The leading articles of import and export are shown as follows, in thousands of guilders: The imports for home consumption, and exports from and to the leading countries, are shown as follows, in millions of guilders: The principal exports into the United States for the year ending June 30, 1896, were: Chemicals, drugs, dyes, $232,592; coffee, $660,478: fish, preserved, $659,568; flax, hemp, etc., unmanufactured, $251,091; jewelry and precious stones, $1,516,114; oils, $286,199; spices, unground, $298,169; sugar, above No. 16 D. S., $1,023,223; tin, in blocks, bars, etc., $1,253,553; tobacco, leaf, $4,710,024. Imports from the United States were: Breadstuffs, $6,907,797; casings for sausages, $427,701; copper, ingots, bar and old, $5,335,736; cotton, unmanufactured, $556,471; fruits, including nuts, 3643,960: fertilizers, $380,470; leather, $301,818; naval stores, $787,935; oil cake and oil cake meal, $827,114; oil, mineral, refined, $6,884,733; oil, cottonseed, $1,311,540; provisions, $8,681,417, of which lard was $2,387,634; oleomargarine oil, $5,056,488; tobacco, unmanufactured, $1,152,136; wood and manufactures, $3,386,767. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF GOLD AND SILVER COIN AND BULLION. The length of navigable water (canals excluded) is about 3,000 miles. The total extent of the canals was, in 1879, 1,907 miles; of roads, 2,943 miles. In 1894, the total length of the tramway lines was 678 miles; 41,640,000 passengers were carried, and 286,310,000 kilogrammes of goods. Their revenue amounts to 4,872,000 guilders. The total outlay upon the State railways up to 1894 was 226,121,000 guilders. In 1895 the railways had a length of 1,674 miles, whereof the State owned 886 miles, and private companies the remainder. The revenue of the State railways was, in 1895, 20,807,000 florins, and expenditure 17,975,000 florins. Number of passengers carried 11,721,000; goods carried, 6,134,000,000 kilogrammes. The revenue of private railway companies was 15,446,000 florins; expenditure, 11,598,000 florins. Number of passengers carried, 13.387,000; goods carried, 3,291,000,000 kilogrammes. POST-OFFICE AND TELEGRAPHS. The postal traffic in 1895 was: Letters, internal, 56,857,000; foreign, 22,176,000; postal cards, internal, 34,018,789; foreign, 5,986,692; newspapers and printed matter, internal, 112,197,000: foreign, 11,779,000; parcels, internal, 3,799,588; foreign, 698.942. The receipts of the post-office in 1895 were 7,979,359 guilders; expenditures, 6,576,175 guilders. There are several private telegraph lines, but nearly all lines are owned by the State. The length of State lines in 1895 was 3,500 miles, length of wires, 12,521 miles; number of offices, 514; paid messages, 4,433,257. The receipts amounted to 1,475,714 guilders; ordinary expenses, 1,967,894 guilders. MONEY AND CIRCULATION. The standard coin is the 10-florin piece, weighing 6.720 grammes .900 fine, and thus containing 6.048 grammes of fine gold. The unit of the silver coinage is the florin, weighing 10 grammes .945 fine and containing 9.45 grammes of fine silver. Gold is legal tender, and the silver coins issued before 1875. The principal coins are: The gulden, guilder, or florin of 100 cents = 40.2 cents. The rijksdaalder = 2% guilders. The gold piece of ten guilders. -guilder, 4-guilder (kwartje), 1-10 guilder (dubbeltje), 1-20 guilder (stuivertje). Cent coins are: 1 cent, cent, and 2 cents. The total circulation was valued as follows, in thousands of guilders: The Bank of the Netherlands, a private institution, is the only bank authorized to issue banknotes. Its condition is shown as follows, in thousands of guilders: The capital amounts to 20,000,000 guilders, the reserve fund to 5,000,000 guilders. The bank keeps the State treasury and the cash of the State Postal Savings-Bank. It receives 5 per cent. of the clear gains; the remainder is divided between the State and the Bank. There are 282 savings-banks, all private, having 19,186,000 guilders of deposits. Besides these there is a State postal savings-bank, established in 1881, with 23,220,000 guilders of deposits. SWITZERLAND. In 1894, the population of Switzerland was 2,986,848, and in 1888, 2,917,754. The area of the republic is 15,976 square miles. The chief occupations of the population in 1888, with the numbers employed, their families and domestic servants, were: The chief source of revenue is from customs duties, the confederate government having no power to levy direct taxes. The following table gives the total revenue and expenditure of the Confederation: The cantons have their own local administrations and their own budgets of revenue and expenditure. In 1890, their combined revenue was 79,152,000 francs, and expenditure 80,178,000 francs. The cantonal revenues are derived partly from direct taxes on income and property, and partly from indirect duties, stamps, etc. Several cantons have only indirect taxation; and over the whole about 58 per cent. of the revenue is raised in this form. The public debt of the Confederation amounted on January 1, 1896, to 83,889,439 francs, mostly at 3% per cent. At the same date the "Federal Fortune," or State property, was: Real property, 35,102,400 francs; stock, etc., 39,225,184 francs; works producing interest, 16,368,450 francs; stores not producing interest, 20,721,861 france various debts, 533,673 francs; inventory, 30,855,665 francs; alcohol administration, 232,130 franc ** $20 francs; total, 144,800,184 francs, the det Fortune being thus 60,910.745 francs. NDUSTRIES. Out of a population of acou 12,000,000 engaged in agriculture, there are about 300,000 peasant roprietors. Of the total area 28.4 per cent. is unproductive; of the productive area 35.8 per cent, is inder grass and meadows, 29 per cent, under forest, 18.7 per cent. under fruit, 16.4 per cent. under rops and gardens. Rye, oats, and potatoes are the chief crops, but the bulk of food crops consumed the country is imported. The chief agricultural industries are the manufacture of cheese and ndensed milk. The annual export of cheese amounts to 215,560 quintals, and of condensed milk to 91,874 quintals. In 1886, there were 98,333 horses, 1,211,613 cattle, 341,632 sheep, 415,619 goats, 394,451 wine, of the total value of £17,936,880. In 1896, the provisional census returns show: Cattle, 1,304,788; neep, 271,432; pigs, 565,781; horses, 108,529; mules, 3,116; asses, 1,735; goats, 414,968. The Federal alcohol régie in the year 1894-95 sold 58,268 metric quintals of spirits (36 degrees), and 34,869 metric quintals of medicated spirits. In Switzerland there are about 1,400 hotels, employing about 16,000 persons, the receipts of the hotels amounting annually to about £3,500,000. FACTORY STATISTICS. By the census taken on June 5, 1895, of the factories subject to the Federal factory law, the statistics thereof are shown as follows: Of the 200,199 operatives, there were 174,697 Swiss, 14,872 Germans, 5,124 Italians, 3,354 French 1,896 Austrians, and 256 from different other countries. The 152,718 horse-power was produced as follows: 87,865 by water, 53,410 by steam, 4,086 by gas and petroleum, and 7,357 by electricity. FOREIGN COMMERCE. For the years 1890 to 1896, inclusive, the imports for home consumption and the exports of domestic produce, and also of the precious metals, were as follows: The following statement shows the value of principal articles of special commerce: * Only the total shows the exact number of establishments. The addition of the figures would result in a higher number, because establishments engaged in several industries are counted in each group. Includes iron, imports in 1895 being 43,819,995 francs, exports 4,952,170 francs. In 1896, the principal articles imported were, in francs: Chemicals, 19,344,383; wood, 30,789,971; shoes and leather, 22,231,431; machines and vehicles, 27,717,923; iron, 59,995,223; precious metals and minerals, 114,518,259; articles of food and drink and tobacco, 274,808,165; cotton, 63,336,589; silk, 120,513,885; wool, 54,246,314; clothing, 23,915,326; animals, 52,273,576. The principal articles exported in 1896 were: Coloring materials, 14,605,821 francs; watches and clocks, 100,363,493; machines and vehicles, 30,408,775; metals, precious, and minerals, 15,122,021; articles of food and drink and tobacco, 80,439,316; cotton, 135,003,417; silk, 199,580,212; wood, 18,244,948; animals, 14,264,191. The following table shows the geographical distribution of the "special" trade of Switzerland in 1894 (including-bullion but not coin): 1896. 1897. Exports to United States..... $14,118,805 $13,196,469 $16,010,728 $11,450,270 $14,988,954 $14,080,033 $13,849,782 Imports from United States.. 49,317 10,397 7,391 17,124 17,578 32,954 70,610 The principal articles of import from the United States for the year ending June 30, 1896, were: Iron and steel and manufactures of, $12,202. Exports to the United States were: Chemicals, drugs, dyes, etc., $579,474; clocks and watches and parts, $904,697; cotton, manufactures of, $6,455,480 (including laces, edgings, etc., $5,753,885); bat trimmings, $386,671: cheese, $651,841; silk, manufactures of, $3,610,853. IMPORTS AND EXPORTS OF GOLD AND SILVER COIN AND BULLION. In January, 1896, 2,304 miles of railroad were open for traffic. The cost of construction of the lines, rolling stock, etc., up to the end of 1894 was 1,108,387,968 francs. The receipts in 1893 were 101,482,318 francs; expenses, 60,190,897 francs. In 1895 the roads carried 10,379,337 tons of goods and 39,790,918 passengers. In 1895 there were 1,497 post-offices and 1,859 letter boxes. The internal service transmitted 82,047,073 letters, 16,005,514 postal cards, 25,370,248 printed matter, 91,482,098 newspapers, and 3,541,239 sample packages. The foreign service transmitted 16,311,594 letters, postal cards 5,346,783, and 6,532,721 packets of printed matter. Internal money orders were issued to the amount of 457,500,756 francs, and international sent and received, 38,307,963 francs. Receipts, 25,791,435 francs; expenditure, 24,338,942 francs. The telegraph system belongs to the State, excepting wires for railroad service. In 1895 the length of State lines was 4,441 miles; length of wire, 12,502 miles. Railroad and private lines have 963 miles, with 6,958 miles of wire, Transmitted 1,810.338 inland messages, 1,442,117 international, and 554,957 in transit through Switzerland. Number of offices, 1,668. The telephone service had 23,446 offices, 5,533 miles of line, and 32,960 miles of wire. Receipts of telegraph and telephone service, 6,093,447 francs; expenses, 5,606,820 francs. MONEY AND BANKS. Switzerland being a member of the Latin Union, its monetary system conforms to that organization. The franc is the equivalent o 10 batzen and 100 rappen or centimes. The 20-franc piece is .900 fine, the 5-franc silver piece is .900 fine, the silver 2-franc, franc, and half-franc are .835 fine. At |