Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/748

* NORWAY. 636 NORWAY. Imports.. Exports.. WO.500.000 28.500,000 1891-95 $59,500,000 35,000,000 $76,900,000 41,100.000 The ajigrcgate forei<,'n ooniiiiercc since the mid- dle of the nineteenth century lias more than quad- rupled. The imports largely exceed the exports, but this difference is covered to a great extent by the profits from the shipping trade, as Nor- way is a great carrier of freight for foreign coun- tries. Articles of food and driidc are the largest imports. Nearly half the value of the imporls is represented by cereals, rye being the chief item, with barley, wheat flour, rye flour, and wheat fol- lowing, (Jrocerics, particularly sugar and collee, are large imports. Bacon and other meats are brought ehielly from the United States, Cotton and woolen goods and yam are the chief textile purchases. Among the imports of raw material are coal, hides and skins, iron and steel, cotton, wool and hemu. The country buys over l.ioO.OOO tons of coal every year. Oils, particularly kero- sene, hempseed. and linseed, amount to abovit .$1,. 500, 000 a year. Steam-engines, locomotives, metal goods, and vessels are also large imports. Timber and fishery products are the most impor- tant exports. About one-fourth of the timber is sent abroad as deals and boards. Some .'J.iO,- 000 tons of wood pulp are annually sold. The increased sales of the products of agriculture and cattle-raising, which have quadrupled since l.HTl-T"), are es[)ccially due to expiirts of l)utt('r and con<lensed milk. Among other important ex- ports are packing paper, ships, ice, dressed stone, iron and steel nails, and metal and ores. The United Kingdom and Germany are most impor- tant in Norwegian commerce, the United King- dom commanding about one-third and (iermany one-fourth of the entire trade, while Sweden has less than a tenth. The sales to the United States are very small, as the latter country produces in great abundance most of the ex])(n't commodi- ties of Norway; but Norway buys from this country cotton, wheat, provisions, tools, machin- ery, fertilizers, locomotives, and leather goods to the value of several million dollars a year. The foreign commerce is carried on chiefly through the ports of Ohristiania, Uergen, and Trondhjem, the tindier-trading towns of Frc<lriks(ad and Drauunen being also especially im])ortant. Chris- tiansand is widely known for its export of sailed and dried fish. ThANSI'ORTATION and CoMMfNICATIONS. The Norwegians are a race of sailors. Their mer- chant marine is the fourth largest in the world, and in proportion to population it heads the list. While the natural commerce is comparatively small, Norwegian vessels and sailors are con- spicuous in the sea carriage of freight for for- eign nations. . considerable number of their vessels are engaged in the fruit trade between the I'nited States and T.atin America. In 1002 the mercantile marine included .'5445 sailing vessels (n.'i.-),!)47 tons) and 122.3 steamers (.531,142 tons), or a total of fiOriS vessels with a tonnage of l,4(i7,OSn, The total length of railroads in 1001 was l.SOS miles, of which the State railroads had a mileage of Hfi,S. Panks. The right to issue paper money is re- served to the riank of Norway (Norges Bank), n joint stock hank owned in part by the State, The bank has charge of the money transactions of the State, and does business as a loan, circula- tion, discount, and deposit institution. The head ollicc is at Christiania, and it has twelve branch ollices in the most important towns. The bal- ance sheets for 11)01 showed total assets of $20,578,026. The Mortgage Bank of the King- dom of Norway, "Kongeriget Norges Hypothek- bank,"' makes loans on real estate. The capital of the bank is partly supplied by the State, and amounted in 1001 to $4,000,000; the loans on mortgage at the end of 1001, $30,150,500, of which al)Out one-fourth had been granted on town and I luce- fourths on country ])ropcrty ; the total amount of bonds issued was .$34,002,071. There were 78 private joint stock banks, with a paid up capital of $11,373,402, The luunber of char- tered savings banks, all controlled by the Minis- try of Finance, was 421, with 005,524 depositors and $8(1,202,423 deposits, GovEK.NMENT, Norway, though united to Swe- den since 1S15, under the same King, retains its own (tovernment with a separate Jlinistry and Legislature. The law of succession to the crown is the same in both c(nmtrics. and commissioners appointed by the two Parliaments regulate the questions touching the transmission of the crown. Affairs common to the two governments are at- tended to by a Council of Stnte composed of both .Swedes and Norwegians, The form of gov- ernment in Norway is fixed by the Constitution or fundamental law of May 17, 1814, which has undergone several subsequent modifications. The Norwegian State is a constitutioiial monarchy with the parliamentary or responsible system of government. The legislative power is vested in a Parliament or Storthing, which, upon assembling, divides itself for legislative jiurposes into two chambers, the Odclsthing and the Lagthing. The former consists of three-fourths of the whole number of niemlwrs chosen to the Parliament. The members include representatives from the cities and representatives from the country, all chosen for a period of three years aiul renewed integrally. All male citiz»Mis twenty-five years of age who have resided in the State for a |)eriod of live years are qualified to vote for membi'rs of the Storthing tmlcss disipmlified for special causes. To be eligible to membership in the Storthing one nuist be a male citizen thirty years of age, and must have resided in Norway for a period of ten years. Certain high State function- aries arc disqualified. The elections are indirect and in the second degree. A certain inmdier of primary electors in the country choose on<' sec onilarv elector; the secondary electors then as- semble in the chief towns of the electoral district and choose a certain number from their own! body to serve as representatives in the Storthingji The Storthing meets annually, but cannot remain in session for a 4ongcr period than three months without the authorization of the King. The King may call extraordinary sessions of the Storthing and dissolve it, but he does not have power to dissolve the ordinary sessions and order new elections. The members receive a compensation of about $3 per day during the session. .fter the separation of the Storthing into two chambers, each meets separately, chooses its ow iifllcers. and is the judge of the election am qualifications of its mendiers. Bills are first presented to the Odclsthing by its own members or by the Oovernment, and after passage are sent to the Lagthing, which must either accept or re« <