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There were 2,256 telegraph offices. The number of despatches sent in the year 1902 was 2,782,751, including 347,043 in transit. In 1902 there were about 116,500 miles of wire and about 95,000 instruments employed in the telephone service.

The Swedish Post Office carried 334,530,390 letters, post-cards, journals, &c., in the year 1902. The number of post-offices at the end of the year was 3,084. The total receipts of the Post Office in 1902 amounted to 14,007,635 kronor, and the total expenditure to 13,138,069 kronor, leaving a surplus of 869,566 kronor.

Money and Credit.

The Riksbank, or National Bank of Sweden, belongs entirely to the State and is managed by directors elected for three years by the Diet, except one, the president, who is designated by the king. It is a bank of exchange to regulate financial relations with foreign countries, it accepts deposits of money, and on sufficient security it lends money for purposes in which there is no speculative element. The Bank is under the guarantee of the Diet, its capital and reserve capital are fixed by its constitution, and its note circulation is limited by the value of its metallic stock and its assets in current accounts at home and abroad; but its actual circulation is kept far within this limit.

The following table gives statistics of the National Bank, private banks, and joint-stock banks in Sweden for January 1, 1904 (18 kronor = : £1). There are twenty-two conjointly responsible private banks and forty-nine joint-stock banks (beginning of 1904). Since December 31, 1903, only the Riksbank has the right to issue notes :

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The savings-banks statistics (exclusive of Post Office) are as follows:

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At the end of 1902 the Post Office Savings Bank had 577,627 depositors and 53,916,398 kronor of deposits.

The Private and Joint-Stock Banks also act as Savings Banks. Their statistics of depositors and deposits are as follows:

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The Constitution of Norway, called the Grundlov, bears date May 17, 1814, with several modifications passed at various times. It vests the legislative power of the realm in the Storthing, or Great Court, the representative of the sovereign people. The King, however, possesses the right of veto over laws passed by the Storthing, but only for a limited period. The royal veto may be exercised twice; but if the same bill pass three Storthings formed by separate and subsequent elections, it becomes the law of the land without the assent of the sovereign. The King has the command of the land and sea forces, and makes all appointments, but, except in a few cases, is not allowed to nominate any but Norwegians to public offices under the crown. The Storthing assembles every year. New elections take place every three years. The meetings take place suo jure, and not by any writ from the King or the executive. They begin on the first weekday after October 10 each year, and must receive

the sanction of the King to sit longer than two months. Every Norwegian citizen of twenty-five years of age (provided that he resides and has resided for five years in the country) is entitled to elect, unless he is disqualified from a special cause, for instance, actual receiving of parish relief. Under the same conditions citizens thirty years of age, and having resided in Norway for ten years, are qualified to be elected. The mode of election is indirect. Every third year the people choose their deputies, one to fifty voters in towns where the election is administered by the magistrate, and one to a hundred in rural districts, where the election is presided over by the bailiff (Lensmand) or other member of the election-committee. The deputies afterwards assemble and elect from among themselves, or from among the other qualified voters of the district, the Storthing representatives. Former members of the Council of State can be elected representatives of any district of the Kingdom without regard to their residence. No new election takes place for vacancies, which are filled by the persons already elected for that purpose, or, if not, who received the second largest number of votes. At the election in 1903 the number of electors was 457,541, or 19.96 per cent. of total population, while 236,650 votes, or 51.72 per cent. of the whole number, were recorded. The Storthing has 117 members-39 from towns, 78 from rural districts.

The Storthing, when assembled, divides itself into two houses, the 'Lagthing' and the 'Odelsthing.' The former is composed of one-fourth of the members of the Storthing, and the other of the remaining three-fourths. The Thing nominates its own presidents. The principal ordinary business of the Storthing is to enact or repeal laws, to impose taxes, to supervise the financial affairs of the kingdom, to vote the amounts required for the public expenditure, and to examine treaties concluded with foreign Powers. Questions relating to laws must be considered by each house separately. The inspection of public accounts and the revision of the Government, and impeachment before the Rigsret, belong exclusively to the Odelsthing. All other matters are settled by both houses in common sitting. The Storthing elects five delegates, whose duty it is to revise the public accounts. new laws must first be laid before the Odelsthing, from which they pass into the Lagthing to be either accepted or rejected. If the Odelsthing and Lagthing do not agree, the two houses assemble in common sitting to deliberate, and the final decision is given by a majority of two-thirds of the voters. The same majority is required for alterations of the Constitution. The Lagthing and the ordinary members of the supreme court of justice (Höiesteret) form a high court of justice (the Rigsret) for the impeachment and trial of Ministers, members of the Höiesteret, and members of the Storthing. While in session, every member of the Storthing has au allowance of twelve kroner (13s. 4d.) a day, besides travelling expenses.

All

The executive is represented by the King, who exercises his authority through a Council of State, composed of two Ministers of State and at least

seven Councillors. Two of the Councillors, who change every year, together with one of the Ministers, form a delegation of the Council of State, residing at Stockholm, near the King. Ministers and Councillors of State are entitled to be present in the Storthing and to take part in the discussions, when public, but without a vote. The following are the members of the Council of

State, March 10, 1905 :

(1.) Council of State at Kristiania.

Premier and Minister of Justice.-M. Michelsen.

Ministry for Worship and Instruction.-Dean Knudsen.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Navigation, and Industry.— M. Arctander.

Ministry for Agriculture.-M. Vinje.

Ministry for Public Works.-M. Lehmkuhl.

Ministry for Finance and Customs.-M. Gunnar Knudsen.

Ministry for Defence.-General Olsenn.

(2.) Delegation of the Council at Stockholm.

M. Lövland, Minister of State.

M. Hagerup-Bull.

M. Bothner.

II. LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

The administrative division of the country is into twenty districts, each governed by a chief executive functionary (Amtmand), viz., the towns of Kristiania and Bergen, and 18 'Amts' (counties). There are 40 towns, 23 'Ladesteder' (ports), and 563 rural communes (Herreder), mostly parishes or sub-parishes (wards). The government of the Herred is vested in a body of representatives (from 12 to 48), and a council (Formænd), elected by and from among the representatives, who are four times the number of the 'Formænd. The representatives elect conjointly every third year from among the Formænd' a chairman and a deputy chairman. All the chairmen of the rural communes of an Amt form with the Amtmand the Amtsthing' (county diet), which meets yearly to settle the budget of the Amt. The Amtmand is the chairman of the diet. The towns and the ports form 61 communes, also governed by a council (5 to 21), and representatives (four times the size of the council); a chairman and a deputy chairman are yearly elected. members of the local governing bodies are elected under the same conditions as the Storthing, with the exception that a limited suffrage was in 1901 accorded to women.

Area and Population.

I. PROGRESS AND PRESENT CONDITION.

The

Norway has an area of 124,130 English square miles; at the census of December 3, 1900, the population amounted to 2,240,032.

The area and population of the twenty districts (Amter) were as follows:

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In 1900 there were 1,087,603 males, and 1,152,429 females.

Conjugal condition of the present population, 1900:

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Of the total population in 1900, 1,612,382 (72.0 per cent.) were domiciled in rural districts, and 627,650 (28.0 per cent.) in

towns.

Of the total population in 1900, 2,156,701 were born in Norway, 49,662 in Sweden, 3,775 in Denmark, 2,182 in Finland, 2,787 in Germany, 909 in Great Britain or Ireland. In 1900 the number of Laps was 19,677, and of Fins, 7,777.

In 1900 the population was divided according to occupation as follows:

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