The Free Towns, Hamburg and Bremen, are the chief gates of commercial intercourse of Germany with the United Kingdom. (See pages 182-89.)

In Prussia, by a series of ordinance from 1807 to 1850, complete free trade in land has been established, and all personal and material burdens removed that would stand in the way of this. With the exception of the Mecklenburgs, similar legislation has been applied to the land in other parts of Germany. In some districts peasant proprietorship prevails, the little farms being often cut up into very small parcels, which, however, under Government supervision, are being gradually re-arranged and consolidated. Generally speaking, small estates and peasant proprietorship prevail in the West German states, while large estates prevail in the north. In Prussia large estates prevail in Pommerania, Posen, East and West Prussia and Hanover; while the districts of Coblentz, Wiesbaden, and Treves are parcelled out into small estates. In South Altenburg a third of the land belongs to peasant proprietors, while in Anhalt a third belongs to the reigning family and the state.

Of the whole area of Germany, 94 is classed as productive and only 6 per cent. unproductive. The subdivision of the soil is given as follows for 1879: area under cultivation, 64,549,785 acres; grass meadows and permanent pasture, 25,960,715 acres; woods and forests, 34,181,974 acres; all other, 8,383,449 acres; total, 133,075,323 acres. The following are the returns of the leading agricultural products in 1882:

Of the total beet-product, 88,972,640 cwt. were devoted to sugar manufacturing, which produced 20,628,000 cwt. of raw sugar and molasses. In 1882, 293,127 acres were under vineyards, and produced 35,130,788 gallons of wine; in the financial year 1882-3, 55,000 acres were under tobacco, and produced 767,067 cwt. as

compared with 1,202,520 cwt. in 1881-2. Germany also produces about 230,000 cwt. of hops, about one-third of which she exports. As in 1882, Germany imported about 42 million cwt. of grain produce, and exported only 3,780,000 cwt., she required about 38 million cwt. in addition to her own produce for home consumption. The following are the statistics of domestic animals according to the census of January, 1883 :

Of the above numbers there belong to Prussia 2,417,138 horses, 8,737,199 cattle. 14,747,975 sheep, 5,818,732 swine, 1,679,686 goats, and 1,237,991 beehives; to Bavaria, 356,316 horses, 3,037,098 cattle, 1,178,270 sheep, 1,038,344 swine.

Forestry in Germany is an industry of great importance, conducted under the care of the State on scientific methods. In South and Central Germany from 30 to 38 per cent. of the surface is covered with forests; and in parts of Prussia 20 per cent. From forests and domains alone Prussia receives a revenue of about 4 millions sterling.

The quantities (in metrical tons=984 of the English ton) and values of the principal minerals and metals produced in Germany in 1882 and 1883 were as follow:

The great bulk of these minerals are produced in Prussia, the mining districts of Breslau, Dortmund, and Bonn yielding most of the coal and iron. The total value of all the minerals produced in Germany in 1883 was 23,300,000l., of which over 18 millions belonged to Prussia. In connection with coal-mining alone 225,000 people were engaged in 1882. In 1883 the production of pig-iron in Germany was 3,419,635 tons, valued at 9,046,3501., the number of furnaces in blast in 1882 being 261. The total production of pig-iron in 1880 was 2,729,038 tons; in 1881, it was 2,914,009 tons; and in 1882 it was 3,380,806 tons. The import and export of pig-iron in 1883 were very nearly equal. The total value of the productions of the foundries of all kinds in 1883 was about 16 millions sterling. The total value of finished iron in 1881 was 22,971,1467., in 1882 27,149,0057., and in 1883, 24,150,000. In 1882 there were in Germany 335 works producing finished iron, besides 75 steel-works. Nearly 200,000` men are employed in Germany in connection with the various stages of iron. The relative importance of other manufacturing industries will be seen by reference to the section relating to population.

The following was the distribution of the mercantile navy of Germany on January 1, 1883 and 1884.-

Of the total shipping in 1883, 2,815 vessels, of 449,391 tons, and in 1884, 2,747, of 453,272 tons, belonged to Prussian ports. The total number of sailors belonging to the shipping in 1884 was 39,615. In 1876 it was 42,362. The following table shows the shipping at all German ports in 1881 and 1882 :

1

About three-fourths of the vessels and half the tonnage were German. Of foreign vessels the largest number, over 10 per cent. of the whole, were British; while one-third of the total tonnage was of that nationality. One-half of the total number of German vessels are under 150 tons.

In 1884, the railways of the Empire completed and open for public traffic had a total length of 22,617 English miles. Of these lines 19,230 miles belong to, and 645 are worked by, the State; the remainder belong to and are worked by private companies, but all will soon be State property.

The total number of telegraphic despatches in the year 1883 was 18,377,626, of which 13,116,922 were inland, and the remainder international. The length of telegraph lines in the Empire at the end of 1883 was 47,637 miles, and of telegraph wires 170,960 miles.

The Imperial post office carried 732,421,890 letters, 206,463,350 post cards, 16,425,950 patterns, 186,041,100 stamped wrappers, 508,492,880 newspapers, in the year 1883, and 163,572,016 registered packets of 858,353,8327. value. The total receipts of the post office (including telegraphic service) in 1883-84 amounted to 177,952,175 mark, or 8,897,6081., and the total expenditure to 154,505,315 mark, or 7,725,2651. The number of post offices was 13,637, with 11,216 telegraphic stations at the end of 1883, and 86,173 persons employed.

Foreign Possessions.

During 1884 Germany extended her Empire beyond the bounds of Europe by taking under her protection certain portions of the West Coast of Africa. On the Slave Coast Germany has annexed the territories of Togo and Bagida, extending about 24 miles beyond the eastern limit of the British Gold Coast colony. In Biafra Bay to the east of the British Oil River territory Germany has annexed the district of Bimbia, the island of Nikol, and the various kinglets of the Cameroon river, the district of Malimba, Plantation, and Criby, where the French territory of Gaboon is reached. On the

south-west coast of Africa Germany has annexed the coast of Damara Land from Cape Frio, the southernmost point of Portuguese West Africa, to Walvisch Bay; and the Namaqualand coast from Walvisch Bay to the Orange River, the northern boundary of Cape colony. On this coast is Angra Pequeña where a German trader Lüderitz acquired a station in 1883. The country reaching from 26° S. lat. to the Orange River, about 150 miles in length, and extending indefinitely inland, is now called Lüderitzland. In the Pacific Ocean Germany has taken possession of Hermit Island lying to the west of the Admiralty Group, the Duke of York group of islands lying in the channel between New Britain and New Ireland, and of part of the island of New Britain, including the harbours of Makada, Mioko, and Port Wesley. The Duke of York Group has an area of about 40 square miles and the island of New Britain has an area of upwards of 10,000 square miles; the inhabitants are chiefly cannibals.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1. OF GERMANY IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Ambassador.-Count Georg von Münster, accredited Jan. 26, 1873.
Councillor of Embassy.-Freiherr von Plessen.
Secretary.-Count Stumm.

Military Attaché.-Commander Ivan Oldekop.
Director of Chancery.-Wilhelm Adolph Schmettau.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN GERMANY.

Ambassador.-Sir Edward Baldwin Malet, K.C.B., Secretary of Legation at Pekin, 1871-3; Athens, 1873-5; Rome, 1875-8; Constantinople, 1878-9; Agent and Consul-General in Egypt, 1879-83; appointed Minister Plenipotentiary in the Diplomatic Service, October 10, 1879; Envoy and Minister to Belgium, August 29, 1883; appointed to Berlin, September 20, 1884.

Secretaries. Charles Stewart Scott; Martin H. Gosselin; Henry G. G. Cadogan; F. L. Cartwright.

Military Attaché.-Col. L. V. Swaine, C.B.

Naval Attaché.-Captain Kane, R.N.
Commercial Attaché.-J. A. Crowe.

Consul-General.-Herr von Bleichröder.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures generally in use throughout the whole of Germany, and their British equivalents, are—

MONEY.

The Mark, of 100 Pfennig, approximate value

The Thaler = 3 marks.

=

18. 20.43 mark = £1.

On January 1, 1872, a law for the uniformity of coinage throughout the Empire, passed by the Reichstag, was published by the Imperial government. Under this law the standard of value is gold.