THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 287 



THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF FRANCE. 



By Dr. EDWARD D. JONES, 



UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN. 



THE country of France, by reason of its position, has been forced 

 into prominence in the life of Western Europe. The nation is 

 surrounded by powerful peoples of diverse types, and because of its cen- 

 tral location has perhaps developed a more cosmopolitan culture than 

 its neighbors. The French people are separated most completely by 

 the natural features of their boundaries from those races most closely 

 resembling them. The road is open where the antagonism of types 

 is greatest. The continental position of France has involved her in 

 the troubles as well as in the reforms of her neighbors, and has opened 

 the door to conquest, but left it open to invaders. 



The internal geography of France shows no such extensive moun- 

 tainous regions, or other sharp geographical divisions, as exist in the 

 British Islands. The vanquished races of France have therefore not 

 been able to retain their separate nationalities as completely as have 

 the Scotch, Welsh and Irish. The British Islands are open on all sides 

 to the sea, and with their abundant harbors have trained up a nation 

 of sailors and colonists to carry Anglo-Saxon culture around the world. 

 France is compact in outline, and though she has much coast, lacks 

 good harbors. The activity of the national mind has been turned in- 

 ward. This betrays itself in the intense patriotism of the people, in 

 the influence exerted by the national capital and in the failure of 

 France as a colonial power. 



The region included in European France comprises about one two- 

 hundred-and-fiftieth of the land of the earth, and about one eighteenth 

 of Europe. The area is 204,150 square miles, or about twice that of 

 the British Islands. The water boundaries are as follows: Medi- 

 terranean Sea coast, 395 miles; North Sea, Straits of Dover and English 

 •Channel, 572 miles; Atlantic Ocean, 584 miles. 



The boundary between France and Spain coincides, for the most 

 part, with the crest of the Pyrenees Mountains. It is, from the eco- 

 nomic point of view, a veritable 'wall of separation.' Indeed, it is a 

 well-nigh impassable boundary, as may be seen from the Spanish 

 proverb describing the passes of these mountains — "A son would not 

 wait there for his father." Communication between France and Spain 

 is carried on by means of railways, near the Mediterranean and Atlan- 

 tic coasts, and by water. The French slope of the Pyrenees is a pas- 



