Money and Credit On 31 July, 1898, the accounts of the National Bank balanced at 139,676,174 kroner. The assets included 31,677,655 kroner in bullion, and 20,230,300 in specie. The liabilities included 91,000,000 kroner note issue, 27,000.000 kroner of capital, and 3,000,000 kroner reserve fund. In Denmark there are about 66 other banks for commercial, agricultural, industrial, and other purposes. On 31 March, 1897, there were 532 savings banks, with 1,062,649 depositors, and deposits amounting to 645,444,356 kroner, or 607 kroner to each account. Money, Weights, and Measures. The monetary unit, the Krone of 100 öre, is of the value of 1s. 1d., or about 18 kroner to the pound sterling. Gold coins are 20 and 10-kroner pieces. The 20-kroner piece weighs 8-960572 grammes 900 fine, and thus contains 8.0645 grammes of fine gold. The 2-kroner silver piece, or Rigsdaler, weighs 15 grammes 800 fine, and thus contains 12 grammes of fine silver. The standard of value is gold. Silver is legal tender up to 20 kroner. The Pund 1000 Kvint 1000 Ort = 1·1023 lb. avoirdupois. The Centner 110.23 lb. avoirdupois. = 100 Pund Diplomatic and Consular Representatives 1. OF DENMARK IN GREAT BRITAIN. Envoy and Minister.-F. de Bille, accredited 1890. Consul-General in London.-E. A. Delcomyn. There are Consuls at Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh (C.G.), Hull (C.G.), Leith, Liverpool, Sheffield, Southampton, Swansea, Yarmouth. 2 OF GREAT BRITAIN IN DENMARK. Envoy and Minister.-Sir Edmund D. V. Fane, K. C.M.G., C. B., appointed July 1, 1898. Secretary.-Hon. Alan Johnstone. There are Consuls at Copenhagen, Reikjavik (Iceland), St. Thomas (West Indies). Colonies. The colonial possessions of Denmark consist of territories in Europe and America. Their area and population in October, 1890, and the value of their imports into and exports from Denmark alone in 1897, according to Danish returns, were: K K The amount of the trade of Iceland and of the Danish West Indies is insufficiently ascertained. The trade of Greenland is a State monopoly. The West Indian Islands, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John, are inhabited mostly by free negroes engaged in the cultivation of the sugar-cane ; but the trade with Denmark, formerly considerable, has fallen off in recent years. The imports from the Danish West Indies into the United Kingdom amounted to 20,1227. in 1897; and the exports of British produce to these islands to 55,0867. The chief article of import into Great Britain from these islands in 1897 was sugar, 18,7137.; while the British exports were mainly cotton goods, to the value of 15,3247., and machinery, 4,4457. Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning Denmark. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions. Imp. 4. London. Aperçu préliminaire des principaux résultats de recensement du 1er février 1890 en Danemark. Copenhague, 1890. Den dansk-tydske Krig, 1864. Udgivet af Generalstaben. 8. Copenhagen. 1890. Hof og Staats Kalender Annual. Kjöbenhavn. Justice criminelle, 1886-96. 4. Copenhagen. Meddelelser (Statistiske) Tredie Raekke. 13de, 14de Bind. Kjöbenhavn, 1894. Sammendrag af statistiske Oplysninger. 8. Kjöbenhavn, 1896. Statistisk Tabelvaerk. Kongerigets Vare-Indförsel og Udförsel samt den indenlandske Frembringelse af Braendeviin og Roesakker i Aaret 1896. Udgivet af det Statistiske Bureau. Kongerigets Handels-Flaade og Skibsfart i Aaret 1896. 4. Kjöbenhavn, 1897. 2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. Andersen (L.), Copenhagen and its Environs. London, Baedeker's Handbook for Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, 6th ed. 12. London, 1895. Both, Kongeriget Danmark, en historisk-topographisk Beskrivelse. 2 vols. Copenhagen, 1882-85. Cook (T.), Guide to Norway and Denmark. London, 1893. Goos (A. H. F. C.), Grundtrack af den danske statsret. Copenhagen, 1890. Hoffman (C. A.), Erindringer fra Krigen 1864. Copenhagen, 1892. Jeaffreson (J. R.), The Faröe Islands. London, 1897. Murray's Handbook for Denmark, 6th. ed. 8. London, 1833. National ökonomisk Tidsskrift. Kjöbenhavn, 1896. Nyholm (C. C. V.), Grundtrack af Danmarks Statsforvaltning. Copenhagen, 1893. Otté (E. C.), Denmark and Iceland. 8vo. London, 1881. Petersen (C. P. N.), Love og andre offentlige Kundgjorelser, &c., vedkommende Landvae senet i Kongeriget Danmark. 8. Kjöbennavn, 1865. Sidgwick (C. S.), The Story of Denmark. London, 1890. Torp (C.), Dansk Tingsret. Copenhgen, 1892. Trap (J. P.), Statistisk-topographisk Beskrivelse af Kengeriget Danmark. 2nd ed. 4 vols. 8. Kjobenhavn, 1872-78. Weitemeyer (H.), Dänemark; Geschichte und Beschreibung. 12. (Of this there is an English translation. 8. London, 1891.) 3. DEPENDENCIES. Carstensen (A. R.), Two Summers in Greenland. 8. ondon, 1890. Leith (Mrs.), Three Visits to Iceland. London, 1897. Nansen (F.), The First Crossing of Greenland. London, 1891. Eskimo Life. 8 London, 1893. Taylor (C. E.) Leaflets from the Danish West Indies. 8. London, 1888 Thoroddsen (Th.), Geschichte der Isländischen Geographie, 2 Bände. Leipzie, 1897--98. ECUADOR. (REPÚBLICA DEL ECUADOR.) Constitution and Government. The Republic of Ecuador was constituted May 11, 1830, in consequence of a civil war which separated the members of the original Republic of Colombia, founded by Simon Bolivar, by uniting the Presidency of Quito to the Vice-Royalty of New Grenada, and the Captaincy-General of Venezuela, when they threw off the Spanish yoke. By its Constitution, dating 1884, with modifications in 1887 and 1896, the executive is vested in a President, elected for the term of four years, while the legislative power is given to a Congress of two Houses; the first consisting of two senators for each province (chosen for four years, one-half retiring every two years), and the second of deputies, on the basis of one deputy for every 30,000 inhabitants, chosen for two years; both elected by adults who can read and write and are Roman Catholics. The Congress meets on the 10th of June of every other year at Quito, the capital, without being summoned by the Government. The election of the President takes place in a direct manner by the people, and that of the Vice-President, whose term of office is also four years, by the same procedure, but two years after that of the President, so that he is a member of two distinct administrations. The Vice-President in certain cases may be called upon to occupy the Presidential chair. He also discharges the duties of President of the Council State. President of the Republic.-General Alfaro. The President, who receives a salary of 12,000 sucrés a year, theoretically exercises his functions through a Cabinet of five ministers, who, together with himself, may be impeached by Congress, and who, with other seven members, form a Council of State. Each minister receives a salary of 2,880 sucrés a year. The President has the-power of veto, but if Congress insist on a vetoed bill becoming law, he has no alternative but to give his assent to it. He may summon an Extraordinary Congress for a specified purpose, but he cannot dissolve the Chambers or shorten their sittings. By the terms of the Constitution privileges of rank and race are not allowed to exist within the Republic, but most of the Indians are virtually in bondage. By an edict of the present (1896) Supreme Chief the Indians are exempted from paying tribute, and are admitted to citizenship. The Provinces are administered by Governors, appointed by the Government; their subdivisions, or cantons, by political chiefs; and the parishes by political lieutenants. The Galapagos Archipelago is under a territorial chief. Area and Population. The area of Ecuador is about 120,000 square miles, divided into sixteen provinces and one territory, with about 1,270,000 inhabitants-whites 100,000, mixed 300,000, Indians 870,000. Included in the above statement are the Galapagos or Tortoise Islands, with an area of 2,400 square miles, and a population of about 200. A Boundary Treaty which was concluded between Peru and Ecuador on the 2nd of May, 1890, and sanctioned by the Ecuadorian Congress, was subjected to amendment by Peru in 1893, and in 1894 was revoked by the Ecuadorian Congress. Ecuador is also involved in a dispute with the Republic of Colombia respecting certain territories on the left bank of the river Napo. The population of the Republic is distributed as follows : The chief towns are the capital, Quito (80,000), Guayaquil (50,000), Cuenca (25,000), Riobamba (12,000), Ambato, Loja, and Latacunga (each about 10,000). Religion and Instruction. The religion of the Republic, according to the Constitution, is the Roman Catholic, to the exclusion of every other. Its income, in substitution for tithes, is annually provided for in the estimates. Primary education is gratuitous and obligatory. There is a University in Quito with 32 professors and 216 students, and University bodies in Cuenca and Guayaquil. There are 9 schools for higher education, 35 secondary, and 1,088 primary schools; the total number of teachers is 1,498, and of pupils 68,380. There are commercial and technical schools in Quito and Guayaquil. Justice and Crime. The appellate courts are the Supreme Court in Quito, and six superior courts at different centres. The inferior courts deal with criminal, civil, and commercial cases. In the Republic there are 33 cantonal and 359 parochial justices, and 85 solicitors admitted to practice. There are consular courts in Quito, in Guayaquil, and Cuenca. In the one penitentiary of the Republic, which is in Quito, there were on October 9, 1893, 140 men and 18 women convicted of serious crimes. Finance. Of the total revenue about 70 per cent. is derived from customs duties; 15 per cent. from taxes on cocoa, real estate, white rum, and tobacco; 6 per cent. from salt and gunpowder monopolies, and the remainder mostly from excise, rents of State property, and the postal department. For the period from June 19, 1895, to July 31, 1896, the ordinary revenue amounted to 5,128,620 sucrés, and the extraordinary revenue (mostly loans from banks) to 3,730,740 sucrés; total revenue, 8, 859, 360 sucrés; expenditure, 8,779,520 sucrés. For each of the years 1897 and 1898 the revenue is estimated at 9,093,551 sucrés, and the expenditure at 11,005,141 sucrés. The foreign liabilities of the Republic are made up of a debt of 1,824,000l., which amount formed the part of the debt assigned to Ecuador on its secession from Colombia in 1830. In 1854 an arrangement was made with the bondholders, under which this debt was recognised by Ecuador, but in 1867 service of this debt ceased. The arrears of interest amounted in 1891 to 428,6407. In July, 1892, the capital of the foreign debt was reduced to 750,000l., and an arrangement was made for the payment of interest and for amortization. In 1895 another arrangement was made, but, on March 14, 1896, the President (then Supreme Chief) decreed the suspension of payments to the bondholders until a still more advantageous arrangement should be concluded. The bonds in circulation (1898) amounted to 693,160. In 1897 and 1898 contracts were made for the purchase of the foreign debt by the Guayaquil and Quito Railway Company. [Details are given in the Appendix to the Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders, August, 1898.] The internal debt amounted to 7,500,000 sucrés at the end of 1896. Defence. The Ecuadorian army numbers 3,341 officers and men. This force is com posed of 1 brigade of fortress and 1 of field artillery, 4 battalions of infantry 2 columns of light infantry, and a regiment of cavalry. The national guard is said to consist of 30,000 men. The navy consists of a torpedo launch, and a transport, which vessels are manned by about 128 men. Commerce. The staple produce of Ecuador is cocoa, of which the receipts at Guayaquil in 1895 amounted to 16, 122 tons; in 1896, 15,327 tons, and in 1897, 14,800 tons; but coffee, sugar, and rice are successfully cultivated. The rubber industry is also important, and as the accessible supply from wild trees is being rapidly exhausted, attention is now turned to the planting of trees. Ecuador is eminently auriferous. At Zarama, in the province of Oro, quartz crushings by an English company yield from 1 oz. to 14 oz. per ton; at Esmeralda an American company extracts gold by hydraulic methods from gravel beds to the value of about 50 cents per cubic yard; in many auriferous streams the Indians, by washings, find considerable quantities of gold; and at Pillzhum in Cañan rich silver ore is found. Petroleum is abundant but is hardly worked. The country is known to be also rich in copper, iron, lead and coal. According to the President's message, August, 1898, the imports in the year 1897 amounted to 18,004,048 sucrés, and the exports to 31,025,382 sucrés; the exports in 1896 having been of the value of 21,862,324 sucrés. The value of the trade at Guayaquil in four years, so far as published, has been : The chief imports are cotton and other tissues and provisions. The exports from Guayaquil comprised cocoa, 787,1927. in 1896; 960,0317. in 1897; coffee, 94,1057. in 1896; 49,6407. in 1897; rubber, 34,0967. in 1896; 47,2327. in 1897; hides, 15,4147. in 1896; 20,8487. in 1897; straw hats, 13,102 in 1896; 15,000l. in 1897; specie, 29,7627. in 1896; 30,000l. in 1897. The total value of the imports from Ecuador into Great Britain, and of the exports of British produce to Ecuador, was as follows in each of the last five years, according to the Board of Trade returns : |