884
PORTUGAL
Year
3 7o Consolidated Fund
Aniortisable
Floating Debt
Internal
External
6 7=
5 7o,4rL 4 7o and various
1853 1863 1873 1883 1890
Milreis
25,704,627
90,053,802
204,507,489
235,681,119
258,086,897
Milreis 3,667,435 17,182,619 31,571,908 43,513,350 46,366,759
Milreis
2,034,000 16,273,3601
Milreis
1,377,270
53,614,890
104,172,464 2
Milreis 19,565,172 '
1 Paid up by conversion.
All the old 5 % debt is converted into 4i 7o bonds.
Ill 1891 the finances became quite deranged, and steps were taken for the reduction of the amount of interest payable. The law of February 26, 1892, reduced by 30 per cent, the interest on the internal public debt payable in currency, and that of April 20, 1893, reduced by 66| per cent, the interest on the external debt to be paid in gold.
In 1898 (according to the Report of the Council of the Corporation of Foreign Bondholders) the outstanding debt of Portugal was as follows; —
£
External 3 per cent. Consolidated . . . 38,504,551
,, 4 ,, ,, Redeemable . . . 1,817,009
4^ ,, ,, ,, ... 12,760,348
,, 4| ,, ,, Tobacco Loan . , . 9,024,600
Total external . Internal, 3 per cent, (quoted in London)
Total . . . , Also outstanding:
Internal, at 4 and 4 J per cent.
Stated to be in hands of Government: External, at 3, 4, and 4^ per cent. . Internal, at 3 and 4 percent.
62,106,508 58,761,423
120,867,931 6,158,204
3,286,558 26,782,391
30,068,949 The floating debt in January, 1898, amounted to 58,576,400 milreis.
Defence.
The fortified places of the first class in Portugal are Lisbon (with the forta of Monsanto, San Juliao-da-Barra, and other defensive works), Elvas and Angra (Azores). The defences of Lisbon, now almost complete, are the only thoroughly modern ones.
The army is formed partly by voluntary enlistment and partly by conscrip- tion. The conscription is regulated liy the law of 1887, modified in 1891, 1892, 1894, 1895, and 1896. All young men of twenty-one years of age are, with certain exceptions, obliged to serve. The period of service extends over twclyo years, of which three years are spent in the active army, five vears in the first reserve, and four in the second reserve. The number'of men in tl)'