Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/1232

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NOilWAY

The following are the postal statistics : —

—

1907

1908 1 1909

1910 1911

Letters .... Post-cards. Letters with declara- tion of value. Registered letters Journals

Otlier printed matter. yainples and parcels.

75,497,800 15,381,400

3,623,000

1,301,700

80,150,300

11,034,500

1,728,100

60,734,400 15,111,600

4,204,000

1,620,000

84,569,600

10,790,900

1,944,300

62,337,800 15,808,600

4,283,000

1,633,600

91,823,300

11,348,500

2,159,500

72,704,456 ! 71,040,553 17,040,110 17,798,759

4,552,000 4,916,720

1,702,084 1 1,818,971

91,747,475 i 100,227,296

13,745,849 j 14,391,109

2,330,194 2.518,605

Length of telegraph and telex)houe lines and wires, June 30, 1912 ; 13,222 miles of line, 104,995 miles of wires. Number of paid messages on the State lines, 3,616,251. Number of telephone conversations on trunk lines, 4,989,912. State telegi-aph offices, 1,305 ; receipts, 6,615,809 kroner ; expenses, 4,702,049 kroner.

The Government's first land wireless telegraphy stations were the two built in Lofoten in 1905 and 1906. In 1905 the navy, after equipjiing its ships with wireless apparatus, established two stations, the Tj(/)ra(/) and the Flekkerc/), and operated them until a couple of years ago, when they were transferred to the Telegraph Board. In the autumn of 1910 the Y;ir(|) station at Lofoten was opened, and there are now (1913) five coast stations in operation besides three large station;!.

Money and Credit.

On June 30, 1911, the Norwegian coins in circulation (the coinage after the monetary reform deducting the coins melted down) were : Gold coin, 22,640,000 kroner ; silver coin, 13,303,000 kroner ; bronze coin, 1,055,000 kroner; total, 36,998,000 kroner.

There exists no Government paper money.

The value of income and property assessed for taxes in 1911 was : —

Property. 965 "0 millions of kroner 1,728-4

The towns

The rural districts

Income. 302 '1 millions of kroner 307-1

2,693-4

The whole kingdom 609-2 ,, ,,

The ' Norges Bank' is a joint-stock bank, of which, however, a considerable part is owned by the State. The bank is, besides, governed by laws enacted by the State, and its directors are elected by the Storting except the presi- dent and vice-president of the head office, who are nominated by the King. It is the only bank in Norway that is authorised to issue bank notes for circulation. The balance-sheets of the bank for 1911 show the following figures: — Assets at the end of the year — bullion, 60,385,623 kroner; out- standing capital, mortgaged estates, foreign bills, &c. , 76,944,992 kroner; total, 137,335,615 kroner. Liabilities — notes in circulation, 92,873,497 kroner ; the issue of notes allowed was 95,385,623 kroner ; deposits, cheques, unclaimed dividends, unsettled losses, &c. , 13,358,701 kroner (of which the deposits amounted to 9,348,060 kroner) ; dividends payable for the year, 1,900,000 kroner, 10 per cent. ; total, 108,899,657 ; balance, 28,435,958.

The 'Kongeriget Norges Hypothekbank ' was established in 1852 by the State to meet the demand for loans on mortgage. The capital of the bank is mostly furnished by the State, and amounted to 26,500,000 kroner in 1911. The bank has besides a reserve fund amounting in 1911 to 1,100,000 kroner, and the same year a delcredere fund of 28,299 kroner. At the end of 1911 the total amount of bonds issued was 180,314,120 kroner. The loans on mortgage amounted to 193,125,634 kroner.