| NORWAY | 509 |
has, in proportion to its population, the largest commercial navy in the world. At the end of 1873 it consisted of 7,447 vessels, of 1,243,433 tons, manned by 56,147 men. Of these, 199 were steamers having 8,835 horse power, and a tonnage of 38,830. The total value of exports in 1873 was $29,189,000; of imports, $26,738,000. Of the exports, about 30 per cent. were to Great Britain, 16 to Germany, and 8 to France; of the imports, about 28 per cent. were from Great Britain, 26 from Germany, 15 from Denmark, 9 from Sweden, and 9 from Russia. The principal exports are timber and wood, bark, fish, ice, calf and sheep skins, and copper and iron ore; the principal imports are cotton and woollen goods, groceries, grain, tobacco, and manufactured iron. The internal trade of the kingdom suffers from the want of good roads and the comparative thinness of the population. The highways however are gradually improving, and railways are in progress to connect the principal towns. The railways and telegraphs are the property of the government. In 1873 there were 312 m. of railway in operation, and 741 in construction and projected. Those open for traffic were: Christiania to Eidsvold, 45 m.; Christiania to Stockholm, 350 m., of which 76 are in Norway; Christiania to Drammen and Kongsberg, 50 m.; Drammen to Randsfjord, 42 m.; Vigersund to Kroderen, 21 m.; Drontheim to Storen, 28 m.; and Drontheim to Meraker, 50 m. At the end of 1873 there were 101 telegraph stations in the kingdom, with 3,876 m. of lines; the total number of despatches sent was 780,285. The number of post offices in 1872 was 719; number of letters during the year, 7,479,350. Accounts are kept in specie dollars, called Species, equal to $1 10, and divided into 120 Skilling. These coins are silver and copper, there being no gold currency. There is a national bank, which issues notes, in Drontheim, with branches in Christiania, Bergen, and Christiansand.—The fisheries constitute one of the principal industries, and employ many thousand men. The herring fishery, the chief seat of which is on the W. coast between Capes Lindesnæs and Stadt, is carried on in both winter and autumn. The winter fishery, beginning in January, is called the great fishery, and employs about 50,000 men for two months, with a usual product of 800,000 barrels. The autumn fishery is less productive. The cod fisheries may be divided into the sea and the fiord fisheries. The principal sea fisheries are off the Loffoden isles and the coast of Finmark. The former, which is carried on chiefly in February and March, now employs about 20,000 men and 4,000 to 5,000 boats. The catch is about 20,000,000 fish. These are the largest cod that are caught. The Finmark fishery begins later, ending about the last of May. The yield is usually from 11,000,000 to 15,000,000 fish, which are smaller than the Loffoden cod, and resemble those caught off the coast of Labrador. The total catch of the cod fisheries in 1873 was 27,000,000. Previous to 1859 the Loffoden fishing waters were divided into small areas which were under the control of traders, but they are now free. On the S. coast the mackerel fishery employs many men. In 1869 there were 117 vessels and boats engaged in the shark fishery in the Arctic ocean, which took 7,277 barrels of livers for oil; and in 1870 there were 37 vessels employed in seal and walrus fishing off Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen. The usual product of the seal fishery is about 400,000 species a year. The other principal industries are lumbering, mining, and the common trades. The manufactures are of little importance, and consist chiefly in the production of cottons, woollens, linens, and silks for home use. There are also a few paper mills, distilleries, tobacco factories, and large salt works. The peasants supply nearly all their wants by their own labor.—Norway is united with Sweden under one sovereign, but according to the terms of its constitution is “free, independent, indivisible, and inalienable.” The government is a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The constitution, which was adopted Nov. 4, 1814, vests the legislative power in the Storthing, or assembly of deputies, chosen by indirect election. The people choose deputies at the rate of one to 50 voters in towns and one to 100 in the rural districts, and these deputies elect either from among themselves or from other qualified voters of the district the storthing representatives. Every male citizen of 25 years of age, who possesses land property of the value of 150 specie dollars, or who has been tenant of such property for five years, who is or has been a public functionary, or is a burgess of any town, is entitled to vote. Representatives must be at least 30 years of age and 10 years resident in Norway. The storthing formerly met every three years, but since the modification of the constitution in 1869 it has assembled annually. When assembled, it divides into two chambers, an upper one, called the Lagthing, consisting of one fourth of the members, and a lower one, the Odelsthing, of the remainder. Each house chooses its own officers. The king cannot dissolve the storthing until it has been three months in session; and, though he may veto any measure, his veto may be overruled by the action of three successive storthings. The storthing makes and repeals laws; establishes imposts, taxes, and tariffs; authorizes loans, regulates the finances, votes appropriations, naturalizes foreigners, and examines documents relating to all public business, treaties, salaries, and pensions. There can be no domiciliary visits except in criminal cases, and no ex post facto laws. The army is not to be ordered out of the kingdom without the consent of the storthing, and no Swedish or other foreign troops shall enter Norway except to repel invasion; but a Swedish corps not exceeding 3,000 men may pass six weeks of each year in Norway for the purpose of exercising
