o_19heefouak9i9v4do11ac41pi7a.pdf

SAKIS GEKAS
no surplus to his successor, neither did he leave a debt. At the same time, thanks
both to Napier’s prudent administration and Adam’s responsiveness, the Ionian
government was helpful to the population in times of need; Napier and the rich inhabitants
of the island ameliorated the minor crisis caused by the grain deficit in
Kefalonia in 1824 and provided relief to those who suffered from a devastating
earthquake in Leukada in 1825 49 .
State finances improved again under Nugent who, despite inheriting no surplus
from Adam, left more than £126,000 in the public coffers 50 . However, Douglas,
Commissioner between 1835 and 1841, returned the Ionian fiscal position to its previous
state. The surplus left by Nugent was all spent, and in addition there was a
large debt of more than £150,000 despite the highest revenues ever collected during
the Protectorate 51 . Under Seaton the debt increased, reaching £216,000 by the end of
his term, despite Seaton’s declarations in his inaugural speech in the Ionian Assembly
to reduce the debt he had inherited from Douglas and Mackenzie. Ward’s term
coincided with the constitutional changes that Seaton had introduced, including the
right of the Assembly to review finances. The Assembly suggested cutting the salaries
of officials by half; Ward, fearing that such a drastic measure would undermine
his position even further and alienate the protectionists, refused and cut funds for
public works instead 52 . In 1820 there were 43 people from Corfu employed in the
central government, while in 1862 there were 156. Initially the public sector was
staffed by Ionians and foreigners from Malta, Sicily, Corsica and Naples. These were
among the first to become naturalised Ionians since Ionian citizenship was required
for employment in the government 53 . By 1860 there were more public employees
and the salaries were more proportionally allocated (in 1820 nine government functionaries
received 40% of the total wages bill, while in 1860 fourteen employees received
13%) but in 1855 there were still 2,200 government employees out of a total
population of about 240,000, a very high number for such a small state 54 . In 1857
£66,251 was spent on salaries, while the amount increased to £71,000 by 1863. That
year, the last of the Protectorate, the total number of state employees was 1,551;
only 26 of those were English and they earned far higher salaries than Ionians 55 .
Greek governments continued to pay pensions to British subjects who had served as
Ionian State employees until 1924, as laid down in the 1864 Treaty of London 56 .
49 Π. Χιώτου, Ιστορία του Ιονίου Κράτους, vol. 2, 1874, p. 16-7.
50 Kirkwall, vol. I, p. 134.
51 Kirkwall, vol. I, p. 152.
52 Kirkwall, vol. I, p. 204.
53 Π. Χιώτου, Ιστορία του Ιονίου Κράτους, vol. 1, p. 261.
54 Προγουλάκης 2003, p. 78.
55 Kirkwall, Four Years, p. 306.
56 Α. Αντωνίου, «Δημοσιονομικές επιπτώσεις της ένωσης της Επτανήσου», Πρακτικά, Η
Ένωση της Επτανήσου με την Ελλάδα [A. Antoniou, ‘Fiscal Consequences of the Union of
the Ionian Islands with Greece’, in Proceedings, The union of Eptanisos with Greece], vol. I,
Athens, 2005, p. 551.
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