part 16
of the Amendments to Plumbing Rules 1903, the New York laws require that, before any construction of, or alterations to, any gas piping or fittings are commenced, permits must be obtained from the superintendent of buildings; these are only issued to a registered plumber. The application must be accompanied by plans of the different floors showing each outlet, and the number of burners to each outlet; a statement must also be made of the quality of the pipes and fittings, all of which are to be tested by the inspector. In London there are no such laws; the gas companies control a small portion of the work as regards the connexion to meters, while the insurance companies require gas jets to be covered with a wire guard where liable to come in contact with inflammable goods. As to water, the various water companies in England have each their own set of regulations as to the kind of fittings and thickness and quality of pipe to be used, whether for service, wastes or main.
The importance of fire-resisting construction is being more fully recognized now by all countries. In France the regulations [Sidenote: Fire-resisting construction.] for factories, shops and workshops relating to "exits" require that all doors should open outwardly when they open on to courts, vestibules, staircases or interior passages. When they give access to the open air, outward opening is not obligatory unless it has been judged necessary in the interests of safety. If the doors open on to a passage or staircase they must be fixed in such a manner as not to project into the passage or staircase when open. The exits must be numerous, and signs indicating the quickest way out are to be placed in conspicuous positions. The windows are to open outwardly. Staircases in offices or other buildings serving as places for work shall be constructed in incombustible materials, or shall be walled in fully in plaster. The number of staircases shall be in proportion to the number of employees, &c. It is prohibited to use any liquid emitting vapours inflammable under 35° C. for the purpose of lighting or heating, unless the apparatus containing the liquid is solidly closed during work, that part of the apparatus containing the liquid being so closed as to avoid any oozing out of the liquid, &c. &c. Instructions are added as to precautions to be taken in case of fire.
In London fire-resisting construction is dealt with in the London Building Act, and its second schedule, and in London County Council Theatre and Factory Acts, &c. In New York the building code (parts 19, 20 and 21) deals with fire appliances, escapes, and fire-proof shutters and doors, fire-proof buildings and fire-proof floors, and requires that all tenement houses shall have an iron ladder for escape. A section somewhat similar to the last came into force in London in 1907 under the London Building Act, being framed with a view to require all existing projecting one-storey shops to have a fire-resisting roof, and all existing buildings over 50 ft. in height to have means of escape to and from the roof in case of fire.
There are several patents now in use with which it would be possible to erect a fire-proof dwelling at small cost with walls 3 to 5 in. in thickness. One of these has been used where the building act does not apply, as in the case of the Newgate prison cells, London, where the outside walls were from 3 to 4 in. thick only, and were absolutely fire and burglar proof. This method consists in using steel dovetailed sheets fixed between small steel stanchions and plastered in cement on both sides. This form of construction was also used at the British pavilion, Paris Exhibition 1900, and has been employed in numerous other buildings in England, and also in South Africa, Venezuela, and India (Delhi durbar). The use of many of these convenient and sound forms of building construction for ordinary buildings in London, and in districts of England where the model by-laws are in force, is prohibited because they do not comply with some one or other of the various clauses relating to materials, or to the thickness of a wall.
The various details of construction are described and illustrated under separate headings. See BRICKWORK, CARPENTRY, FOUNDATIONS, GLAZING, JOINERY, MASONRY, PAINTER-WORK, PLASTERING, ROOFS, SCAFFOLD, SHORING, STAIRCASE, STEEL CONSTRUCTION, STONE, TIMBER, WALL-COVERINGS, &c.
The principal publications for reference in connexion with this subject are: _The Building and Health Laws of the City of New York_, Brooklyn Eagle Library, No. 85; _Rules and Regulations affecting Building Operations in the administrative County of London_, compiled by Ellis Marsland; _Annotated By-Laws as to House Drainage, &c._, by Jensen; _Metropolitan Sanitation_, by Herbert Daw.
(J. BT.)
[1] The verb "to build" (O.E. _byldan_) is apparently connected with O.E. _bold_, a dwelling, of Scandinavian origin; cf. Danish _bol_, a farm, Icelandic _ból_, farm, abode. Skeat traces it eventually to Sanskrit _bhu_, to be, build meaning "to construct a place in which to be or dwell."
[2] _Building and Health Laws and Regulations affecting the City of New York, including the Building Code of New York City as amended to 1st May 1903._
BUILDING SOCIETIES, the name given to societies "for the purpose of raising, by the subscriptions of the members, a stock or fund for making advances to members out of the funds of the society upon freehold, copyhold, or leasehold estate by way of mortgage," may be "either _terminating_ or _permanent_" (Building Societies Act 1874, § 13). A "terminating" society is one "which by its rules is to terminate at a fixed date, or when a result specified in its rules is attained"; a "permanent" society is one "which has not by its rules any such fixed date or specified result, at which it shall terminate" (§ 5). A more popular description of these societies would be--societies by means of which every man may become "his own landlord," their main purpose being to collect together the small periodical subscriptions of a number of members, until each in his turn has been able to receive a sum sufficient to aid him materially in buying his dwelling-house. The origin and early history of these societies is not very clearly traceable. A mention of "building clubs" in Birmingham occurs in 1795; one is known to have been established by deed in the year 1809 at Greenwich; another is said to have been founded in 1825, under the auspices of the earl of Selkirk at Kirkcudbright in Scotland, and we learn (Scratchley, _On Building Societies_, p. 5) that similar societies in that kingdom adopted the title of "menages."
_United Kingdom._--When the Friendly Societies Act of 1834 gave effect to the wise and liberal policy of extending its benefits to societies for frugal investment, and generally to all associations having a similar legal object, several building societies were certified under it,--so many, indeed, that in 1836 a short act was passed confirming to them the privileges granted by the Friendly Societies Act, and according to them the additional privileges (very valuable at that time) of exemption from the usury laws, simplicity in forms of conveyance, power to reconvey by a mere endorsement under the hands of the trustees for the time being, and exemption from stamp duty. This act remained unaltered until 1874, when an act was passed at the instance of the building societies conferring upon them several other privileges, and relieving them of some disabilities and doubts, which had grown up from the judicial expositions of the act of 1836. It made future building societies incorporated bodies, and extended the privilege of incorporation to existing societies upon application, so that members and all who derive title through them were relieved from having to trace that title through the successive trustees of a society. It also gave a distinct declaration to the members of entire freedom from liability to pay anything beyond the arrears due from them at the time of winding up, or the amount actually secured by their mortgage deeds. Power to borrow money was also expressly given to the societies by the act, but upon two conditions: that the limitation of liability must be made known to the lender, by being printed on the acknowledgment for the loan, and that the borrowed money must not exceed two-thirds of the amount secured by mortgage from the members, or, in a terminating society, one year's income from subscriptions. Previous to the passing of the act (or rather to the judicial decision in _Laing_ v. _Read_, which the clause of the act made statutory) there had been, on the one hand, grave doubts on high legal authority whether a society could borrow money at all; while, on the other hand, many societies in order to raise funds carried on the business of deposit banks to an extent far exceeding the amounts used by them for their legitimate purpose of investment on mortgage. It enacted, that if a society borrowed more than the statute authorizes, the directors accepting the loan should be personally [v.04 p.0712] responsible for the excess. By an act passed in 1894 all the Benefit Building Societies established under the act of 1836 after the year 1856 were required to become incorporated under the act of 1874.
There are, therefore, three categories of building societies:--(1) Those established before 1856, which have not been incorporated under the act of 1874 and remain under the act of 1836. (2) Those established before 1874 under the act of 1836, which have been incorporated under the act of 1874. (3) Those which have been established since the act of 1874 was passed. The first class still act by means of trustees. Of these societies there are only 62 remaining in existence, and their number cannot be increased. The second and third classes exceed 2000 in number.
The early societies were all "terminating,"--consisting of a limited number of members, and coming to an end as soon as every member had received the amount agreed upon as the value of his shares. Take, as a simple typical example of the working of such a society, one the shares of which are £120 each, realizable by subscriptions of 10s. a month during 14 years. Fourteen years happens to be nearly the time in which, at 5% compound interest, a sum of money becomes doubled. Hence the present value, at the commencement of the society, of the £120 to be realized at its conclusion, or (what is the same thing) of the subscriptions of 10s. a month by which that £120 is to be raised, is £60. If such a society had issued 120 shares, the aggregate subscriptions for the first month of its existence would amount to exactly the sum required to pay one member the present value of one share. One member would accordingly receive a sum down of £60, and in order to protect the other members from loss, would execute a mortgage of his dwelling-house for ensuring the payment of the future subscription of 10s. per month until every member had in like manner obtained an advance upon his shares, or accumulated the £120 per share. As £60 is not of itself enough to buy a house, even of the most modest kind, every member desirous of using the society for its original purpose of obtaining a dwelling-house by its means would require to take more than one share. The act of 1836 limited the amount of each share to £150, and the amount of the monthly contributions on each share to £1, but did not limit the number of shares a member might hold.
The earlier formed societies (in London at least) did not usually adopt the title "Building Society"; or they added to it some further descriptive title, as "Accumulating Fund," "Savings Fund," or "Investment Association." Several are described as "Societies for obtaining freehold property," or simply as "Mutual Associations," or "Societies of Equality." The building societies in Scotland are mostly called "Property Investment," or "Economic." Although the term "Benefit Building Society" occurs in the title to the act of 1836, it was not till 1849 that it became in England the sole distinctive name of these societies; and it cannot be said to be a happy description of them, for as ordinarily constituted they undertake no building operations whatever, and merely advance money to their members to enable them to build or to buy dwelling-houses or land.
The name "Building Society," too, leaves wholly out of sight the important functions these societies fulfil as means of investment of small savings. The act of 1836 defined them as societies to enable every member to receive the amount or value of a share or shares to erect or purchase a dwelling-house, &c., but a member who did not desire to erect or purchase a dwelling-house might still receive out of the funds of the society the amount or value of his shares, improved by the payments of interest made by those to whom shares had been advanced.
About 1846 an important modification of the system of these societies was introduced, by the invention of the "permanent" plan, which was adopted by a great number of the societies established after that date. It was seen that these societies really consist of two classes of members; that those who do not care to have, or have not yet received, an advance upon mortgage security are mere investors, and that it matters little when they commence investing, or to what amount; while those to whom advances have been made are really debtors to the society, and arrangements for enabling them to pay off their debt in various terms of years, according to their convenience, would be of advantage both to themselves and the society. By permitting members to enter at any time without back-payment, and by granting advances for any term of years agreed upon, a continuous inflow of funds, and a continuous means of profitable investment of them, would be secured. The interest of each member in the society would terminate when his share was realized, or his advance paid off, but the society would continue with the accruing subscriptions of other members employed in making other advances.
Under this system building societies largely increased and developed. The royal commissioners who inquired into the subject in 1872 estimated the total assets of the societies in 1870 at 17 millions, and their annual income at 11 millions. The more complete returns, afterwards obtained, indicate that this was an under-estimate.
A variety of the terminating class of societies met at one time with considerable favour under the name of "Starr Bowkett" or "mutual" societies, of which more than a thousand were established. They differed from the typical society above described, in the contribution of a member who had not received an advance being much smaller, while the amount of the advance was much larger, and it was made without any calculation of interest. Thus a society issued, say, 500 shares, on which the contributions were to be 1s. 3d. per week, and, as soon as a sum of £300 accumulated allotted it by ballot to one of the shareholders, on condition that he was to repay it without interest by instalments in 10 or 12½ years, and at the same time to keep up his share-contributions. The fortunate recipient of the appropriation was at liberty to sell it, and frequently did so at a profit; but (except from fines) no profit whatever was earned by those who did not succeed in getting an appropriation, and as the number of members successful in the ballot must necessarily be small in the earlier years of the society, the others frequently became discontented and retired. These societies could not borrow money, for as they received no interest they could not pay any. The plan was afterwards modified by granting the appropriations alternately by ballot and sale, so that by the premiums paid on the sales (which are the same in effect as payments of interest on the amount actually advanced) profits might be earned for the investing members. The formation of societies of this class ceased on the passing of the act of 1894, by which balloting for advances was prohibited in societies thereafter established. A further modification of the "mutual" plan was to make all the appropriations by sale. The effect of this was to bring the mutual society back to the ordinary form; for it amounts to precisely the same thing for a man to pay 10s. a month on a loan of £60 for 14 years, as for him to borrow a nominal sum of £84 for the same period, repayable in the same manner, but to allow £24 off the loan as a "bidding" at the sale. The only difference between the two classes of societies is that the interest which the member pays who bids for his advance depends on the amount of competition at the bidding, and is not fixed by a rule of the society.
For several years the progress of building societies in general was steady, but there were not wanting signs that their prosperity was unsubstantial. A practice of receiving deposits repayable at call had sprung up, which must lead to embarrassment where the funds are invested in loans repayable during a long term of years. It was surmised, if not actually known, that many societies had large amounts of property on their hands, which had been reduced into possession in consequence of the default of borrowers in paying their instalments. A practice had also grown up of establishing mushroom societies, which did little more than pay fees to the promoters. The vicious system of trafficking in advances that had been awarded by ballot, near akin to gambling, prevailed in many societies. These signs of weakness had been observed by the well-informed, and the disastrous failure of a large society incorporated under [v.04 p.0713] the act of 1874, the Liberator, which had in fact long ceased to do any genuine building society business, hastened the crisis.
This society had drawn funds to the amount of more than a million sterling from provident people in [Sidenote: The "Liberator."] all classes of the population and all parts of the country by specious representations, and had applied those funds not to the legitimate purpose of a building society, but to the support of other undertakings in which the same persons were concerned who were the active managers of the society. The consequence was that the whole group of concerns became insolvent (Oct. 1892), and the Liberator depositors and shareholders were defrauded of every penny of their investments. Many of them suffered great distress from the loss of their savings, and some were absolutely ruined. The result was to weaken confidence in building societies generally, and this was very marked in the rapid decline of the amount of the capital of the incorporated building societies. From its highest point (nearly 54 millions) reached in 1887, it fell to below 43 millions in 1895. On some societies, which had adopted the deposit system, a run was made, and several were unable to stand it. The Birkbeck Society was for two days besieged by an anxious crowd of depositors clamouring to withdraw their money; but luckily for that society, and for the building societies generally, a very large portion of its funds was invested in easily convertible securities, and it was enabled by that means to get sufficient assistance from the Bank of England to pay without a moment's hesitation every depositor who asked for his money. Its credit was so firmly established by this means that many persons sought to pay money in. Had this very large society succumbed, the results would have been disastrous to the whole body of building societies. As the case stood, the energetic means it adopted to save its own credit reacted in favour of the societies generally.
The Liberator disaster convinced everybody that something must be done towards avoiding such calamities in the future. The government of the day brought in a bill for that purpose, and several private members also prepared measures--most of them more stringent than the government bill. All the bills were referred to a select committee, of which Mr Herbert Gladstone was the chairman. As the result of the deliberations of the committee, the Building Societies Act of 1894 was passed. Meanwhile the Rt. Hon. W.L. Jackson (afterwards Lord Allerton), a member of the committee, moved for an address to the crown for a return of the property held in possession by building societies. This was the first time such a return had been called for, and the managers of the societies much resented it; there were no means of enforcing the return, and the consequence was that many large societies failed to make it, notwithstanding frequent applications by the registrar. The act provided that henceforth all incorporated societies should furnish returns in a prescribed form, including schedules showing respectively the mortgages for amounts exceeding £5000; the properties of which the societies had taken possession for more than twelve months through default of the mortgagors; and the mortgages which were more than twelve months in arrear of repayment subscription. The act did not come into operation till the 1st of January 1895, and the first complete return under it was not due till 1896, when it appeared that the properties in possession at the time of Mr Jackson's return must have been counted for at least seven and a half millions in the assets of the societies. In a few years after the passing of the act the societies reduced their properties in possession from 14% of the whole of the mortgages to 5%, or, in other words, reduced them to one-third of the original amount, from 7½ millions to 2½ millions. Though this operation must have been attended with some sacrifice in many societies, upon the whole the balance of profit has increased rather than diminished. Thus this provision of the act, though it greatly alarmed the managers of societies, was really a blessing in disguise. The act also gave power to the registrar, upon the application of ten members, to order an inspection of the books of a society, but it did not confer upon individual members the right to inspect the books, which would have been more effective. It empowered the registrar, upon the application of one-fifth of the members, to order an inspection upon oath into the affairs of a society, or to investigate its affairs with a view to dissolution, and even in certain cases to proceed without an application from members. It gave him ample powers to deal with a society which upon such investigation proved to be insolvent, and these were exercised so as to procure the cheap and speedy dissolution of such societies. It also prohibited the future establishment of societies making advances by ballot, or dependent on any chance or lot, and provided an easy method by which existing societies could discontinue the practice of balloting. This method has been adopted in a few instances only. The act, or the circumstances which led to it, has greatly diminished the number of new societies applying for registry.
The statistics of building societies belonging to all the three classes mentioned show that there were on the 31st of December 1904, 2118 societies in existence in the United Kingdom. Of these, 2075, having 609,785 members, made returns. Their gross receipts for the financial year were £38,729,009, and the amount advanced on mortgage during the year was £9,589,864. The capital belonging to their members was £39,408,430, and the undivided balance of profit £4,004,547. Their liabilities to depositors and other creditors were £24,838,290. To meet this they had mortgages on which £53,196,112 was due, but of this £2,443,255 was on properties which had been in possession more than a year, and £222,444 on mortgages which had fallen into arrear more than a year. Their other assets were £14,952,485, and certain societies showed a deficit balance which in the aggregate was £102,670. As compared with 1895, when first returns were obtained from unincorporated societies, these figures show an increase in income of 30%, in assets of 23%, and in profit balances of 46%, and a diminution of the properties in possession and mortgages in arrear of 14% in the nine years. The total assets and income are more than three times the amount of the conjectural estimate made for 1870 by the royal commission. It is not too much to say that a quarter of a million persons have been enabled by means of building societies to become the proprietors of their own homes.
In recent years, several rivals to building societies have sprung up. Friendly societies have largely taken to investing their surplus funds in loans to members on the building society principle. Industrial and provident land and building societies have been formed. The legislature has authorized local authorities to lend money to the working classes to enable them to buy their dwelling-houses. Bond and investment companies have been formed under the Companies Acts, and are under no restriction as to balloting for appropriation. All these have not yet had any perceptible effect in checking the growth of the building society movement, and it is not thought that they will permanently do so.
_British Colonies._--In several of the British colonies, legislation similar to that of the mother country has been adopted. In Victoria, Australia, a crisis occurred, in which many building societies suffered severely. In the other Australian colonies the building society movement has made progress, but not to a very large extent. In the Dominion of Canada these societies are sometimes called "loan companies" and are not restricted in their investments to loans on real estates, but about 90% of their advances are on that security. At the close of the year 1904 their liabilities to stockholders exceeded £13,000,000, and to the public £21,000,000. The uncalled capital was £5,000,000. The balance of current loans was £28,000,000, and the property owned by the societies exceeded £7,000,000.
_Belgium, &c._--In Belgium, the Government Savings Bank has power to make advances of money to societies of credit or of construction to enable their members to become owners of dwelling-houses. The advance is made to the society at 3 or sometimes at 2½% interest, and the borrower pays 4%. In the great majority of cases the borrower effects an insurance with the savings bank so that his repayments terminate at his death. On the 31st of December 1903 nearly 25,000 advances were in course of repayment. In Germany, building societies are recognized as a form of societies for self-help, but are not many in number, being overshadowed by the great organization of credit societies founded by Schulze-Delitzsch. In other countries there has been no special legislation for building societies similar to that of the United Kingdom, and though societies with the same special object probably exist, separate information with regard to them is not available.
(E. W. B.)
_United States._--"Building and loan association" is a general term applied in the United States to such institutions as mutual loan associations, homestead aid associations, savings fund and loan associations, co-operative banks, co-operative savings and loan associations, &c. They are private corporations, for the accumulation of savings, and for the loaning of money to build homes. The first association of this kind in the United States of which there is any record was organized at Frankford, a suburb [v.04 p.0714] of Philadelphia, on the 3rd of January 1831, under the title of the Oxford Provident Building Association. Their permanent inception took place between 1840 and 1850. The receipts or capital of the building and loan association consists of periodical payments by the members, interest and premiums paid by borrowing members or others, fixed periodical instalments by borrowing members, fines for failures to pay such fixed instalments, forfeitures, fees for transferring stock, entrance fees, and any other revenues or payments,--all of which go into the common treasury. When the instalment payments and profits of all kinds equal the face value of all the shares issued, the assets, over and above expenses and losses, are apportioned among members, and this apportionment cancels the borrower's debt, while the non-borrower is given the amount of his stock. A man who wishes to borrow, let us say, $1000 for the erection of a house ordinarily takes five shares in an association, each of which, when he has paid all the successive instalments on it, will be worth $200, and he must offer suitable security for his loan, usually the lot on which he is to build. The money is not lent to him at regular rates of interest, as in the case of a savings bank or other financial institution, but is put up at auction usually in open meeting at the time of the payment of dues, and is awarded to the member bidding the highest premium. To secure the $1000 borrowed, the member gives the association a mortgage on his property and pledges his five shares of stock. Some associations, when the demand for money from the shareholders does not exhaust the surplus, lend their funds to persons not shareholders, upon such terms and conditions as may be approved by their directors. Herein lies a danger, for such loans are sometimes made in a speculative way, or on insufficient land value. Some associations make stock loans, or loans on the shares held by a stockholder without real estate security; these vary in different associations, some applying the same rules as to real estate loans. To cancel his debt the stockholder is constantly paying his monthly or semi-monthly dues, until such time as these payments, plus the accumulation of profits through compound interest, mature the shares at $200 each, when he surrenders his shares, and the debt upon his property is cancelled.
Every member of a building and loan association must be a stockholder, and the amount of interest which a member has in a [Sidenote: Shares.] building and loan association is indicated by the number of shares he holds, the age of the shares, and their maturing value. The difference between a stockholder in such an association and one in an ordinary corporation for usual business purposes lies in the fact that in the latter the member or stockholder buys his stock and pays for it at once, and as a rule is not called upon for further payment; all profits on such stocks are received through dividends, the value of shares depending upon the successful operation of the business. In the former the stockholder or member pays a stipulated minimum sum, say $1, when he takes his membership and buys a share of stock. He continues to pay a like sum each month until the aggregate of sums paid, increased by the profits and all other sources of income, amounts to the maturing value of the stock, usually $200, when the stockholder is entitled to the full maturing value of the share and surrenders the same. Shares are usually issued in series. When a second series is issued the issue of the stock of the first series ceases. Profits are distributed and losses apportioned before a new series can be issued. The term during which a series is open for subscription differs, but it usually extends over three or six months, and sometimes a year. Some associations, usually known as perpetual associations, issue a new series of stock without regard to the time of maturity of previous issues. It is the practice in such associations to issue a new series of stock every year. Instead of shares that are paid in instalments, some associations issue prepaid shares and paid-up shares. _Prepaid shares_, known also as
## partly paid-up shares, are issued at a fixed price per share in advance.
They usually participate as fully in the profits as the regular instalment shares, and when the amount originally paid for such shares, together with the dividends accrued thereon, reaches the maturing or par value, they are disposed of in the same manner as regular instalment shares. Some associations, instead of crediting all the profits made on this class of shares, allow a fixed rate of interest on the amount paid therefor at each dividend period, which is paid in cash to the holder thereof. This interest is then deducted from the profits to which the shares are entitled, and the remainder is credited to the shares until such unpaid portion of the profits, added to the amount originally paid, equals the maturing or par value. _Paid-up shares_ are issued upon the payment of the full maturity or par value, when a certificate of paid-up stock is issued, the owners being entitled to receive in cash the amount of all dividends declared thereon, subject to such conditions or limitations as may be agreed upon. These shares sometimes participate as fully in the profits as the regular instalment shares, but in most cases a fixed rate of interest only is allowed, the holders of the shares usually assigning to the association all right to profits above that amount. Certificates of matured shares are also issued to holders of regular instalment shares, who prefer to leave their money with the association as an investment.
Prior to the maturing of a share it has two values, the holding or book value and the withdrawal value. The book value is ascertained by adding all the dues that have been paid to the profits that have accrued; that is to say, it is the actual value of a share at any particular time. The withdrawal value is that amount of the book value which the association is willing to pay to a shareholder who desires to sever his connexion with the association before his share is matured. Some associations do not permit their members to withdraw prior to the maturing of their shares. Then the only way a shareholder can realize upon his shares is by selling them to some other person at whatever price he can obtain. There are twelve or more plans for the withdrawal of funds. Every association has full regulations on all such matters.
The purchase of a share binds the shareholder to the necessity of keeping up his dues, and thus secures to him not only the benefits [Sidenote: Variations in methods.] of a savings bank, but the benefit of constantly accruing compound interest. This accomplishes the first feature of the motive of a building and loan association. The second is accomplished by enabling a man to borrow money for building purposes. It is a moot question whether this method of obtaining money for the building of homes is more or less economical than that of obtaining it from the ordinary savings banks or from other sources. Sometimes the premium which must be paid to secure a loan increases the regular interest to such an amount as to make the building and loan method more expensive than the ordinary method of borrowing money, but a building and loan association has a moral influence upon its members, in that it encourages a regular payment of instalments. Some associations have a fixed or established premium rate, and under such circumstances loans are awarded to the members in the order of their applications or by lot. The premium may consist of the amount which the borrower pays in excess of the legal interest, or it may consist of a certain number of payments of dues or of interest to be made in advance. There are very many plans for the payment of premiums, nearly seventy relating to real estate loans being in vogue in different associations in different parts of the United States; but in nearly all cases the borrower makes his regular payments of dues and interest until the shares pledged have reached maturing value. There is also a great variety of plans for the distribution of profits, something like twenty-five such plans being in existence. The methods of calculating interest and profits are somewhat complicated, but they are all found in the books to which reference will be made. The various plans for the payment of premiums, distribution of profits, and withdrawals, and the calculations under each, are given in full in the ninth annual report of the U.S. commissioner of labour.
Most building and loan associations confine their operations to a small community, usually to the county in which they are situated; but some of them operate on a large scale, extending their business enterprises even beyond the borders of their own state. These national associations are ready to make loans on property anywhere, and sell their shares to any person without reference to his residence. In local associations the total amount of dues paid in by the shareholders forms the basis for the distribution of profits, while in most national associations only a portion of the dues paid in by the shareholders is considered in the distribution. For instance, in a national association the dues are generally 60 cents a share per month, out of which either 8 or 10 cents are carried to an expense fund, the remainder being credited on the loan fund. The expense fund thus created is lost to the shareholders, except in the case of a few associations which carry the unexpended balances to the profit and loss account, and whatever profits are made are apportioned on the amount of dues credited to the loan fund only. The creation of an expense fund in the nationals has sometimes been the source of disaster. Safety or security in both local and national associations depends principally upon the integrity with which their affairs are conducted, and not so much upon the form of organization or the method of distribution. Some of the states--New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, California and others--bring building and loan associations under the same general supervision of law thrown around savings banks. In some states nothing is officially known of them beyond the formalities of their incorporation. Though the business of the associations is conducted by men not trained as bankers, it yet meets with rare success. Associations disband when not successful, but when they disband great loss does not occur because the whole business of the association consists of its loans, and these loans are to its own shareholders, as a rule, who hold the securities in their associated forms. The amount of money on hand is always small, because it is sold or lent as fast as paid in. A disbanded association, therefore, simply returns to its own members their own property, and but few real losses occur. Investment in a building and loan association is as nearly absolutely [v.04 p.0715] safe as it can be, for the monthly dues and the accumulated profits, which give the actual capital of the association, are lent or sold, as it is termed, by the association as fast as they accumulate, and upon real estate or upon the stock of the association itself. The opportunities for embezzlement, therefore, or for shrinkage of securities, are reduced to the minimum, and an almost absolute safety of the investment is secured.
The growth of these associations has been very rapid since 1840, and at the opening of the 20th century they numbered nearly 6000. The Federal government, through the department of labour, made an investigation of building and loan associations, and published its report in 1893. The total dues paid in on instalment shares amounted then to $450,667,594. The business represented by this great sum, conducted quietly, with little or no advertising, and without the experienced banker in charge, shows that the common people, in their own ways, are quite competent to take care of their savings, especially when it was shown that but thirty-five of the associations then in existence met with a net loss at the end of their latest fiscal year, and that this loss amounted to only a little over $23,000. Bulletin No. 10 (May 1897) of the U.S. department of labour contained a calculation of the business at that date, based upon such states' reports as were available. That calculation showed a growth in almost every item. During the years of depression ending with 1899 the growth of building and loan associations was naturally slower than in prosperous periods.
See _Ninth Annual Report of U.S.A. Commissioner of Labour_ (1893); _Bulletin_, No. 10 (May 1897), of the Department of Labour; Edmund Rigley, _How to manage Building Associations_ (1873); Seymour Dexter, _A Treatise on Co-operation Savings and Loan Associations_ (New York, 1891); Charles N. Thompson, _A Treatise on Building Associations_ (Chicago, 1892).
(C. D. W.)
BUILTH, or BUILTH WELLS, a market town of Brecknockshire, Wales. Pop. of urban district (1901), 1805. It has a station on the Cambrian line between Moat Lane and Brecon, and two others (high and low levels) at Builth Road about 1¾ m. distant where the London & North-Western and the Cambrian cross one another. It is pleasantly situated in the upper valley of the Wye, in a bend of the river on its right bank below the confluence of its tributary the Irfon. During the summer it is a place of considerable resort for the sake of its waters--saline, chalybeate and sulphur--and it possesses the usual accessories of pump-rooms, baths and a recreation ground. The scenery of the Wye valley, including a succession of rapids just above the town, also attracts many tourists. The town is an important agricultural centre, its fairs for sheep and ponies in particular being well attended.
The town, called in Welsh Llanfair (yn) Muallt, i.e. St Mary's in Builth, took its name from the ancient territorial division of Buallt in which it is situated, which was, according to Nennius, an independent principality in the beginning of the 9th century, and later a cantrev, corresponding to the modern hundred of Builth. Towards the end of the 11th century, when the tide of Norman invasion swept upwards along the Wye valley, the district became a lordship marcher annexed to that of Brecknock, but was again severed from it on the death of William de Breos, when his daughter Matilda brought it to her husband, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore. Its castle, built probably in Newmarch's time, or shortly after, was the most advanced outpost of the invaders in a wild part of Wales where the tendency to revolt was always strong. It was destroyed in 1260 by Llewellyn ab Gruffydd, prince of Wales, with the supposed connivance of Mortimer, but its site was reoccupied by the earl of Lincoln in 1277, and a new castle at once erected. It was with the expectation that he might, with local aid, seize the castle, that Llewellyn invaded this district in December 1282, when he was surprised and killed by Stephen de Frankton in a ravine called Cwm Llewellyn on the left bank of the Irfon, 2½ m. from the town. According to local tradition he was buried at Cefn-y-bedd ("the ridge of the grave") close by, but it is more likely that his headless trunk was taken to Abbey Cwmhir. No other important event was associated with the castle, of which not a stone is now standing. The lordship remained in the marches till the Act of Union 1536, when it was grouped with a number of others so as to form the shire of Brecknock. The town was governed by a local board from 1866 until the establishment of an urban district council in 1894; the urban district was then made conterminous with the civil parish, and in 1898 it was re-named Builth Wells.
BUISSON, FERDINAND (1841- ), French educationalist, was born at Paris on the 20th of December 1841. In 1868, when attached to the teaching staff of the Academy of Geneva, he obtained a philosophical fellowship. In 1870 he settled in Paris, and in the following year was nominated an inspector of primary education. His appointment was, however, strongly opposed by the bishop of Orleans (who saw danger to clerical influence over the schools), and the nomination was cancelled. But the bishop's action only served to draw attention to Buisson's abilities. He was appointed secretary of the statistical commission on primary education, and sent as a delegate to the Vienna exhibition of 1873, and the Philadelphia exhibition of 1876. In 1878 he was instructed to report on the educational section of the Paris exhibition, and in the same year was appointed inspector-general of primary education. In 1879 he was promoted to the directorship of primary education, a post which he occupied until 1896, when he became professor of education at the Sorbonne. At the general election of 1902 he was returned to the chamber of deputies as a radical socialist by the XIII^{me} arrondissement of Paris. He supported the policy of M. Combes, and presided over the commission for the separation of church and state.
BUITENZORG, a hill station in the residency of Batavia, island of Java, Dutch East Indies. It is beautifully situated among the hills at the foot of the Salak volcano, about 860 ft. above sea-level, and has a cool and healthy climate. Buitenzorg is the usual residence of the governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, and is further remarkable on account of its splendid botanical garden and for its popularity as a health resort. The botanic gardens are among the finest in the world; they originally formed a part of the park attached to the palace of the governor-general, and were established in 1817. Under J.S. Teysmann, who became _hortulanus_ in 1830, the collection was extended, and in 1868 was recognized as a government institution with a director. Between this and 1880 a museum, a school of agriculture, and a culture garden were added, and since then library, botanical, chemical, and pharmacological laboratories, and a herbarium have been established. The palace of the governor-general was founded by Governor-General van Imhoff in 1744, and rebuilt after being destroyed by an earthquake in 1834. Buitenzorg is also the seat of the general secretary of the state railway and of the department of mines. Buitenzorg, which is called Bogor by the natives, was once the capital of the princess of Pajajaram. Close by, at _Bata Tulis_ ("inscribed stone"), are some Hindu remains. The district of Buitenzorg (till 1866 an assistant residency) forms the southern part of the residency of Batavia, with an area of 1447 sq. m. It occupies the northern slopes of a range of hills separating it from Preanger, and has a fertile soil. Tea, coffee, cinchona, sugar-cane, rice, nutmegs, cloves and pepper are cultivated.
BUJN[=U]RD, a town of Persia, in the province of Khorasan, in a fertile plain encompassed by hills, in 37° 29' N., 57° 21' E., at an elevation of 3600 ft. Pop. about 8000. Its old name was Buzinjird, and thus it still appears in official registers. It is the chief place of the district of same name, which extends in the west to the borders of Shahrud and Astarabad; in the north it is bounded by Russian Transcaspia, in the east by Kuchan, and in the south by Jovain. The greater part of the population consists of Shadillu Kurds, the remainder being Zafranlu Kurds, Garaili Turks, Goklan Turkomans and Persians.
BUKH[=A]R[=I] [Mahommed ibn Ism[=a]'[=i]l al-Bukh[=a]r[=i]] (810-872), Arabic author of the most generally accepted collection of traditions (_[h.]ad[=i]th_) from Mahomet, was born at Bokhara (_Bukh[=a]r[=a]_), of an Iranian family, in A.H. 194 (A.D. 810). He early distinguished himself in the learning of traditions by heart, and when, in his sixteenth year, his family made the pilgrimage to Mecca, he gathered additions to his store from the authorities along the route. Already, in his eighteenth year, he had devoted himself to the collecting, sifting, testing and arranging of traditions. For that purpose he travelled over the Moslem world, from Egypt to Samarkand, and learned (as the story goes) from over a thousand men three hundred thousand traditions, true and false. He certainly became the acknowledged authority on the subject, and developed a power and speed of memory [v.04 p.0716] which seemed miraculous, even to his contemporaries. His theological position was conservative and anti-rationalistic; he enjoyed the friendship and respect of A[h.]mad Ibn [H.]anbal. In law, he appears to have been a Sh[=a]fi'ite. After sixteen years' absence he returned to Bokhara, and there drew up his _[S.]a[h.][=i][h.]_, a collection of 7275 tested traditions, arranged in chapters so as to afford bases for a complete system of jurisprudence without the use of speculative law, the first book of its kind (see MAHOMMEDAN LAW). He died in A.H. 256, in banishment at Kartank, a suburb of Samarkand. His book has attained a quasi-canonicity in Isl[=a]m, being treated almost like the Koran, and to his grave solemn pilgrimages are made, and prayers are believed to be heard there.
See F. Wüstenfeld, _Sch[=a]fi'iten_, 78 ff.; M^cG. de Slane's transl. of Ibn Khallikan, i. 594 ff.; I. Goldziher, _Mohammedanische Studien_, ii. 157 ff.; Nawawi, _Biogr. Dict._ 86 ff.
(D. B. MA.)
BUKOVINA, a duchy and crownland of Austria, bounded E. by Russia and Rumania, S. by Rumania, W. by Transylvania and Hungary, and N. by Galicia. Area, 4035 sq. m. The country, especially in its southern parts, is occupied by the offshoots of the Carpathians, which attain in the Giumaleu an altitude of 6100 ft. The principal passes are the Radna Pass and the Borgo Pass. With the exception of the Dniester, which skirts its northern border, Bukovina belongs to the watershed of the Danube. The principal rivers are the Pruth, and the Sereth with its affluents the Suczawa, the Moldava and the Bistritza. The climate of Bukovina is healthy but severe, especially in winter; but it is generally milder than that of Galicia, the mean annual temperature at Czernowitz being 46.9° F. No less than 43.17% of the total area is occupied by woodland, and the very name of the country is derived from the abundance of beech trees. Of the remainder 27.59% is occupied by arable land, 12.68% by meadows, 10.09% by pastures and 0.78% by gardens. The soil of Bukovina is fertile, and agriculture has made great progress, the principal products being wheat, maize, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, flax and hemp. Cattle-rearing constitutes another important source of revenue. The principal mineral is salt, which is extracted at the mine of Kaczyka, belonging to the government. Brewing, distilling and milling are the chief industries. Commerce is mostly in the hands of the Jews and Armenians, and chiefly confined to raw products, such as agricultural produce, cattle, wool and wood. Bukovina had in 1900 a population of 729,921, which is equivalent to 181 inhabitants per sq. m. According to nationality, over 40% were Ruthenians, 35% Rumanians, 13% Jews, and the remainder was composed of Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Russians and Armenians. The official language of the administration, of the law-courts, and of instruction in the university is German. Nearly 70% of the population belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, and stand under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the archbishop or metropolitan of Czernowitz. To the Roman Catholic Church belong 11%, to the Greek United Church 3.25%, while 2.5% are Protestants. Elementary education is improving, but, after Dalmatia, Bukovina still shows the largest number of illiterates in Austria. The local diet, of which the archbishop of Czernowitz and the rector of the university are members _ex officio_, is composed of 31 members, and Bukovina sends 14 deputies to the Reichsrat at Vienna. For administrative purposes, the country is divided into 9 districts and an autonomous municipality, Czernowitz (pop. 69,619), the capital. Other towns are Radautz (14,343), Suczawa (10,946), Kuczurmare (9417), Kimpolung (8024) and Sereth (7610).
Bukovina was originally a part of the principality of Moldavia, whose ancient capital Suczawa was situated in this province. It was occupied by the Russians in 1769, and by the Austrians in 1774. In 1777 the Porte, under whose suzerainty Moldavia was, ceded this province to Austria. It was incorporated with Galicia in a single province in 1786, but was separated from it in 1849, and made a separate crownland.
See Bidermann, _Die Bukowina unter der osterreichischen Verwaltung, 1775-1875_ (Lemberg, 1876).
BULACÁN, a town of the province of Bulacán, Luzon, Philippine Islands, on an arm of the Pampanga delta, 22 m. N.N.W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 11,589; after the census enumeration, the town of Guiguintó (pop. 3948) was annexed. Bulacán is served by the Manila-Dagupan railway. Sugar, rice, indigo and tropical fruits are the chief products of the fertile district in which the town lies; it is widely known for its fish-ponds and its excellent fish, and its principal manufactures are jusi, piña, ilang ilang perfume and sugar. With the exception of the churches and a few stone buildings, Bulacán was completely destroyed by fire in 1898.
BULANDSHAHR, a town and district of British India in the Meerut division of the United Provinces. The town is situated on a height on the right bank of the Kali-Nadi, whence the substitution of the names Unchanagar and Bulandshahr (high town) for its earlier name of Baran, by which it is still sometimes called. The population in 1901 was 18,959. Its present handsome appearance is due to several successive collectors, notably F.S. Growse, who was active in erecting public buildings, and in encouraging the local gentry to beautify their own houses. In particular, it boasts a fine bathing-ghat, a town-hall, a market-place, a tank to supply water, and a public garden.
The DISTRICT OF BULANDSHAHR has an area of 1899 sq. m. The district stretches out in a level plain, with a gentle slope from N.W. to S.E., and a gradual but very slight elevation about midway between the Ganges and Jumna. Principal rivers are the Ganges and Jumna--the former navigable all the year round, the latter only during the rains. The Ganges canal intersects the district, and serves both for irrigation and navigation. The Lower Ganges canal has its headworks at Narora. The climate of the district is liable to extremes, being very cold in the winter and excessively hot in the summer. In 1901 the population was 1,138,101, showing an increase of 20% in the decade. The district is very highly cultivated and thickly populated. There are several indigo factories, and mills for pressing and cleaning cotton, but the former have greatly suffered by the decline in indigo of recent years. The main line of the East Indian railway and the Oudh and Rohilkhand railway cross the district. The chief centre of trade is Khurja.
Nothing certain is known of the history of the district before A.D. 1018, when Mahmud of Ghazni appeared before Baran and received the submission of the Hindu raja and his followers to Islam. In 1193 the city was captured by Kutb-ud-din. In the 14th century the district was subject to invasions of Rajput and Mongol clans who left permanent settlements in the country. With the firm establishment of the Mogul empire peace was restored, the most permanent effect of this period being the large proportion of Mussulmans among the population, due to the zeal of Aurangzeb. The decline of the Mogul empire gave free play to the turbulent spirit of the Jats and Gujars, many of whose chieftains succeeded in carving out petty principalities for themselves at the expense of their neighbours. During this period, however, Baran had properly no separate history, being a dependency of Koil, whence it continued to be administered under the Mahratta domination. After Koil and the fort of Aligarh had been captured by the British in 1803, Bulandshahr and the surrounding country were at first incorporated in the newly created district of Aligarh (1805). Bulandshahr enjoyed an evil reputation in the Mutiny of 1857, when the Gujar peasantry plundered the towns. The Jats took the side of the government, while the Gujars and Mussulman Rajputs were most actively hostile.
See _Imperial Gazetteer of India_ (Oxford, ed. 1908); F.S. Growse, _Bulandshahr_ (Benares, 1884).
BULAWAYO, the capital of Matabeleland, the western province of southern Rhodesia, South Africa. White population (1904) 3840. It occupies a central position on the tableland between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers, is 4469 ft. above the sea and 1362 m. north-east of Cape Town by rail. Beira, the nearest port, is 398 m. east in a direct line, but distant 675 m. by railway. Another railway, part of the Cape to Cairo connexion, runs north-west from Bulawayo, crossing the Zambezi just below the Victoria Falls. In the centre of the town is a large market square to which roads lead in regular lines north, south, east and [v.04 p.0717] west. Those going east and west are called avenues and are numbered, those running north and south are called streets and are named. Through the centre of Market Square runs Rhodes Street. There are many handsome public and private buildings. In front of the stock exchange is a monument in memory of the 257 settlers killed in the Matabele rebellion of 1896, and at the junction of two of the principal streets is a colossal bronze statue of Cecil Rhodes. East of the town is a large park and botanical gardens, beyond which is a residential suburb. The railway station and water and electric supply works are in the south-west quarter. An avenue 130 ft. broad and nearly 1½ m. long, planted throughout its length with trees, leads from the town to Government House, which is built on the site of Lobengula's royal kraal. The tree under which that chieftain sat when giving judgment has been preserved. A number of gold reefs intersect the surrounding district and in some of the reefs gold is mined. South-south-east of the town are the Matoppo Hills. In a grave in one of these hills, 33 m. from Bulawayo, Rhodes is buried.
The "Place of Slaughter," as the Zulu word Bulawayo is interpreted, was founded about 1838 by Lobengula's father, Mosilikatze, some distance south of the present town, and continued to be the royal residence till its occupation by the British South Africa Company's forces in November 1893, when a new town was founded. Four years later the railway connecting it with Cape Town was completed (see RHODESIA).
BULDANA, a town and district of India, in Berar. The town had a population in 1901 of 4137. The district has an area of 3662 sq. m. The southern part forms a portion of Berar Balaghat or Berar--above the Ghats. Here the general contour of the country may be described as a succession of small plateaus decreasing in elevation to the extreme south. Towards the eastern side of the district the country assumes more the character of undulating high lands, favoured with soil of a good quality. A succession of plateaus descends from the highest ridges on the north to the south, where a series of small ghats march with the nizam's territory. The small fertile valleys between the plateaus are watered by streams during the greater portion of the year, while wells of particularly good and pure water are numerous. These valleys are favourite village sites. The north portion of the district occupies the rich valley of the Purna. The district is rich in agricultural produce; in a seasonable year a many-coloured sheet of cultivation, almost without a break, covers the valley of the Purna. In the Balaghat also the crops are very fine. Situated as the district is in the neighbourhood of the great cotton market of Khamgaon, and nearer to Bombay than the other Berar districts, markets for its agricultural produce on favourable terms are easily found. In 1901 the population was 423,616, showing a decrease of 12% in the decade due to the effects of famine. The district was reconstituted, and given an additional area of 853 sq. m. in 1905; the population on the enlarged area in 1901 was 613,756. The only manufacture is cotton cloth. Cotton, wheat and oil-seeds are largely exported. The Nagpur line of the Great Indian Peninsula railway runs through the north of the district. The most important place of trade is Malkapur--pop. (1901) 13,112--with several factories for ginning and pressing cotton.
BULDUR, or BURDUR, chief town of a sanjak of the Konia vilayet in Asia Minor. It is called by the Christians _Polydorion_. Its altitude is 3150 ft. and it is situated in the midst of gardens, about 2 m. from the brackish lake, Buldur Geul (anc. _Ascania Limne_). Linen-weaving and leather-tanning are the principal industries. There is a good carriage road to Dineir, by which much grain is sent from the Buldur plain, and a railway connects it with Dineir and Egirdir. Pop. 12,000.
BULFINCH, CHARLES (1763-1844), American architect, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 8th of August 1763, the son of Thomas Bulfinch, a prominent and wealthy physician. He was educated at the Boston Latin school and at Harvard, where he graduated in 1781, and after several years of travel and study in Europe, settled in 1787 in Boston, where he was the first to practise as a professional architect. Among his early works were the old Federal Street theatre (1793), the first play-house in New England, and the "new" State House (1798). For more than twenty-five years he was the most active architect in Boston, and at the same time took a leading
## part in the public life of the city. As chairman of the board of selectmen
for twenty-one years (1797-1818), an important position which made him practically chief magistrate, he exerted a strong influence in modernizing Boston, in providing for new systems of drainage and street-lighting, in reorganizing the police and fire departments, and in straightening and widening the streets. He was one of the promoters in 1787 of the voyage of the ship "Columbia," which under command of Captain Robert Gray (1755-1806) was the first to carry the American flag round the world. In 1818 Bulfinch succeeded B.H. Latrobe (1764-1820) as architect of the National Capitol at Washington. He completed the unfinished wings and central portion, constructing the rotunda from plans of his own after suggestions of his predecessor, and designed the new western approach and portico. In 1830 he returned to Boston, where he died on the 15th of April 1844. Bulfinch's work was marked by sincerity, simplicity, refinement of taste and an entire freedom from affectation, and it greatly influenced American architecture in the early formative period. His son, Stephen Greenleaf Bulfinch (1809-1870), was a well-known Unitarian clergyman and author.
See _The Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch_ (Boston, 1896), edited by his grand-daughter, and "The Architects of the American Capitol," by James Q. Howard, in _The International Review_, vol. i. (New York, 1874).
BULGARIA, a kingdom of south-eastern Europe, situated in the north-east of the Balkan Peninsula, and on the Black Sea. From 1878 until the 5th of October 1908, Bulgaria was an autonomous and tributary principality, under the suzerainty of the sultan of Turkey. The area of the kingdom amounts to 37,240 sq. m., and comprises the territories between the Balkan chain and the river Danube; the province of Eastern Rumelia, lying south of the Balkans; and the western highlands of Kiustendil, Samakov, Sofia and Trn. Bulgaria is bounded on the N. by the Danube, from its confluence with the Timok to the eastern suburbs of Silistria whence a line, forming the Rumanian frontier, is drawn to a point on the Black Sea coast 10 m. S. of Mangalia. On the E. it is washed by the Black Sea; on the S. the Turkish frontier, starting from a point on the coast about 12 m. S. of Sozopolis, runs in a south-westerly direction, crossing the river Maritza at Mustafa Pasha, and reaching the Arda at Adakali. The line laid down by the Berlin Treaty (1878) ascended the Arda to Ishiklar, thence following the crest of Rhodope to the westwards, but the cantons of Krjali and Rupchus included in this boundary were restored to Turkey in 1886. The present frontier, passing to the north of these districts, reaches the watershed of Rhodope a little north of the Dospat valley, and then follows the crest of the Rilska Planina to the summit of Tchrni Vrkh, where the Servian, Turkish and Bulgarian territories meet. From this point the western or Servian frontier passes northwards, leaving Trn to the east and Pirot to the west, reaching the Timok near Kula, and following the course of that river to its junction with the Danube. The Berlin Treaty boundary was far from corresponding with the ethnological limits of the Bulgarian race, which were more accurately defined by the abrogated treaty of San Stefano (see below, under _History_). A considerable portion of Macedonia, the districts of Pirot and Vranya belonging to Servia, the northern half of the vilayet of Adrianople, and large tracts of the Dobrudja, are, according to the best and most impartial authorities, mainly inhabited by a Bulgarian population.
_Physical Features._--The most striking physical features are two mountain-chains; the Balkans, which run east and west through the heart of the country; and Rhodope, which, for a considerable distance, forms its southern boundary. The Balkans constitute the southern half of the great semicircular range known as the anti-Dacian system, of which the Carpathians form the northern portion. This great chain is sundered at the Iron Gates by the passage of the Danube; its two component parts present many points of resemblance in their aspect and outline, geological formation and flora. The Balkans (ancient _Haemus_) run almost parallel to the Danube, ...
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