period of over twenty years,
has been :
January i
Mean Temperature
of the Sea.
147
Mean Tempi
of the /.
8-5
„ IS ...
February i ...
13-9
139
8-0
8-4
IS
14-4
9-6
302
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Mean Temperature
Mean
Temperature
of the Sea.
of
the Air.
March i
15-2
II'2
.. IS
l6'2
12-8
April I
17-3
14-4
» IS
i8-i
i6'3
May I
19-8
i8-5
>. IS
21'3
2I-I
June I
22'9
237
.. IS
24'6
25-8
July I
25-8
27-2
>= IS
26-6
28-1
August I
26-8
28-s
>. IS
26-5
28-1
September i
25-6
26'S
I
S ••■ 24-4
24-4
October i
23-0
22'0
IS
21-6
197
November i
20'0
17-2
I
5 ••• 18-5
I4-S
December i
I7-S
11-9
I,
5 ... 16-4
97
This gives a mean annual temperature of ly^
(rather greater than that of Lisbon, and rather
less than that of Palermo), with a difference
between the January and July means of 19 '3
(which is considerably greater than that of either
Lisbon or Palermo).
The mean temperature at Kerkyra is : January,
10-2 ; February, 10-3 ; March, irS ; April, 15-5
May, 19-5 ; June, 23-4; July, 26-3; August, 25-9
September, 23; October, 19-8; November, 15-2
December, 1 1 •6.
The greatest and least summer maxima registered
at Athens have been :
MISCELLANEOUS
303
Greatest
Least
Maximum.
Maximum.
May
... 38-1
28-1
June
4o'3
30-8
July ...
4o'i
33-9
August ...
41 'o
33'9
September
39-0
29-4
The soil-temperature sometimes reaches 74°.
Snow is a rare phenomenon in Athens ; the
most notable fall was in January, 1864, when it lay
for over a week. There is a commonly prevalent
belief that snow is unknown in the islands, but
this is only applicable to their low-lying regions ;
the mountains of Salamis, Aigina, Syros, Andros,
Tenos, Mykonos, and even Delos, are pretty often
snow-clad.
The first snow usually appears on Parnes about December 6.
,, ,, Hymettos about December 30.
It also appears regularly on Pentelikon, and occa-
sionally on Aigaleos.
The Wind is a very important item in Greek,
especially in Athenian, life. The following table
of their average frequency, by MM. Neumann
and Partsch, is taken from the ' Guide Joanne ':
N.
N.E.
E.
S.E.
6-.
S.W.
W. N. W.
January .
■■ 3-5
lO'O
o'S
1-2
3-6
7-2
2-3 2-4
February
2'I
8-1
°-s
I -8
3-4
7-5
3-S 1-8
March .
•■ 17
6-8
0-6
0-8
S'o
lo'S
3-1 2-4
April
.. 1-6
6-3
0-4
I'2
2-8
13-0
4'o I'o
May
1-2
6-3
°-s
°'5
4-3
14-4
2-4 1-3
June
.. 0-8
8-2
o'3
07
2-9
i3"i
2'2 2'2
July .
.. 0-9
14-4
0-3
o'3
^•3
io'4
1-8 0-6
304
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
JV.
ME.
K
S.E.
6'.
S.W.
IV. MW.
August . . .
0-8
14-5
0-4
°'5
1-9
9-6
2'2 I'l
September
1-8
ii-B
o-S
0-9
3'3
9-8
1-3 0-8
October...
2-3
8-6
0'2
0-6
3'S
117
2-5 1-2
November
2-0
9"o
0-6
i-o
5'°
8-0
2-9 1-4
December
3-5
8-1
o-S
II
4-2
7-6
4-0 1-9
Total ...
22'2
II2"I
3-S
io'6
42-2
122-8
32'2 l8'I
The N.E. wind in the summer is a great boon,
while the S.W. wind in the same season is quite
the reverse ; but the air of Attika is so hot that
it does not deposit any moisture.
The Rainfall (from Dr. Schmidt's observa-
tions, over a period of ten years, given in
Baedeker's ' Greece ') is as follows, the unit being
the Paris
line.
of which 5-^=5
lines
English,
nearly :
Days.
Rainfall.
Days.
Rainfall
January ...
13
25-2
August
3
37
February ...
19
i6'o
September
4
6-3
March
II
17-3
October ..
9
22'I
April
8
7-9
November
13
39'4
Mav
6
8-8
December
13
25-9
June
4
6-8
—
July
2
4-2
Total..
• 95
183-6
This is about 16 inches a year. It must be
observed, however, that in the wet season a ninth
of the yearly rainfall sometimes falls in one day ;
more than a fifth of it even has been known to.
Rain falls in Kerkyra on 103 days in the year,
in Zakynthos less frequently than in Athens, the
average quantity in Kerkyra being about 30 inches
annually, though varying much in different years.
MISCELLANEOUS
30s
However, rain rarely continues for more than a
few hours in any of the Ionian Islands.
The rainfall is distributed as to seasons, thus :
Athens.
Patras.
Kerkyra.
Spring ..
20 per cent.
18 per cent.
18 per cent.
Summer ..
8 „
4
4
Autumn ..
34
33
36
Winter ..
38 „
45
42
The annual mean of humidity is 62 per cent,
(being 67 per cent, at Palermo, and 71 at Lisbon);
this is largely owing to the almost complete
absence of dew in the summer.
Thunderstorms are sometimes of considerable
severity ; about 20 occur annually in the neigh-
bourhood of Athens, chiefly between June and
December. They are almost as frequent in the
Peloponnesos, but rarer in the Ionian Islands.
Earthquakes. — Mr. J. Smith was the great
authority on Greek earthquakes, and we may
take the period of his investigations as a sample-
period. His general table is as follows :
Days on which Shocks were Felt.
In Greece. In Greece, destructive. In Athens.
— 7
— 9
I 2
I 8
1859
37
i860
59
I86I
.. 58
1862 .
95
1863 .
54
1864 .
39
1865 .
60
1866
S3
1867 .
204
1868 .
.. 87
1869 .
49
1870 .
•• 130
15
16
15
II
13
34
20
3o6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Days on
WHICH
Shocks
WERE
Felt
(continued).
In Greece.
In Greece,
destructive.
In Athens.
1871
212
3
6
1872
167
2
10
1873 ...
114
2
15
1874 ...
166
I
18
187s ...
21
I
6
17 years 1,605 22 185
This gives an average of 94*4 days of earthquake
per annum for all Greece, and of 1 1 days per
annum for Athens, and a destructive earthquake
every nine months — a distinctly alarming record.
The historic earthquakes of Greece have been :
B.C. 373. The destruction of Helike and Bura.
A.D. 23. „ Aigion.
,, 77. ,, Korinih and other places.
„ 551. The destruction of Korinth, Patras, Naupaktos, etc.
(the greatest of all known catastrophes).
„ 1 7 14. Patras and other towns injured.
,, 1742. Zacholi greatly injured.
)5 ^753- " 5'
„ 1785. Patras
,, 1%1'j.ab Aigion ,,
,, 1842. Patras greatly injured ; also various other towns
of the Peloponnesos.
,, 1847. Hydra greatly injured.
,, 1853. a/5 Thebes ,,
,, 1858.13: Korinth ,,
„ 1 86 1. Serious earthquake in Achaia.
„ 1867. ,, „ Kephallenia.
,, 1870. ,, ,, Amphissa.
,, 1893. <) ,, ,, Zakynthos.
a signifies greatest loss of life, and b greatest destruction of
houses; no single shock has killed more than 100 persons, or
destroyed any large building. — Chiefly from a note by Dr.
Schmidt in Sir Thomas Wyse's ' Excursion in the Pelopon-
nesos,'
MISCELLANEOUS 307
M. J. Smith's observations go to show that
earthquakes are most prevalent in calcareous
formations, and not in volcanic. He is of opinion
that many of the lesser seismic effects in Greece
are not autochthonous, but are sympathetic waves
from Crete and Asia Minor.
Mineral Waters.^ — Greece has an abundant
supply of natural mineral waters :
Aerated — at Provata (Melos) and Sousaki (near
Kalamaki).
Alkaline — at Aidepsos, Andros, Bouliagmene,
Hermione, Kastriotissa, Kythnos, Loutraki,
and Methana (2).
Carbonic acid — at Kounoupitsa and Protothalassa
(Melos).
Iron — at Aetos (Akarnania), Kythera, Nea
Kaymene, and Neon Phaleron.
Saline — at Aigina, Ali Jelebi, Galaxidi, Kythnos,
Peleketon, Repsoi, Thera, Thermasia, and
Vonitsa.
Saline (bitter) — at Kythera, Levadeia, Melos,
Mounychia, and Paphos.
Sulphur — in Aidepsos, Aigina, Gargalianoi, Hy-
pata, Kaiapha, Karvassara, Kyllene, Methana,
Nea Kaymene, Thermopylai, and Zakynthos.
(Those in italics are the most celebrated, and
have, I believe, dtablissements, though not on a
very luxurious scale.)
Mountains. — Switzerland is lucky in that her
inferdle mountain soil makes her the happy hunt-
3o8
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
ing-ground of Alpine clubs and alpenstock-wielders
generally. The mountains .of Greece have yielded,
so far, no such compensation. The altitudes (in
metres) of the highest or otherwise most interest-
ing are ;
Mainland.
Peloponnesos.
Islands.
Olympos ...
2,956-
Taggetos ...
2,409
Ainos ... I
,620.
Giona
2,512.
Kyllene ...
2,374
Staurotes 1
,180.
Korax
2,495-
Chelmos ...
2,355
Neritos
807.
Parnassos ...
2,459-
Erymamhos
2,224
Gieri ...
756.
Tymphresto.s
2,319-
Parnon
1,937
Pindus
2,156.
Panachaikon
1,927
Oite
2,152.
Artcuiision
1,772
Ossa
1,95°-
Moinaleon
1,559
Dirphys ...
1,785-
Lykaion ...
1,420
Helikon ...
1,749-
Tsimberou
1,252
Othrys
1,728.
Helenitza ...
1,247
PeJion
1,630.
Minthos ...
1,222
Kirphios . . .
1,563-
Parthenion
1,217
Parnes
1,428.
Arachneion
1,199
Kithairon ...
1,411.
Hag-Maria
1,016
Ocha
1,404.
Zabitsa
975
Kallidromos
1,374-
Malthia ...
957
Geraneia . . .
1,37°-
Tiitheion ...
858
Pentelikon
1,110.
Ithome
782
Hymettos ...
1,027.
Mesapeion
1,025.
Sphingeion
567-
The chief Ath
inian heights are
Akropol
s
156. Lykabetto
s ... 277.
Mouseion
147. Ardettos.
--- 133-
Pnyx .
log.
The rivers of Greece are not rivers in a
Tamisian sense, and they are not estuaries, for
MISCELLANEOUS 309
the simple reason that there are practically no
tides in the Mediterranean ; they are rapid
torrents after the melting of the mountain snows,
and dry sandy ravines the rest of the year. The
longest is the Peneios — 90 miles. It is easy to
understand how they were deified in primitive
times ; indeed, it is a pity that their cult in our
days is not more regularly practised. It is only
by the most careful storage of their waters that
the summer plains of Greece can ever produce
their rightful weight of corn. Irrigation has made
considerable progress in the last ten years, but
there is a lack of combination which robs the land
of its due share of the plentiful waters that rush
by every spring and are wasted in the sea. No
doubt, too, in the centuries that have gone, they
have carried with them a valuable quantity of the
soil of the country.
Flags. — The badge adopted in 182 1 was a
phoenix below a Greek cross. The phcenix is
found on the frontispiece of Greek books printed
at Venice. The original flag, as raised by Arch-
bishop Germanos, was white, with a cross en-
circled with a wreath of laurel ; it was inscribed
' The Symbol of Freedom.' The Spetsiots carried
a blue flag, on which was a half-moon with a cross
above it, round which was coiled a snake ; on the
left hand a spear and an owl with folded wings.
Its inscription was ' Freedom or Death.' A black
banner was used by the Hydriots, and various
3IO GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
Other flags in the other provinces. The Epidauros
Assembly decided on blue and white as the colours,
a white cross on a blue ground having been used
by the fleet of Stathas twenty years previously.
The number of stripes decided on was nine, a
somewhat Homeric choice.
At present several varieties of the national
colours are in use. The flag proper has 5 blue
and 4 white horizontal alternate stripes ; in the
lower left-hand corner a square bears a Greek
cross argent on a field azure. The royal standard
and the ensigns used by the navy and by fortresses
bear the royal crown on the centre of the cross.
The flag of the mercantile marine has the nine
blue and white stripes, but blazonless.
A fair idea of Greek patriotic sentiment can
be got from the following invocation, by M. N.
Saripolos, in this year's 'Companion':
' The Fatherland, children of Greeks, is not
your plain or hill, the cross of your village church,
or the smoke of your hearths rising to the sky,
nor the tops of your trees, nor the monotonous
song of your shepherds. The Fatherland is
Thessaly for the Akarnanian ; Cyprus and Crete
for the Athenian ; Olympos, Pindos, Athos, for
the hill-born Arkadian, and the haughty ranges of
Taygetos. The Fatherland is all Greece by blood
from Malea and the Ionian Islands to the Phoenician
Sea. The Fatherland is whatsoever part of the
fair earth speaks the language — our harmonious
MISCELLANEOUS 311
Greek language ; it is whatever causes "the
throbbings of our breast ; it is the bond of
religion, the blood-libation which our brethren,
our parents, from all the corners of the Hellenic
land, have offered on the altar of our rebuilt
native land. The Fatherland is the sharing of
the Hellenic name. Freedom's sweetest and holiest
link. The Fatherland is our heaven's fair blue,
the sweet sun that lights us, the tranquil sea that
flows round us, the fertile lands from Thrace and
the Euxine to the Libyan Sea. The Fatherland
is all our fellow-citizens, great and small, rich and
poor. The Fatherland is the nation which we
ought to love, worship, serve, and defend with
all the powers of our minds, with all the might of
our hands, with all the energy and all the love of
our souls.'
Travellers. — Whatever opinion one may
entertain of Greece economically, however
Turkish or Russian one may be in one's political
sympathies, one cannot deny that Greece is the
least betoured of all the interesting countries in
the world. I know it is hard to say why people
go in crowds to some places for their holidays
and not to others, but the Rhine and the Riviera,
Norway and Naples, are all notable for fine
scenery.^ People may not choose the most beauti-
ful spots to go to, but they certainly avoid the
most ugly. In theory Greece far excels all other
countries in her claims on travellers. The coast
312 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
scenery is not much more beautiful than that near
Monte Carlo ; some of its plains are rivalled by
those of Southern France, and its mountains are
less high (above the sea) than those of Switzer-
land ; but not one of these, nor any other country,
has the same wonderful combination. The view
from the summit of many Greek mountains is
inconceivably beautiful. From the top of a
Swiss mountain what can you see ? A few other
peaks, and perhaps a few score leagues of plain.
But from Parnassos you have peak and plain,
island and sea, to far greater distances ; from
Zakynthos to Asia Minor, and from Mount Athos
to Crete, the most beautiful panorama known to
mortals. In no more northern country, moreover,
is there the same translucent air — an air that
seems to act magically on distant objects. But
the innermost secret of Greek scenery, and that
which, even if as scenery it were only equal to
other of Nature's pictures, would raise it far
beyond them in men's estimate, is the subtle
charm of association. This is not true of the
archaeologist alone ; he, indeed, is liable to lose
something of its massive delights in the pursuit
of more acute specialist raptures, in the skilful
riding of a favourite hobby, or the bowling over
of a rival's theory. But the average man and
woman have an undefined sympathy with the
names of places they learnt about at school — the
names that pervade all literature, and are the
MISCELLANEOUS 313
f^te names of all the arts. Probably the Iliadic
feats of the War of Independence, and the
romantic stories of the feudal days, have con-
secrated few place-names for the multitude ; but
from the attack of St. Paul on Athens, back to
that of the Persians, each little square of country
was receiving ever and anon a something from
its tale of weal or woe to touch the interest of all
mankind for ever. Further back the spell has
still more power. The spots made sacred by
dramatic art are sacred still, but chief of all the
holy glamour that blind Homer poured upon the
castles of unhallowed days — Cyclopean castles
and their giant crimes and fairy nobleness — is on
the world's eyes yet ; even that world that thinks
itself so wise it does not deign to read such
nursery - tales. The usual man is Philistine
enoucfh to know and care but little of the hard
sharp facts of history, but yields himself up
pretty readily to feel a little dreamy pleasure
from the sweet unknown of old associations.
When he comes to Greece, as come he will some
day, he will not be museum-tied, or spend too
crowded days on the Akropolis solving the puzzles
of the Parthenon ; but, treading leisurely the
academy, will wonder how old Plato knew so
much, not knowing in the least what Plato knew ;
or climb into the chilly home of Zeus, and mix
up Ovid's and Disraeli's tales ; or on Parnassos
fill his roving eyes with blunders that would once
314 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
have cost him dear ; or at Olympia let his sport-
ing trend have unchecked sway, indifferent about
his fellowship of soul with Pindar's song.
Travelling. — A wanderer who has just re-
turned from this land of dreams is daily amused
at the way his friends lump the different parts of
the Levant, Egypt now excepted, as a region not
to be travelled in, but only explored. The
general survival of the word ' dragoman ' is
perhaps partially responsible for it. As a matter
of fact, one can stay about as comfortably,
although not quite as luxuriously, in Athens as
in London or Paris, and the fact that inns are
scarce elsewhere is a mere ordinary illustration of
the law of demand and supply. The present
class of Greek traveller, not being too literally
thin-skinned, enjoys the novel hospitality of a
two-roomed manse, and the in-by-sunset mildly
jovial asceticism of a monastery. He likes his ten
hours in a saddle, with lunch and siesta by a
plane protected fountain, better than a day in a
drawing-room car, with lunch on board. And
then he is enchanted by the free-and-easy money-
dealings with the natives ; occasionally, perhaps,
he may sigh for a /rzir Jixe, but considering how
cheap everything is, he probably rather likes the
feeling of uncertainty as to the demands to be
made upon him. And the elasticity of idea of the
providers of his wants as to the value of their
commodities and services is very refreshing.
MISCELLANEOUS sts
He will sleep, perhaps, in a totally furnitureless
room, and be rather surprised to be asked ten
drachmas for his bed ; but, then, he will but enjoy
the more the feeling of relief when his tender of
two drachmas is contentedly accepted. Nor need
he find the supposed over - shrewdness of the
Greeks at making a bargain at all unpleasant.
He need but let himself slip into an Oriental
mood, and have a cup of coffee with his bargainee,
and, above all, not appear to be in a hurry. The
letters of horses and rooms will everywhere try
to make as much out of him as possible, of
course, because they are poor, and all Englishmen
are supposed to be rich ; but they are very
reasonable, and never refuse a fair offer. If he
travels in this rough-and-ready fashion, with a
simple agogiat to look after him, he can get on
very well on ten shillings a day. If he would be
bored by a little higgling, or would find it a
bother to have to talk a little Greek (one can get
on quite comfortably from the first with the
remains of one's college Greek plus the words
and phrases in Baedeker), he had better take
a dragoman with him for about £2 a day
if he is alone, or ^i a day for each person
if there are four. One of the pleasantest ways
imaginable of spending the ' long ' is to get up
a party of four and hire a caique — say at the
Peiraius, or Kerkyra ; at the latter place there are
generally yachts to be found for hire. The
3i6 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
caique can be painted and fitted up for a fiver or
so — lockers and pegs and a floor in the hold — a
contract is then made with its crew for from
^lo to ^15 a month for a master, two sailors,
and a boy, including the hire of the boat, and
with a cook for ^3 or ^4, and the total expenses
(inclusive of the above, and of the hire of mules
to perambulate the islands on) willcome to about
ten shillings a day a head.
Intending visitors to Greece who are at all
archEeologically - minded should get M. S.
Reinach's little book, ' Conseils aux voyageurs
arch6ologies en Grece et dans I'Orient Hellenique.'
Although written by so learned a man, it is not
alarmingly learned either in matter or style. It
is a sermon on the text, ' They have eyes, but
they see not," and is meant even more for the
ill-prepared traveller, who asks himself, ' Can a
profane even glean when the harvest has been
made by masters ?' than for the ambitious traveller,
whether specialist or encyclopedist. He is
especially strong on the advantages of photo-
graphy, and in these Kodak days neither the
luggage nuisance nor the expense need frighten
anyone out of taking a little trouble, which will be
more than compensated by the possession of such
mementoes in after years. There ought to be a
ready sale of good negatives for lantern-slides, as
at present Greek slides, unless of Athenian
subjects, are very hard to get. What really
MISCEL LAN ROUS 3 j 7
ought to be attempted, although it might require
combination, is an illustrated edition of Pausanias.
The pictures in Williams, Forbin, Wordsworth,
etc., are admirable, but quite devoid of system.
Everything mentioned by Pausanias, and still in
existence — the scenery he passed through, the
temples and the marbles — ought to be photo-
graphed, and the resultant edition of the great
forerunner of the Baedekers, Murrays, Meyers,
and Joannes, would be the most magnificent book
ever published. The other weapons recom-
mended by M. Reinach for amateurs are a
squeeze apparatus, a sculptor's chisel, a magnify-
ing -glass, a field -glass (a binocular telescope,
which costs about ^10, is a most fascinating
travelling- companion), a note -book ruled both
ways, and a graduated walking-stick.
[ 3i8
CHAPTER XXIII.
PANHELLENISM.
The previous chapters have consisted principally
of facts showing the state of Greece sotis tous les
rapports at three dates in her history — at her
birth, at her confirmation, if we may so speak of
her admission to the sacred privilege of a
democratic Constitution, and at the present time,
when she is seeking to form a lasting union with
the disinherited Greece, her cousin. It is with this
alliance that we have now to deal. Nor will it be
to our purpose to assert or support any imaginary
right of hers to whatever lands may once have
been hers by right of colonization or long posses-
sion. She makes no claim on Marseilles, or even
on Sicily. Nor again shall we base any argu-
ments on the long continuity of the Byzantine
empire. The circumstances are wholly modern,
and our calculations must deal with wholly modern
facts. The claim of Greece is simple enough ; it
is to be the successor of Turkey when Europe
PAN HELLENISM
319
decides to drive the Turks out "of Europe, and in
Asia Minor as soon as circumstances may permit.
The figures she brings forward in her favour are
merely census returns — the number of Greeks in
the provinces she asks for. Mr. Sergeant sets forth
the figures in careful detail as they stood in 1879 ;
but if he was able to support the claims of Greece
then, the figures are so much more favourable
now that there ought to be no doubt about the
matter at all. They apply not to Greeks born in
Greece, who appear in a separate table, but to
Greeks born in Turkey :
I. Thrace : Greeks living ir
1 the province of—
Constantinople
220,000
Derkoi
70,000
Herakleia ...
190,000
Adrianople ...
105,000
Didymoteichos
40,000
Ainos
10,000
Bizye
10,000
Anchialos
10,000
Selybria
15.00°
Sozonagathoupolis ...
iS>ooo
Gonos
iS>°oo
Lemnos
12,000
Imbros
14,000
Prokonesos ...
10,000
Total . . .
736,000
II. Makedonia
630,000
III. Epeiros
380,000
IV. Crete
250,000
Total European Turkey
1,996,000
320
GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
V. Asia Minor and its ' islands :
Greeks living in the
bishopric of —
Smyrna
150,000
Ephesos
300,000
Kyzikos
7S,ooo
Nikomedeia..
50,000
Chalkedon ...
80,000
Proussa
25,000
Philadelphia
20,000
Ankyra
15,000
Pisidia
40,000
Trapezus
60,000
Neokaisareia
40,000
Ikonion
50,000
Araaseia
80,000
Chaldeia
25,000
Kaisareia
60,000
Mitylene
80,000
Rethymna ...
50,000
Rhodes
45, 000
Samos
52,000
Chios
75,000
Kos
40,000
Karpathos ...
25,000
Adanoi
55,000
Cyprus
150,000
Total
1,692,000
The foreign towns most resided in by Greeks
are: In Bulgaria, Varna; in Austria, Trieste;
in France, Paris ; in Germany, Hamburg ; in
Great Britain, London ; in Italy, Venice ; in
Roumania, Braila ; in Roumelia, Philippopolis ;
in Russia, Odessa ; in Servia, Belgrade ; in the
Turkish Provinces — in Thrace, Constantinople ;
in Makedonia, Salonika ; in Epiros, Prevesa ; in
Asiatic Turkey, Kydonia ; in Egypt, Alexandria.
PANHELLENISM 321
Recapitulation.
Greeks born in Greece and living in Greece . .
• 2,233,822
abroad ..
■ 180,338
Total ... ... ... ... 2,414,160
Greeks not born in Greece, living in European
Turkey ... ... ... ... ... 1,996,000
Greeks not born in Greece, living in Asia Minor 1,692,000
Turkey ... 3,688,000
Total number of Greeks ... 6,102,160
With this we must compare :
I. Bulgarians in Bulgaria ... .. 2,326,250
„ „ Turkey S4o,ooo
Total number of Bulgarians ... 2,866,250
2. Total number of Roumanians, about 5,000,000
3. „ „ Servians, „ 1,650,000
4. Turks in European Turkey ... ... 700,000
„ Asiatic Turkey ... ... 6,800,000
Of true Greeks resident abroad, 19,506 are in
commerce; 13,503 are students; 8,336 are
artisans; 5,530 are sailors; and 2,409 engaged
in agriculture.
Asiatic Turkey, however, includes, besides Asia
Minor, Syria, the greater part of Armenia, Kurdi-
stan, Mesopotamia, and part of Arabia.
We see, then, that in the two areas to which
Greece has pretensions she owns by kinship a
larger proportion of the population than any
other nationality. In European Turkey, indeed,
which is her most immediate concern, 43 per cent,
of the last census isGreek, the total population being
21
32 2 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
4,668,000. The members of the Greek Church
are still more numerous, as it embraces Bulgarians,
Roumanians, and Servians, or about 56 per cent,
of the population. But the numerical strength of
Greece in Turkey does not nearly represent her
real strength, for their syllogues give them a
homogeneity which other races, the Turkish
masters even included, do not possess ; this is
maintained by their educational superiority, which
not only gives them great influence, but no doubt
increases their natural money-making talent, and
so makes them frequently the owners of the soil.
Whether or no Greece is some day to have
Constantinople depends not only on the right of
Greece to it, or on her fitness to receive it, but at
least as much on the lack of a satisfactory alterna-
tive. The other claimants are Turkey, Russia,
Austria, and Bulgaria.
I. Turkey — who can hardly be called deata
possidens. Englishmen have always had pity on
the poor Turk ; and, indeed, taken absolutely, a
Turk is not a bad specimen of humanity ; he is
clean, brave, philosophical, and obliging. He is
a bit of a bully when he gets the chance, certainly,
especially if a mere Christian is the occasion of it,
and he is not quite up to nineteeth-century form
on certain questions affecting the fair sex ; but
his failings have been greatly exaggerated, except
his laziness, which could not be, and the present
Sultan has shown himself thoroughly alive to
PANHELLENISM 323
Western ideas, a man of courtesy, culture, and
considerable statecraft. If it was simply a ques-
tion of handing over his European possessions to
Greece because she would develop their resources
quicker, free them of brigandage, as she has freed
her own, and generally bring them within the
pale of Christian civilization, probably most people
would say that she had enough to do to look after
her own affairs, and that Turkey, having shown
signs of reformation, ought to be allowed another
chance. But is there anyone in England, is there
anyone in Turkey, is there anyone in Europe,
who supposes that the present condition of affairs
is likely to last long ? Most people are expect-
ing a war of the most alarming kind before the
close of the century. A military friend of mine
of high rank, who knows both Russia and the
Balkan States very thoroughly, confidently pre-
dicts May, 1895, as the date of the commence-
ment of the struggle. His calculations are based,
I believe, on the wish of official Russia to get
the affair settled as soon as possible, coupled
with his knowledge of the time she still needs in
order to complete her preparations. Admitting,
however, that the war will not come in 1895,
nor even this century, experience teaches us
pretty plainly that sooner or later there will be
European wars, and I do not think it is an
unwarrantable assumption to suppose that that
corner of Europe will be one of the campaign-
324 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
ing-grounds. The fight will be inier alia for the
possession of Turkey, and, judging by precedent,
her further dismemberment is likely to be one of
its results. Accordingly the question of Turkey
for the Turks needs no consideration.
2. Russia. — I believe there is a school of
foreign political thought in England which does
not admit Russia's wish, or, at any rate, her in-
tention, to obtain Constantinople. To them there
is nothing to be said, though they might find
reasons for changing their mind if they studied
Russian opinion as expounded by Russian news-
papers, even in the short translated extracts which
appear in the English and French press. Mr.
Sergeant gives a quotation from the Histoire du
Consulat et de I' Empire, in which M. Thiers
says : ' When the Russian Colossus shall have one
foot on the Dardanelles and the other on the
Sound, the old world will have been reduced to
servitude, and freedom will have fled to America.
A chimera still for short-sighted politicians, these
sad previsions will one day be painfully justified;
for Europe, stupidly divided, as the Greek cities
were in presence of the King of Makedonia, is
certain some day to suffer the same fate.' What
would M. Thiers have said if he had known that
the 'stupid division ' of Europe in the last decade
of the century should be the work of the ' short-
sighted politicians ' of his own country ? Mr.
Sergeant deals at some length, following M.
PANHELLENISM 325
Martin, with the falsity of Panslavism. We need
not concern ourselves here with the Aryanness or
otherwise of Russian descent ; it is enough for
us that we consider Russia the worst possible
candidate for Constantinople. We are convinced
from the highest possible standpoint that she is
unqualified for the work. We bring no charge
against her peasants ; we do not even accuse the
Czar either of barbaric tyranny at home or
aggressive selfishness abroad ; we only state
that, whatever may be the cause, Russia is at
present unfitted to be entrusted with the ad-
ministration of more territory. But we do not
need to take such high ground as this. The
balance of power is rightly a sacred phrase ; and
we are convinced that the balance of power would
meet with worse disturbance if Constantinople
became Russian than if it became anything else,
except, perhaps, Chinese. All Europe, except,
of course, France, is disgusted with Russia's ways
of extending her influence. The revelations we
have lately had about the official machinery
by which she has carried out assassination in
Turkey and Bulgaria — to omit minor crimes —
have probably convinced most Englishmen that
it would be an insult to civilization, an insult to
liberty, to advocate the claims of a Power that is
morally still in the nursery, and should be in the
corner. It is interesting to observe that the
Panslavs not only reject Panhellenism, but
326 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
follow the lead of Fallmerayer, who declared that
the modern Greeks were not Greeks at all — a
bubble exploded everywhere except in Russia.
3. Austria. — It is perhaps hardly fair to accuse
Austria of desiring Constantinople. She wants
a port on the ^gean, but would be content with
Salonika. At the same time, if in the general
milde she were to successfully engage a Russian
army in the Balkan region, and the Turkish army
were engaged elsewhere — say on the Greek
frontier — she might be tempted to try a coup de
thddtre. All we know of her designs at present
is that she was strongly opposed in 1878 to the
Russians seizing Constantinople, and we may
take for granted that she would be at least as
strongly opposed to any such thing now. It is
quite obvious that the idea must be more obnoxious
to her than to any other Power. Her frontier
would be threatened on the south as well as on
the east, and she herself would be Russia's next
prey. The machinations practised now in Bulgaria
would then be tried on in Hungary. Even at
the present moment it requires much tact to keep
her heterogeneous population in proper going
order. With Russian conspirators in her midst
the task would be well-nigh impossible.
4. Bulgaria. — This plucky little country is a
formidable candidate. She has been blessed with
two good princes, and several prudent and in-
genious statesmen. Her diplomacy during the
PANHELLENISM 327
last ten years has earned her the admiration of
all Europe, and a greater compliment still, the
detestation of Russia. She has made great pro-
gress internally ; she pays her debts punctually —
even to Turkey, to which State, indeed, she be-
haves in quite a model way, especially when one
considers that she is a sort of ward of court, and
might be expected to treat the condemned parent's
authority with some disdain. She does not,
however, conduct herself towards her neighbour
Greece in an altogether friendly way. It may be
in accordance with her laws that no foreigner shall
be able to leave the ownership of land in Bulgaria
to anyone not a Bulgarian citizen ; but it is very
questionable morality, and very poor policy, not
to allow the foreign legatee to sell the land to a
Bulgarian subject. Some of her Prince's most
useful subjects have been Greeks, and to attempt
to drive them out of the country is third-rate
statesmanship. The question of the Greek
schools, too, does not reflect much credit on
Bulgarian self-confidence, or on her hospitality.
It betrays a sub-consciousness that the Greeks
are a stronger race. The question of the ex-
archate, I fancy, need not have caused the resent-
ment in Athens that it did. It was a repartee,
and a good one, to the intrigue by which General
Ignatieff had detached the Bulgarian Christians
from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and
annexed them to the national Church of Russia,
328 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
of which the Czar is the head. Poor Dr. Vulko-
vitch (who was one of the victims of Russian
mediaevahsm), of whom I saw a good deal at
Athens in the spring of 1890, disclaimed any
ambitions Constantinople-wards for his country ;
but being Bulgarian agent to the Porte, he could
hardly be expected to make any naughty admis-
sions. The issue which he thought most likely
if Turkey were ever to be dispossessed of her
European possessions, and I do not think it can
be a breach of confidence to his memory to state
it, was that Constantinople should become a free
city after the old fashion of Hamburg. Its
present mode of administration in part by consular
courts, with even separate post-offices under the
management of the chief Powers, would not seem
a bad groundwork for such a scheme. This plan
concerned Constantinople only, and Dr. Vulko-
vitch said nothing about such Bulgarian aspira-
tions as might stop short of its walls. In
comparing the claims of Bulgaria and Greece,
we ought not to attach too great importance to
Bulgaria's diplomatic successes. As far as in-
ternal progress is concerned, there is only one
department in which Bulgaria has outstripped
Greece — that is, in governmental stability. But
this is, without doubt, due to the fact that her
Government depends entirely for support, not on
its internal administration, but on its dexterity in
external affairs, and its foreign policy is very
PANHELLENISM 329
much simplified by the persistent unfriendHness of
Russia. As long as Russia continues to threaten
her, M. Stambouloff will always have a large
majority in the Chamber, which, of course, greatly
facilitates internal administration, and consequently
the development of the country. Greece has not
the advantage of a foreign bully to drive her
parties into coalition, and is accordingly subject
to a certain amount of administrative change,
though M. Trikoupes' last administration was a
long and steady one, which his present one, barring
financial difficulties, ought also to be.
I think we may fairly concede that, as far as
evidence of autonomous capacity goes, Greece
and Bulgaria are on an equal footing. Accord-
ingly we must look elsewhere for a test by which
to determine their relative claims to be the suc-
cessor of the Porte in Europe. The solution of
the difficulty which at once presents itself is that
of nationality. A century ago this would not
have appealed to the public mind as it now does ;
but since 1835, when I think the word was first
used — at any rate, with its present signification —
there has been a tendency to favour that kind of
territorial adjustment which most coincides with
the facts and sentiments of nationality. The most
accurate, as well as the most temperate, exposition
of this doctrine that I can recall is that of Pro-
fessor Sidgwick :* ' We recognise it as desirable
* 'The Elements of Politics,' 1891, pp. 213, 214.
330 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
that the members of a state should be united by
the further bonds vaguely implied in the term
" nation." I think, however, that the implications
of this important term are liable to be obscured
by attempts to give them great definiteness. I
think it impossible to name any particular bond of
union among those that chiefly contribute to the
internal cohesion of a strongly-united society —
belief in a common origin, possession of a com-
mon language and literature, pride in common
historic traditions, community of social customs,
community of religion— which is essential to our
conception of a nation-state. In popular talk it
is often assumed that the members of a nation
are descended from the same stock ; but some
of the leading modern nations — so called — are
notoriously of very mixed race, and it does not
appear that the knowledge of this mixture has
any material effect in diminishing the conscious-
ness of nationality. Again, the memories of a
common political history, and especially of com-
mon struggles against foreign foes, have a tendency
to cause the community of patriotic sentiment
which the term " nation " implies : still, the present
imperfect cohesion of the Austro- Hungarian State
shows that this cause cannot be counted upon to
produce the required effect. In the case just
mentioned, differences of language seem to have
operated importantly against cohesion; and, indeed,
in most recent movements for the formation of
PANHELLENISM 331
States upon a truly " national " basis — whether
by aggregation or division — community of language
seems to have been widely taken as a criterion of
nationality : still, it seems clear, from the cases of
Switzerland on the one hand and Ireland on the
other, that community of language and community
of national sentiment are not necessarily connected.
Again, at certain stages in the history of civiliza-
tion religious belief has been a powerful nation-
making force, and powerful also to disintegrate
nations ; but these stages seem to be now passed
in the development of the leading West European
and American states. I think, therefore, that
what is really essential to the modern conception
of a state which is also a nation is merely that
the persons composing it should have a conscious-
ness of belonging to one another, of being members
of one body, over and above what they derive
from the mere fact of being under one govern-
ment ; so that, if their government were destroyed
by war or revolution, they would still hold firmly
together.'
Taking the minor and more definite tests, we
can have no doubt at all about the superiority of
Hellenic claims over Bulgarian. Not only have
Greeks a much more earnest belief in a common
origin, and that of a much more remote period,
than the Bulgarians, but, taking the inhabitants
of the disputed territory, the Greek belief in a
common origin is held by 1,996,000 people, as
332 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
against 540,000 who may thus beHeve in a com-
mon Bulgarian origin. The possession of a
common language and Hterature affects the same
proportion of Turkish subjects, and there are
many who talk Greek who are not Greeks ; but if
we look at the question of literature, the difference
of qualification approaches the ridiculous. As to
pride in common historic traditions, it is unneces-
sary to say anything, as it is one of the commonest
of the charges brought against the modern Greeks,
and its absence is sometimes looked on as a merit
in the Bulgarians. These latter have a community
of social customs, but not more so than the Greeks.
Lastly, community of religion is shared by both ;
but as the religion thus held in common is that of
the Greek Church, and the Bulgarians are com-
paratively new converts — although it might, as
far as this item goes, give Bulgaria a claim to be
a part of the Greek nation — it can hardly be
seriously used as an argument for handing over
a majority of Greek members of the Greek
Church to her keeping.
The indefinite definition of Professor Sidgwick
may, however, be allowed to decide the question.
No doubt the Bulgarians in Bulgaria have con-
siderable ' consciousness of belonging to one
another ' ; but, all the world over, no country is
to be found in which that consciousness is so
intensely keen and wide - awake as in Greece.
Every peasant, every fisherman, glories in being
PANHELLENISM 333
a Hellene (the older name ' Greek ' does not appeal
to them so strongly), and is thoroughly alive to
the existence of Hellenes at present outside the
Greek kingdom. ' Enslaved Hellas ' and ' Free
Hellas ' are terms they all understand — as how-
should they not, with the memory of their own
slavery so fresh and painful ? Indeed, if proof
of this consciousness were needed, it would be
enough to mention the fact that all Greeks,
wherever born, are legally subjects of King
George. They have a right to free education,
whether at deme school or university, in Greece ;
and if they come as refugees in a time of local
trouble, as did the Cretans in 1890, they receive
a subsidy from the Greek Government. There
is something of this feeling in Bulgarians, too,
but nothing like to the same extent ; besides, the
numbers to whom it could apply are, as we have
seen, very much smaller.
Leaving on one side a comparison of Greek
and Bulgarian claims, we come to a series of facts
which appear to strongly support Hellenic aspira-
tions. The first is the intensity of belief — not of
desire ; that we have dealt with, and its weight is
not the same — all over Greece, both free and en-
slaved, that Constantinople will be theirs before
long. Everyone who has travelled in Greece is
familiar with the prophecy, an old one, revived
with great earnestness by the Greek priesthood,
that Greece would win back Constantinople when
334 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
she should have a Constantine for King and a
Sophia for Queen. The marriage of the Crown
Prince with Princess Sophia, sister of the Emperor
of Germany, has made it probable that in the
course of time the necessary conditions will be
fulfilled. One is disposed to hope that belief in
the prophecy will result in solemn self-sacrificing
preparation for so great responsibilities, and that
the interval (may it be a long one !) which will
elapse will be one of absolute internal quiet. In
this way they might themselves contribute mate-
rially to the fulfilment of the prophecy.
It is occasionally asserted by people unac-
quainted with the immense progress made by
Greece in the last thirty years, that until she can
govern what she has she is unfit to be entrusted
with a bigger area. This is so plausible a pro-
position that it runs the risk of being taken as a
truism. And yet there is a tolerably obvious
answer to it. What if the difficulty she may
experience in governing the area she has is
almost entirely due to the very restrictedness of
that area ? This is precisely the case with
Greece. The frequent changes of Ministry are
almost entirely due to impatience of the fulfilment
of the Hellenic idea. Suppose, for a moment,
that the English colony in Ireland represented
43 per cent, of the total, and that the Government
was in the hands of the Irish, numbering only
15 per cent, of the population, is it not certain
PANHELLENISM 335
that English politics would be conducted with
more than the usual excitement until Ireland was
united to England ? That is almost on all fours
with the situation in Greece. In some features
the Greek case is the harder. She is not yet a
rich country, and the constant strain on her
financially is very severe, and is never relaxed :
the feeling of unrest, the daily expectation of the
war which shall liberate ' the rest of Greece,'
unsettles her for the routine work of internal pro-
gress. Her frontiers, too, have to be constantly
and carefully watched. She has put down
brigandage at home, but she is daily in danger
of falling a prey to the sometimes Albanian and
sometimes Wallachian brigandage of Turkey ;
and, to add insult to injury, the telegrams in the
English papers always supply the brigands with
Greek names, a fact chiefly due to the news
having been supplied from Greek sources, the
only possible ones in remote educationless dis-
tricts. Far from being truistic, then, the applica-
tion of the parable of the Talents in an invidious
sense to Greece would be wholly unjust.
The ambition of Greece is one of the strongest
points in her favour. It is not a purely com-
mercial want, like a wish on the part of the
United States to annex Hawaii ; it is not born of
a military instinct like the Tonquin Expedition ;
it is not a blend of the business-like and philan-
thropic like our Uganda affair ; it is not even like
336 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
the ambition of the Greeks of Greece herself in
182 1. They wanted to be free themselves; now
they want to make their brothers free. They
would not be human if other lower motives did
not enter into their desire. No doubt they have
their share of the annexing spirit, and still more
are they alive to the advantages of extended
markets for their goods (I am afraid philanthropy
to the Turks does not form one of their incen-
tives) ; but the one absorbing wish is to free the
Hellas that is in slavery.
[ 337 ]
CHAPTER XXIV.
CONCLUSION.
As regarding Greece — As regarding England.
In politics it is not easy, even when you are quite
sure of the facts of a particular situation, to satisfy
yourself that you have found out the course of
conduct which your facts demand. Usually the
only safe course is to attempt a variety of related
expedients simultaneously, in the hope that the
right ones will be operative, and that their good
results will not be much neutralized by the
others. It may accordingly be well to throw out
a few practical suggestions as to measures which
might, if taken, lead to the further progress of
Greece.
As REGARDING Greece HERSELF. — Of internal
policy it is not necessary to speak. She has at
the present moment a Prime Minister who has
already effected many reforms, and is certain to
effect morei His clever finance, his successful
crusade against crime, his reduction of the army
22
338 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
and Civil Service, are not likely to be interfered
with for some time to come. It is on the ques-
tion of Greek foreign policy that an onlooker sees
most to puzzle him. The Greek nation as a
whole seems quite incapable of understanding
that Russia and Greece cannot both at the same
time possess Constantinople. There are two
reasons for this lack of logic : one, their possess-
ing a common religion ; and the other, the know-
ledge that Turkey is their most immediate foe,
and that Russia has always opposed Turkey. But
Turkey is only their temporary enemy ; Russia
will be their enemy for centuries. As soon as
they recognise this fact, Turkey will almost cease
to be their foe. Turkey would willingly give up
Crete — at any rate, for a subsidy — if she could be
sure of not being attacked in the rear by Greece
when she has next to meet Russia. But this
is comparatively unimportant. Let Greeks ask
themselves how Bulgaria has succeeded, and they
will have to admit that it has been by openly
throwing in her lot with the Triple Alliance, and
daring Russia to do her worst. The question
embraces three main points — sympathy, com-
merce, and politics. In these days, granted a
certain amount of national sentiment, it is not
very difficult (vide Cronstadt demonstration) to
direct the public sympathy or antipathy to suit
the exigencies of the State. The average Greek
is already very well disposed towards England,
CONCL USION 339
and not ill-disposed towards Germany, Austria,
and Italy. If he could only be induced to see
how ridiculous it is to join sides with his
country's only serious rivals to the reversion of
Constantinople, this part of the business might be
easily settled. There is, of course, France to
consider. But the French are far too high-
minded and logical to deny Greece the right of
acting in the only way by which she could
possibly attain her ends. No one would counsel
Greece to be ungrateful to France, to whom she
owes a great deal, but the accident of the tem-
porary alliance between France and Russia ought
not to be allowed to interfere with what is to
Greece of almost infinite importance.
An entirely wrong impression prevails in Greece
on the subject of Cyprus. That island is repre-
sented, as for instance by M. P. Karolides in
an article in the 'Companion,' to be 'groaning
under the English occupation more than under
the Ottoman yoke.' No Englishman or Cypriot
needs to be told that this is a gross libel. Its
un-Hellenic source may easily be guessed. Not
only does Cyprus now enjoy perfect freedom, and
even self-government, but its worldly prosperity
is incomparably greater than it has been for
centuries. But the worst of the charge is the
ingratitude of its forgetfulness. It is not so very
long ago that we handed over the Ionian Islands,
having tenderly prepared them for autonomy for
340 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
half a century. Surely after that the quick-witted
patriots of Greece might guess that, as soon as the
coming war should have legalized our permanent
possession of Egypt, we should hand over Cyprus
to them with pleasure.
The commercial side is perhaps more com-
plicated in practical detail, but its principles are
simple enough. England and the Triple Alliance
are twice as good customers of the Hellenic
nation as France and Russia. Although there is
no powder-and-bullet war going on at the present
moment, tariff wars we have always with us.
Making allowance for favoured-nation clauses and
other hindrances, it ought not to be .difficult for
Greece to stimulate the trade with the League of
Peace. If her trade with the dual Powers did
not suffer, so much the better. Lastly as to an
offensive and defensive, or purely defensive,
alliance. I do not suppose it would be necessary
to actually engage in a formal treaty. England
and Bulgaria have all the advantages, and no
doubt morally all the obligations, that written
stipulations could give. It is simply a question
of speaking out. Any fear there might be of her
funds being depreciated in consequence in Paris
would be quite baseless. If the French Bourse
attempted such a thing, those of London and
Berlin would soon, set matters right ; in fact, it is
likely enough that the simple fact of Greece thus
appearing under the aegis of the Central Powers
CONCLUSION 341
would considerably improve her financial position.
Her present foreign policy is too opportunist ;
opportunism may not be dishonest, but it is not
the best policy.
As REGARDING ENGLAND. — I suppose it is hardly
necessary to set about proving the value of a
Greek alliance to England and the Central
Powers. We are strong, of course, but so are
our probable enemies. And the smaller nations,
Greece, Bulgaria, Roumania, and Servia, close
to the theatre of the war, will of necessity play
an important part. Every influence has its value
in men and money, and we cannot afford to under-
appreciate any accessory when the forces are so
evenly matched. And if we desire Greece for an
ally, we have still more reason to desire her as a
friend. Ever since Wheler travelled in Greece
English interest in that country has been on the
increase. The dilettanti introduced her to the
notice of the upper ten, and Byron made her
known and loved by the great poetry-reading
middle-class. The suggestions I should venture
to make for the improvement of our relations
with Greece are as follow :
I. By the direct action of our Government.
I. Abolition of the tax on currants and on
Greek silk. Currants present no difficulty, and
that with regard to. Greek silk, vis-a-vis, France
might be managed by classification, as Greek silk
is quite different from French silk. I am afraid
342 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
wines could not be treated in the same way,
however.
2. A small subsidy of, say, ^5,000 a year to
the British school at Athens. The most
economical Chancellor of the Exchequer ought
not to feel any alarm about so insignificant a sum,
and it would do a good deal to increase English
popularity in Athens. It is hardly necessary to
add that the French Government grants subsidies
to its school on a much more generous scale. So
far we have never given a halfpenny to ours.
3. Our representatives in Athens might be in-
structed to show increased friendliness. In future
consular appointments, too, it might not be a bad
thing to appoint as consuls men who can speak
Greek. The rigid rule by which vice-consuls are
passed over for men in the service might occasion-
ally be departed from to advantage.
4. A ship of war ought to be stationed at Peiraius
as of old. The French are quite aware of the
advantage of this, and have a first-class cruiser
always there.
5. Our fleet might visit Greek ports rather
more frequently than they have been in the habit
of doing. I believe we have been improving in
this matter latterly. Our recent relief to the
sufferers by the Zakynthos earthquake was very
much appreciated indeed. Nous atitres anglais
are so unromantic that we do not understand the
excited gratitude little international acts of kindr
CONCL USION 343
ness are apt to call forth in more Southern souls.
The presence of our sailors and marines in Phaleron
Bay is very effective. The size of the men, their
discipline, and their good temper act powerfully
on the Greek imagination. They occasionally
get a little lively, but our naval men take a
thoroughly British view of compensation for any
damage that may be done, so no ill-feeling arises
on this account. A propos, I do not think the
English papers got hold of an interesting incident
that happened recently in Volo Bay. A squadron
of our ships was there for drill, and a sham-fight
was instituted. A sail-carrying boat was to slip
her cable at night and hide from the others, who
were to hunt after her with a search-light. She
first went and dressed up an appropriate rock to
represent herself under full sail, and then retired
close in shore, pillaged an olive wood near of
scores of boughs, and masqueraded as an olive
grove. After the time allowed for hiding was
up, the remainder of the squadron steamed round
the gulf and eventually found the dummy, which
they attacked, wrecking two of their torpedo-
boats before they found out that they had been
'sold.' The Greeks were naturally indignant at
the destruction of their olive-trees, but the affair
was soon arranged to the satisfaction of all
parties.
6. A royal marriage. This is delicate ground,
and I will say no more than that there are nubile
344 GREECE UNDER KING GEORGE
one Princess and one Prince of the Greek royal
house.
II. Indirectly by the action of individuals.
1. Sympathy. — All who have had happy hours
with Greek authors, whether original or trans-
lated, all who are conscious that but for the
existence of old Greece they would not have had
the culture and its resulting happinesses that they
have, ought to feel that their sympathy with the
present Greek movement is the least return they
can make.
2. Those who have time and means should
visit Greece. It does not require much of either
— three weeks and .1^50. With a ' tramp ' each
way it would take a couple of months, and cost
about ^35. I have never known anyone go once
and not long to go again.
3. Purchase of Greek products. — One need not
diet one's self on currant-buns, or unduly prolong
the Christmas - pudding period, or even take to
retsinato ; but one can keep on asking for Greek
olive-oil, Greek silk, Greek wine, and Greek figs
until one gets them, and perhaps even gets them
into the English market.
4. Those who are more particularly classically-
minded, especially if they have a trend towards
archaeology, ought to subscribe to the British
school, or at least join the society for the promo-
tion of Hellenic studies.
5. All Philhellenes ought to use their influence
CONCLUSION 345
more than they do in the direction of making the
cause of Greece understood and appreciated. We
need not start a- new fad on the poHtical world, or
send an examination paper Hke the more or
less fanatical Fabians to our would-be Parlia-
mentary representatives, asking among other
things for an explicit ' yes ' or • no ' as to the
demanding of Crete, and eventually Constanti-
nople, for Greece ; but when we consider that the
public schools and universities supply us with a
ready-made pro-Greek party in England, and that
the University Extension Lectures and Free public
libraries, and their entourage, "provide the machinery
for reaching the great mass of voters, if we are
sincere Philhellenes, we ought to do something
to prove the faith, hope and love that are in us.
The Greek question must always have only its
proper proportionate share of the public interest,
but it is well that, when the dismemberment of
Turkey comes, the intelligent sympathy of
England should be found on the side of persevering
little Greece, and not on that of enormous over-
bearing Russia.
INDEX.
Academy, 209
Administrations, 269
Agricultural scliools, 189
Agriculture, 11
Albanians, 9
Ambition of Greece, 335
Antiquarian wealih, 213
Antiquities, Greek regard for, xi
ArcliKological schools, 191
Archeology, 213
Architecture, Modern, 215
Army, 240
distribution of, 242
equipment of, 242
officers, Large number of,
244
Arrears of taxation, 1 1 5
Arsakeion, 187
Athens Scientific Society, 208
Attika railway, 86
Authorities, xviii
Balance-sheet, 1883-91, 109
Balkan States, English trade
with, 69
Bank-notes, 102, 143
Bank of Constantinople, 74
Bankruptcy, 174
Banks, 72
Barristers, 164
Beckmann's, M., deductions, 158
pamphlet on Greek
finance extensively
quoted, 103 sg.
Births and deaths, 7
Blind, 296
Books read, 199
Brigandage, i6g
Brotherhoods, 298
Budget of 1892, 127
1893, 128
Business, 72
Butter, 19
Byron Society, 207
Carpets, 53
Chairetes, M., quoted, 24
Cheese, 19
Chronological sketch, xxi
Church, Influence of, on public
order, 170
Civil service, 77
Clergy schools, 190
Climate, 301
Coal, 49
Coast-line, 95
Coinage, loi
Commerce, 59
Commodities exported, 39
imported, 40
Communication, Internal, 80
Constantinople, Candidates for,
322
Constitution, 257
Constitutional history, 259
Constitution, Articles ot, show-
ing Conservative progress, 264
Constitution, Articles of, show-
ing Liberal progress, 264
Constitution, Suitability of, 273
Conversions, 136
Corn, 14
Insufficient production of,
15
Correspondence per head, 98
Cotton, 29
Countries exporting to Greece,
67
INDEX
347
Countries importing from
Greece, 66
Countries to and from which
ships sailed, 62
Country-houses, Absence of, 293
Credit, Greek, 154
Crime, 165
Cultivated land, 12
Culture, 199, 215
Currant-growing, 25
Currants, 23
English importation of, 23
French importation of, 23
Currency, Forced, 143
Cyprus, Greek ideas concerning,
339
Ddiry-farming, 18
Danube, Greek ships on, 63
Deaf and dumb, 296
Decisions of courts of law, 163
Deficits, 138
Deleyannea, M., v. the King, 280
Denies, 7
Deme schools, 175
Democratic feeling, xiii
Diakophti-KalavrytaRailway,88
Dowries, 291
Earthquakes, 305
Education, 175
- Cost of, 184
Female, 186
of priests, 239
Secondary, 178
summary, 192
Technical, 188
Election, Returns of last, 282
Elgin Marbles, 222
Emery, 50
Emigration, 4
Employment, 75
Changes of, 76
English school at Athens, 221
Eparchies, 7
Epiro-Thessalian Bank, Ti
Estimates for 1893, 159
Euripos, 94
Excavation accomplished, 219
Method ol, 220
Expenditure, 109
1892, 121
Extraordinary, 1 10
Expenditure, Military, 124
Naval, 126
Export duties, 65
Exports, 64
Factories, 52
Families, Chief Athenian, 286
Fetes, National, 235
Figs, 27
Finance, 103
Municipal, 160
Fine arts, 210]
Fish, Ancient and modern names
of, 55
Fish, Import and export of, 57
Fisheries, 53
Fishing-boats, 53
Fishing, Mode of, 57
Fishing-stations, 54
Flag, 309
Fleet, 248
Armament of, 249
Forest area, 37
fires, 36
Forests, 35
Laws as to, 35
Fruit, 27
Game, 19
General Contract Company, 75
Credit Bank of Greece, 73
Gold, Deficiency of, 147
Goudi Steamship Company, 91
Grammar-schools, 178
Greece, How, could be defended,
251
Greece superior to Bulgaria, 329
Greeks in Turkey, 319
Gymnasia, 178
Gypsum, 50
Hellenic Literature Societv, 207
Steamship Company, 88
Highways, Administration of,
139
Historical and Ethnological
Society, 208
Holy Synod, 226
Honesty, Greek, xvi, 169
Hospitals, 185, 29s
Hymenaeal Society, 299
Import duties, 65
348
INDEX
Imports, 64
and exports, Lessons of.
Imports and exports, by Triple
Alliance and England, 70
Industrial Credit Bank of
Greece, 74
Industries, 48
Insurance companies, 75
Ionian Bank, 72
Jebb, Professor, quoted, 196
Judges, 161, 164
Justice, 161
King George, xiii, 280
Kopais, 95
Korinth Canal, 93
Laboratories, 185
Ladies' syllogtie, 298
Land, Products of, 12
Tenure of, 15
Laurion, 49
Law-court?, 161
Lead, 49 j
Lenormant, M., quoted, 197
LifDrary, National, i85
of Chamber of Deputies,
209
Lighthouses, 95
building, 96
Loans, 133
Longevity, 8
Lunatic asylum, 297
Lunatics, 296
Magnesia, 49
Manganese, 49
Manslaughter, 169
Marble, 51
McDonall and Barbour, Messrs.,
60
Measures, 100
Mendicancy, 174
Mesolonghi-Agrinion Railway,
84
Mesolonghi-Krioneri Railway,
84
Metsovian Polytechnic, 188
Military schools, 190
Mills, 52
Mill-stone, 50
Mineral waters, 307
Mines, 48
Monarchic democracy, 270
Monasteries, 227
Monopolies, 75
Monopolies of Greece Com-
pany, 74
Mountains, 307
Mulberry, 28
Murders, 167
Museums, 185
Wealth of, 216
Music, 210
Napier, Colonel, 82
National Bank, 72, 155
Naval schools, 190
Navigation schools, 189
Navy, 246
Newspapers, 202
Nomarchies, 7
Odeura, 2IO
Officers of army, Pay of, 245
of navy. Pay uf, 251
Olive-oil, 26
Olives, 25
Oranges, 27
Order of the Saviour, 287
Public, 161
Orient Society, 209
Orphanages, 297
Orthography, system used, xx
Painting, 210
Panhellenic Steamship Com-
pany, 90
Panhellenism, -18
Parliaments, Duration of, 268
Parnassos Literary Society, 206
Patriotism, Greek, xiv, 310
Peiraius-Athens Railway, 84
Peiraius, Future of, 63
Peiraius-Larissa Railway, 87
Peloponnesos Railway, 84
Philanthropy, 295
Philharmonic Society, 2ii
Philhellenes, Duty of, 344
Physical culture, 212
Science Society, 208
Police, 171
Politeness of Greeks, xv.
Political combinations, 276
INDEX
349
Political professionalism, 290
programmes, 277
Politics, 275
Poor-house, 298
Population, i
Annual increase of, 3
Nationality of, 9
Religion of, 8
Ports, 60
Postage stamps, 99
Post-ofSce, 97
Poultry, 19
Priests, 232
Prime Ministers, 269
Prisons, 171
Professions, how rated, 79
Property, Feeling as to, 14
Provinces, Chief products of,
33
Provincial distribution of pro-
ducts, 32
Provincial hospitals, 299
societies, 209
Public and Communal Works
Company, 74
Public companies, 72
debt, 132
debt schedule, 140
Punishment of crime, 168
Railways, 83
Fares on, 86
Rainfall, 304
Receipts, Extraordinary, 108
Redemptions, 136
Religion, 225
Religious reform, 238
Reinach's, iVI. S., advice to
travellers, 316
Resin, 38
Retreat for the aged, 298
Retsinato, 22
Revenue, 1 883-1 891, 108
Rivers, 308
Roads, 80
Cost of, 82
Turkish, 81
Rodd, Mr. Rennell, quoted, 15
Roman Cathohcs in Greece,
225
Ronteres, M. Antonios, quoted,
162
Salt, 52
Saripolos, M., quoted, 310
Scenery, 311
Sculpture, 210
Seamen, 60
Sergeant, Mr. Lewis, quoted,
25, 196, 261
Shipping, 59
Ships entered and cleared, 61
Shrubs, 39.
Sidgwick, Professor, quoted
329
Silk, 28
Silver, 49
Soap, 53
Societies, Learned, 206
Society, 285
of Friends of Education,
187
Stanhope, Colonel Leicester,
97, 205
Steamboats, 59, 88
Accommodation on, 92
Stock, 18
Suggestions to England, 341
Greece, 337
Sulphur, 50
Syngros Prison, 172
Tan, 38
Teachers' Society, 208
Telegraphs, 99
Telephones, 100
Temperature, 301
Thessaly Railway, 85
Thiers, M., quoted, 324
Thunderstorms, 305
Timber, Consumption of, 38
Tobacco, 30
Tramways, 88
Travellers, 311
Travelling, 314
Trees, 39
Truthfulness, Greek, xvi
Turkey, How, could lae attacked,
255
University, 180
faculties, 180
Institutions subsidiary to,
185
programme of lectures,
183
35°
INDEX
Valonia, 29
Vegetables, 31
Villages, 6
Voting, System of, 281
Vulkovitch, Dr., 328
Wallachians, 9
Weather, Influence of, on crime,
166
Weights, 100
Winds, Prevailing, 303
Wine, 20 [236
Wyse, Sir Thomas, quoted, xiii.
Yachting, 315
THE END.
BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD,
/. D. &- Co.
ERRATA.
Pages 1-252, for ' Epiros ' read ' Epeiros ' throughout.
Page 4, line lz,for ' 135,466' read ' 180,338.'
Page 27, Hne 2\,for ' Troezenian ' read ' Troizenian. '
Page 66, hne it/or ' counties ' read ' countries.'
Page 85, lines 21-23, /o/- ' Diakophti . . Pyrgos' read ' Diakophti,
Temeni, Aigion, Patras, Kato-Achaia, Lechaina, Kavasila ; Bartho-
lomion, Kyllene, Lontra ; Gastuni. Pyrgos ; Katakolon ; Olympia.'
Page 98, Une 16, af/er 'of 1890' inseri ' to.'
Page 167, hne 12, and page 202, hne 17, for • Akarnania-Aitolia ' read
' Aitolia-Akarnania.'
Page 219, line 16, after 'Argos' insert '(A.).'
Page 219, line 9, after ' Epidauros ' insert ' (G.).'
Page 316, line i'i,for ' archeologies ' read ' archeologues. '
Page 321, Une 8, before ' Total number of Greeks ' insert ' (1892).'
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