of Kiev have branches at Philippopolis and Sofia respectively. The
agricultural chests, founded by Midhat Pasha in 1863, and reorganized in
1894, have done much to rescue the peasantry from the hands of usurers.
They serve as treasuries for the local administration, accept deposits at
interest, and make loans to the peasants on mortgage or the security of two
solvent landowners at 8%. Their capital in 1887 was L569,260; in 1904,
L1,440,000. Since 1893 they have been constituted as the "Bulgarian
Agricultural Bank"; the central direction is at Sofia. The post-office
savings bank, established 1896, had in 1905 a capital of L1,360,560.

There are over 200 registered provident societies in the country. The legal
rate of interest is 10%, but much higher rates are not uncommon.

Bulgaria, like the neighbouring states of the Peninsula, has adopted the
metric system. Turkish weights and measures, however, are still largely
employed in local commerce. The monetary unit is the _lev_, or "lion" (pl.
_leva_), nominally equal to the franc, with its submultiple the _stotinka_
(pl. _-ki_), or centime. The coinage consists of nickel and bronze coins
(21/2, 5, 10 and 20 _stotinki_) and silver coins [v.04 p.0776] (50
_stotinki_; 1, 2 and 5 _leva_). A gold coinage was struck in 1893 with
pieces corresponding to those of the Latin Union. The Turkish pound and
foreign gold coins are also in general circulation. The National Bank
issues notes for 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 _leva_, payable in gold. Notes
payable in silver are also issued.

_Finance._--It is only possible here to deal with Bulgarian finance prior
to the declaration of independence in 1908. At the outset of its career the
principality was practically unencumbered with any debt, external or
internal. The stipulations of the Berlin Treaty (Art. ix.) with regard to
the payment of a tribute to the sultan and the assumption of an "equitable
proportion" of the Ottoman Debt were never carried into effect. In 1883 the
claim of Russia for the expenses of the occupation (under Art. xx. of the
treaty) was fixed at 26,545,625 fr. (L1,061,820) payable in annual
instalments of 2,100,000 fr. (L84,000). The union with Eastern Rumelia in
1885 entailed liability for the obligations of that province consisting of
an annual tribute to Turkey of 2,951,000 fr. (L118,040) and a loan of
3,375,000 fr. (L135,000) contracted with the Imperial Ottoman Bank. In 1888
the purchase of the Varna-Rustchuk railway w