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39,499; surplus. 10,678. Emigrants beyond Europe, 1881, 692; 1882, 696; 1883, 872; 1884, 750; 1885, 738; 1886, 602.

At the census of December 1, 1885, there were in the Reichsland 1,210,297 Roman Catholics, 312,941 Protestants, 3,799 members of other Christian sects, 36,876 Jews; other religions 6, and 436 unclassified. According to an official estimate (1887) 250,000 of the inhabitants are of French origin (Sprachstamme), and 1,310,000 of German origin.

The three largest towns of the Reichsland are Strassburg, capital of Alsace-Lorraine, Mülhausen in Ober-Elsass, and Metz in Lothringen. At the census of 1885 Strassburg had 111,987, Mülhausen 69,759, and Metz 54,072 inhabitants.

Alsace-Lorraine is a great wine-producing country. Of the 1,698 communes, 1,042 have vineyards (1887).

The total number of agricultural enclosures, each under one household, was, 1882, 233,866, with a population of 627,800, of whom 302,593 were actively engaged on the farms. Of these enclosures 98,310 were less than 1 hectare each; 122,488 ranged from 1 to less than 10; 12,674 from 10 to less than 100 hectares; while 394 had each 100 hectares and upwards.

There were 819 miles of railway in Alsace-Lorraine in 1887.

Commerce of Germany.

The trade and commerce of the Empire are under the administration and guidance of special laws and rules, emanating from the Zollverein, or Customs' League, which embraces the whole of the States of Germany, with the exception of the two cities of Hamburg and Bremen. The privilege of Hamburg and Bremen to remain free ports,' conceded in 1868, was ratified in the Imperial Constitution of April 16, 1871, the 34th article of which enacts that the two Hanse towns shall remain 'outside the common line of customs'-'until they themselves demand admittance.' By a treaty with the German Imperial Government, the free-port privileges of Hamburg, formerly embracing the whole State, have now been restricted to the city and port of Hamburg.

There was, previous to the year 1871, a twofold representation of the Zollverein, that of governments, in the Zollverein Council, and that of populations, in the Zollverein Parliament, the members of which latter body were elected in the same manner as the deputies to the North German Federal diet, and met in annual session at the beginning of the year. Under the Constitution of April 16, 1871, the functions of the Zollverein Parliament merged in the

Reichstag of the Empire, and those of the Zollverein Council in the Federal Council, and devolve upon three committees sitting permanently, namely, for finance, for taxes and customs, and for trade. All the receipts of the Zollverein are paid into a common exchequer, and distributed, pro rata of population, among the States of the Empire. The chief sources of revenue are customs duties, mainly on imports, and taxes upon spirits, beer (malt), salt, sugar manufactured from beet-root, and tobacco.

The value of imports for home consumption and exports of home produce for five years is as follows (in thousands of marks):

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The value of the general commerce in 1886 was, for imports, 4,364,881,000 marks, and exports, 4,450,523,000 marks.

The following are the principal details of the special commerce for 1886:

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EXPORTS IMPORTS

The combined imports of gold and silver (included in the above) amount to 2,828,400l., and exports, 3,290,9007.

Some of the leading imports and exports under the above heads were, in 1,000 marks value, as follows:

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The commerce of the Zollverein was divided as follows in 1886 :

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Germany had besides in 1886 a direct transit trade valued at 1,684,021,000 marks.

The gross produce of the Customs in 1886 was 248,108,120 marks. The following table shows the amount of the commercial inter

* Including Greece and Turkey in Asia.

course between Germany and the United Kingdom in each of the five years 1882 to 1886, according to the Board of Trade returns :

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Including colonial produce, the total imports from Great Britain in 1886 amounted to 26,302,2671.

The staple articles of export from Germany to the United Kingdom consist of agricultural produce, chief among them breadstuffs, sugar, live animals, timber, bacon and hams, eggs and butter. The following table gives the declared value of these four principal articles in each of the years 1883-86:

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The exports of breadstuffs from Germany to Great Britain consist mainly of wheatflour, wheat, and barley, besides some pease, rye, and oats. The remaining exports embrace a great variety of articles, nearly all of them the produce of agriculture. Until recently potatoes were an important export to Great Britain; in 1880 it was valued at 1,716,4357., in 1882 it had sunk to 124,4047., to 36,1037. in 1885; it was 52,375l. in 1886.

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Other exports of British produce are alkali, 70,8397.; chemicals, 208,2611.; hardwares, 153,5391.; leather, 300,0821.; linen and linen goods, 461,6231.; oils, 585,0551.; wool, 641,1187., in 1886. The Free Towns, Hamburg and Bremen, are the chief gates of commercial intercourse of Germany with the United Kingdom.

Industry.

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. 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 Pomerania, Posen, East and West Prussia and Hanover; while the districts of Coblenz, Wiesbaden, and Treves are parcelled out into small estates.

Of the whole area of Germany, 94 per cent. is classed as productive, and only 6 unproductive. The subdivision of the soil is given as follows according to the survey of 1883: Area under cultivation, 26,311,968 hectares (1 hectare 247 acres); grass, meadows, permanent pasture and waste lands, 10,944,570 hectares; woods and forests, 13,908,398 hectares; all other, 2,860,149 hectares. The following are the returns of the leading agricultural products in 1886-87:

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Of barley, wheat, oats, and rye, Germany imports more than she exports, potatoes being the only important crop of which the export exceeds the import. In 1886-87, 7,823,000 tons of beet, besides molasses and raw sugar, were devoted to sugar-manufacturing, which produced 1,418,900 tons of raw and refined sugar. In the financial year 1886-87, 49,000 acres were under tobacco, and produced

*Metric ton = 2,500 lbs.

+ 1 hectolitre 22 gallons.

=

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