Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/145

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MALTA
93

one mile under the Eastern Telegraph Company. Postal communication daily with England. Letters and post-cards in 1919, 2,223,249; newspapers and book packets, 471,016. There is cable communication with the Continent, Tangier, the Mediterranean Eastern ports, and England, via Eastern Telegraph Company's lines.

A regular carriage service connects Gibraltar with Linea. a neighbouring town, and a road connects Linea with the Tillage of Campamento.

The legal currency is that of Great Britain; but Spanish money continues to circulate freely. Since the outbreak of the great war there are also currency notes issued by the local Government.

Books of Reference.

Colonial Report. Annual. London.

Correspondence respecting Admiralty Works at Gibraltar. [Cd. 645]. London, 1901.

Gibraltar Directory. Annual. Gibraltar.

Gilbard (G. J.). Popular History of Gibraltar. Gibraltar, 1881.

Lucas (C.P.) Geography of the British Colonies. 2nd ed. Vol.1. Oxford, 1906.

Macmillan (A.), (Editor), Malta and Gibraltar : Historical and Descriptive, &c. London. 1915

Oxford Surrey of British Empire. Vol I. London, 1914.

MALTA.

Governor and Commander-in-Chief.—Field Marshal Lord Plainer G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O. ; appointed 1919. Salary, 3,000l.

Lieut.-Governor and Chief Secretary to Government.—W. C. F. Robertson, C.M.G.

Malta was blockaded by the British Fleet, aided by the Maltese, from 1798 to 1800, and was finally annexed to the British Crown by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. It is one of the most important ports of call in the world, and is the base and resort for repair and refitment of the British fleet in Mediterranean. Its harbour, as a naval station, is too small for the fleet. A breakwater was constructed in 1909.

Under the Malta Constitution Letters Patent, 1921, there is an elected Legislature to control purely local affaire, consisting of a Senate (partly nominated) of 17 members, and a Legislative Assembly of 82 members. Elections are on a proportional representation basis. There is a responsible ministry consisting of not more than seven members. Certain 'reserved' matters, including control of naval, military and air forces, Imperial interests, external trade, coinage, immigration, treaties, and relations with foreign States, are dealt with by the Governor, assisted by a nominated Executive Council, consisting of the Lieutenant-Governor, a legal adviser, and an officer of the navy, army, and air force.

English is the official language of the Colony, Maltese being allowed in elementary schools, and Italian the official language of record in the Law Courts.

Malta is 17 miles long ; area, 91½, square miles; and the neighbouring island, Gozo, 26 square miles ; total area (with Comino), 118 square miles. Population, according to Census taken on April 2, 1911, 228,534. Civil population on April 2, 1911, 211,864; estimated civil population on April 1, 224,859. Births, 1919-20, 6,787; deaths, 4,586; number of marriages, 2,038. Chief town and port, Valletta.

Education—102 public schools, with 22,222 pupils on the rolls at the beginning of the scholastic year, 1919-20; a university with 6 faculties and