Weights, Measures and The French metric system of weights and measures has been introduced into Greece by the govern ment, but the people still adhere to the old sys tem. In the latter the standard lineal measure was the pike, equal to three-quarters of an Eng lish yard; the standard square measure was the stremnsa, nearly equal to .242 of an English acre; the standard weight was the oke....2.80 pounds avoirdupois: 44 okes were equal to 1 cantar, or about 124 pounds avoirdupois. The weights and measures of the metric system are called royal, to distinguish them from the old weights and measures. In this system the French measures of length, millimetre, centi metre, decimetre and metre are called respec tively gramma, daktylos, palami and /sickens (cubit). The kilometre is called a stadion, and the myriametre skoixis. The new or royal measures of surface are the square picheur•• the square metre, and the stremmem=the are. The measures of capacity are the kybos, my stron, kotyli, litre, and koilon, respectively equal to the millilitre, centilitre, decilitre, litre and hectolitre. The weights for gold, silver and precious stones are the kokkos, obolos and drachma, respectively equal to the centigramme, decigranune and gramme. The commercial unit of weight is the mina 1,500 drachmas.....1% kilogramme. The talanton is equal to the quintal and the tonos equal to the tonneau.
In 1875 Greece entered the monetary league of which the other members are France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, and all the members of which have a monetary unit equal to the franc in value. The name of the Greek unit is the drachma, divided into 100 lepta, nominally equal to a franc but varying considerably in value.
Government, Revenue, Debt, and People. —As settledthe present constitution the throne is hereditary according to the law of primogeniture in the family of King George. The king must be a member of the Greek Orthodox Church. He attains his majority at theof 18. The legislative authority is vested ina single chamber, called the Boule, the members of which (proportioned in num ber to the amount of the population) are elect ed for four years by ballot by manhood suf frage. It meets every year on 1 November, unless called at an earlier date for special busi ness. The executive power is exercised by the king through a responsible ministry. The Greek Orthodox Church alone is established, but all other forms of religion enjoy toleration. The highest ecclesiastical authority, subject to the king, is vested in a permanent synod, which sits at Athens, and consists of five members ap pointed by the king from the highest digni taries of the Church. There is one metro politan, who has his seat at Athens; and about 80 archbishops and bishops, are presented and ordained by the synod and confirmed and in vested by the king. Justice is administered, on the basis of the French civil code, by a su preme court (Areios Pagos), which has its seat at Athens; five higher courts, one at Athens, one at Nauplia, one at Patras, one at Larissa, and one at Corfu; and a number of courts of primary resort (Protodokeia), in the principal towns. The public revenue, derived chiefly from direct taxes, customs, stamps, ex cise, monopolies, the rent of national property, etc., was estimated for 1910 at $26,251,204, and the expenditure at $27,277,152. Estimates of revenue and expenditure for 1915 (including all the new territories), $82,290,670 for the former and $139,703,970 for the latter. Greece has a
very large public debt. In January 1916 the out standing external debt amounted to $231,445,500, besides loans amounting to $21,144,000. A considerable portion of the debt incurred in recent years has been in the way of raising loans for the making of railways. Of the foreign debt one loan is guaranteed by Great Britain, France and Russia, which have latterly had to pay the dividends on it. The payment of the interest on its public debt has long been with Greece a matter of difficulty. Every male Greek on attaining the age of 21 years is liable to military service, his term being two years with the colors, 10 with the reserve, eight in the national guard and 10 in the national guard reserve. The army in 1910 num bered about 23,000 on a peace footing, and the peace establishment for 1915 was about 60,000. The navy in 1915 had two vessels of 13,000 tons each, one of 10,118, three of 5,000, one of 2,600 tons, 14 destroyers, six modern torpedo boats, two submarines, etc. The population contains a considerable intermixture of foreign stocks, among which the Albanese, or Arnauts, are the most numerous; but the great majority, though not without some taint in their blood, are of genuine Greek extraction, and, both in physical and mental features, bear a marked resemblance to their celebrated forefathers. It is true that the degrading bondage to which they were subjected for centuries has sunk them far below their natural level, and too often substituted sycophancy and low cunning for the intellectual superiority which, in earlier and better times, displayed itself in immortal productions of the chisel and the pen; but that the original elements of greatness still exist has been proved by the noble struggles which they have made for independency.
The educational system of Greece, organized in 1834 by George Gennadius, one of the leaders of the war of independence, is •very complete. There are three grades of schools, the demotic or primary national schools, the Hellenic or secondary grammar schools, and the gymnasia, in which, it is as serted, the range and the level of the teaching are much the same as in a German gymnasium or in the upper parts'of our public schools. In all three grades of schools education is gratui tous, and in the primary schools it is compul sory on all children between 5 and 12. There is a university at Athens, attended by nearly 3,000 students, many of whom come from dis tricts under the rule of the Sultan. Thus far, however, education seems to be actually dif fused among the people only to a limited ex tent, though the numbers that receive a uni versity education are so great that many such young men find themselves without any proper sphere of employment and are obliged to adopt the career of politician and place-hunter. Many of these are now, however, said to be finding better ways of turning their education to ac count through the rapid development of trade and industry. The national dress of the Greeks resembles the Albanian costume. For the men it consists of a tight jacket, generally scarlet, a white linen kilt in numerous folds, a bright colored sash round the waist and embroidered gaiters; for the women it consists of a vest or Jacket fitting close to the shape and a skirt, on the head a kind of fez or skull-cap.