The principal articles of imports from Belgium for the year ending June 30, 1896, were: Cement, $871.000; chemicals, drugs and dyes, $241,507; chicory root, $202,993; cotton, manufactures of, $366,112; flax, hemp, and jute, manufactures of, $576,354; furs, manufactures of, $366,602; glass and glassware, $1,688,616; hides and skins, not furs, $211,336; jewelry, $1,269,155; leather, kid gloves, $410,608 paper stock, $372,141; provisions, meat products and cheese, $267,292; sugar, not above No. 16 D. S., beet, $1,771,977; wool, $1,432,400; manufactures of, $666,594. Principal exports to Belgium were: Breadstuffs, $3,893,234; copper, ingots, bar, and old, $1,525,351; cotton, unmanufactured, $3,539,012; iron and steel, manufactures of, $611,490; leather, manufactured, $446,419; naval stores (rosin, etc., and turpentine), $742,158; oil cake and oil-cake meal, $1,206,719; refined mineral oil, $2,637,758; provisions, $4,877,026, of which $2,520,358 is bacon and hams and $1,900,065 is lard; tobacco, unmanufactured, $2,216,921; wool, and manufactures of, $591,108. GOLD AND SILVER COIN AND BULLION, IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. For years 1855 to 1884, see this "Year Book," Volume I, pages 42 and 43. Shipping, Railroads, Telegraphs, Post-Office. (See Index.) Money. The franc is the unit of value, and is of the par value of 19.3 cents. Belgium is one of the five : States forming the Latin Union. For gold and silver coins, see Index. For monetary system of Latin Union, see "Commercial Year Book," Volume I, pages 61-63. The nominal value of coin minted and circulated from 1832 to 1894 was: Gold, 598,612,745 franes; silver, 556,342,745 francs; copper and nickel, 17,671,784 francs; total, 1,172,657,275 francs. No coinage has been minted recently. The proportion of Belgian and of foreign fractional silver coin (2, 1, and franc pieces) in circulation was as follows: Of silver fractional pieces amounting to 349,217 francs received at the offices of the bank on September 1, 1893, 43.53 per cent. in value was Belgian, 34.24 per - cent. French, 17.83 per cent. Italian, 3.65 per cent. Swiss, 0.745 per cent. Greek; or 56.465 per cent. was foreign. Banking. The one bank of emission in Belgium is the National Bank, instituted 1850. Its capital, entirely paid up, is 550 million francs. It is the cashier of the State, and is authorized to carry on the usual banking operations. The situation of the bank on September 30, 1897, was: Cash, 104,300,000 francs: notes to bearer in circulation, 486,000,000 francs; accounts current and deposits, 41,400,000 francs; portfolio, 426,800,000 franes; advances on mortgage, 28,000,000 francs; treasury account and deposits, 46,200,000 francs. The condition of the 54 joint-stock and private banks at the end of 1896 was: There are, besides, agricultural banks, credit unions, and popular banks. statistics of the State savings-banks: 1,000 Francs. 205,288 96,862 274.576 568,793 20.508 1,166,027 The following are RUSSIA. Area and Population. The area of the Russian Empire, including its internal waters, covers 8,644,100 English square miles. There has been no general census enumeration of its population since 1859, when the number of inhabitants was 74,000,000 in round numbers. The growth of population has since then been largely accelerated by acquisitions of territory, and the rate of increase is indicated by the following figures, supposed to be based on careful estimates. The latest census figures are appended and differ slightly from the estimated population for 1895, given in this work last year: According to official statistics there was in Russia an excess of emigration over immigration in the case of Russians of 1,146,052 in 33 years (1856-1888), and a surplus of immigration of 2,304,717 foreigners during the same time. Emigration is on the increase. Of late the Russians, especially Jews, contributed a large part to the flow of emigrants into the United States. During the years 1871-85, 8,767.605 foreigners entered Russia, but only 7,525,360 left, showing thus an immigration of 1,242,245 (563,345 Germans, 447,736 Austrians, 9,395 English, and nearly 100,000 Persians). The surplus of foreigners who entered Russia during the years 1886-88 (2,478,430) over those who left was 278,947, while the surplus of Russian subjects who left Russia (1,413,018) over those who returned was 136,129. The emigration to Siberia may be judged from the following numbers of emigrants carried on board the steamers which ply on the Ob and Irtysh: In 1888, 26,129; in 1889, 30,410; in 1890, 36,000; in 1891, 60,000; in 1892, 100,000; in 1895, 100,000, and in 1896 and 1897 from 150,000 to 200,000 each year. Fiscal Affairs. The following table gives the total actual ordinary and extraordinary revenue and expenditure in paper roubles. The table is made up upon a new classification adopted on June 4, 1894, and differs from preceding years as follows: (1) All revenue which was commonly calculated in the budget estimates with the fluctuating value of the rouble is now calculated at a uniform value of 1 rouble 50 copecks paper = 1 rouble gold, and 1 rouble 50 copecks in silver; and (2) various articles which were differently classed in former estimates, some of them in the ordinary and others in the extraordinary, are classed for all the ten years according to the new classification, in paper roubles: *Siberian Railway, 82.248,170 roubles; works connected with it, 2,485,410 roubles; other railways of general use, 35,726,000 roubles; local small branches, 10,000,000 roubles. Siberian Railway, 61,134,110 roubles; works connected with it, 3,280,652 roubles; other railways of general use, 54,041,387 roubles; local small branches, 10,656,047 roubles. Siberian Railway, 34,447,020 roubles: works connected with it, 3,718,363 roubles: other railways, 13,565,182 roubles; local small branches, 10,000,000 roubles; rolling stock for Siberian and other railways, 49,234,145 roubles. PUBLIC DEBT. 5% per cent.. 5 per cent.. 4% per cent Treasury bonds. Total... Paper currency covered. To cover paper currency.. Total cost... New loans concluded The Controller's report, December 31, 1897, shows the public debt of Russia as follows: Loans converted 6 per cent.. (4 p. c.) for nominal sum of.. Taken from Imperial Treasury. There is, in addition to the above, 621,281,634 paper roubles for paper currency uncovered. 2,127,954,463 2,128,826,099 2,920,855,660 silver. Agriculture. The lands of Russia are distributed among the different classes of owners as follows: In Central Russia 66 per cent. of the arable land is under crops; in South Russia, 78 per cent.; in North and in Southeast Russia, 10 per cent.; and in Astrakhan only 8 per cent. The cereal crops of Russia in Europe (exclusive of Finland) for the last four years are seen from the following, in thousands of quarters (8 bushels) : In European Russia, in 1896, there were 5,484,050 acres under flax, yielding 670,000 tons of flax fiber and 909,200 tons linseed, of which 41,190 tons and 58,000, respectively, were reported; 2,004,730 acres under hemp, 246,800 tons of fiber, and 723,400 tons hempseed; 14,000 tons fiber reported. About 6,500 tons of hops are gathered each year. According to an official report, the Russian crops (Caucasus and Poland included) in 1897 were as follows: Rye, 946,047,000 pouds: winter wheat, 156,680,000 pouds: spring wheat, 331,314,000 pouds; oats, 515.523,000 pouds: barley, 288,977,000 pouds; buckwheat, 469,377,000 pouds; millet, 80,322,000 pouds; maize, 36,185,000 pouds. The estimated wheat crop of European Russia is 296,000,000 bushels for 1898, as against 285,000,000 bushels in 1897. Mining Industries. The mining industry in Russia is steadily developing. The statistics for the years stated are shown in the following table: Russia remains still dependent upon foreign supplies of coal and coke, as will appear from the following statement of imports, in tons of 2,240 pounds: The Caspian naphtha industry is increasing rapidly. The output in 1896 was, in gallons: Crude oil, 127,423,000: residuum, 927,125,000; illuminating, 433,615,000; lubricating, 42,785,000; others, 5,180,000. Total, 1,536,130,000. Manufactures. Inclusive of the mining, tobacco, spirits, and sugar trades, the manufactories of the Empire having a yearly productivity of more than 1,000 roubles each are estimated as follows: The growth of the different industries for the last 12 years is thus stated by the Ministry of Finance: The cotton industry is making rapid progress, as will appear from the following comparison; the figures represent paper roubles, not gold: *This high figure is obtained by reckoning upon a 12-hour day's work, while many spindles in Russia run from 18 to 24 hours. |