FRANCE. 



345 



Of this latter amount 32,870,000 francs went 

 to the account of state railways, 13,064,700 

 francs for naval invalids, 9,307,500 francs for 

 the national printing-office, 16,887,100 francs 

 for the legion of honor, and 9,221,600 francs 

 for the savings-bank. In June, 1887, the budg- 

 et for 1888 was cut down by 182,205,000 

 francs, leaving the corrected expenditure, or- 

 dinary and extraordinary, 3,628,301,069 francs. 



The total consolidated debt of France amount- 

 ed in 1888 to 23,728,096,228 francs, the interest 

 upon which is 826,241,131 francs annually, 

 divided as follows: 3-per-cent. rente, 482,934,- 

 911 francs; 4-per-cent. rente, 446,096 francs; 

 4^-per-cent. rente, 305,426,874 francs. The 

 redeemable debt, life annuities, and other en- 

 gagements of the treasury swell the capital of 

 the debt to about 32,500,000,000 francs. All 

 the communes and departments of France have 

 their own budgets and debts. The total com- 

 munal receipts in 1887 were 470,133.297 francs 

 and the departmental receipts, 97,236,261 

 francs. In the budget of the city of Paris for 

 1888 the revenue and expenditure were made 

 to balance at 304,169,794 francs. The prin- 

 cipal source of revenue of Paris is from the 

 droits d' 'octroi or tolls on articles of consump- 

 tion, estimated to amount to 137,738,200 francs 

 in 1888. The interest and sinking-fund of the 

 municipal debt, amounted to 106,139,058 francs 

 in 1888. 



In order to sustain the increased expendi- 

 ture of the Government in recent years the im- 

 port duties have been made much higher than 

 they were formerly, the stamp duties have 

 been raised, and taxes on sugar, wine, and salt, 

 and that on railroad transportation, have been 

 increased. On March 13, 1888, the Chamber 

 decided to take away the privilege that wine 

 and apple growers have enjoyed of distilling 

 spirits from their own produce free of duty. 

 The imposition of new duties on live animals 

 caused a large falling off in the cattle imports 

 in 1887, while the import of fresh meat in- 

 creased. The duty on wheat was raised in 

 March, 188-5, and again on April 1, 1887, caus- 

 ing a considerable advance in the price of 

 bread. In September, 1888, the bakers at St. 

 Ouen and St. Denis refused to make bread at 

 the prices fixed by the municipal authorities, 

 and the Cabinet met to consider the question 

 of suspending the grain duties, as it is em- 

 powered to do when the price of bread rises 

 to a point threatening the food-supply of the 

 people. One effect of the high duty on wheat 

 was that Belgian bread was imported and sold 

 in Paris in large quantities. 



The Army. The peace strength of the French 

 army in 1888 was 499,789 officers and men, and 

 118,927 horses. This does not include the gen- 

 darmerie and the Garde Republicaine, which 

 together amount to 25,922 officers and men. 

 With these included, the effective, deducting 

 the number absent on sick-leave and furloughs, 

 was 465,588. The nominal force provided for 

 in the budget for 1888 was divided as follows : 



CLASSES OF TROOPS. Offlcen and men. 



Staff 8,919 



Schools 8,087 



Administrative and medical 8,893 



Infantry :, 



Infantry, administrative 



Cavalry : 



Artillery 7:>.^1 



Engineers 10.930 



Train H.MM 



Gendarmerie 



Garde Kepublicaine 8,'2oO 



Total 525,7 1 1 



The territorial army numbers 87,000 officers 

 and 579,000 men. the total war force of 

 France is about 3,750,000 men, of which number 

 2,500,000 have received some military instruc- 

 tion. The expenditure for the army in 1888 

 was 694,934,530 francs. 



The Navy. The effective navy in 1888 con- 

 sisted of 393 vessels, comprising 1 7 line-of -battle 

 ironclads, 9 ironclad cruisers, 10 ironclad guar- 

 da costas, 4 ironclad gun-boats, 9 battery cruis- 

 ers, 9 first-class cruisers, 15 of the second, and 

 18 of the third class, 2 torpedo cruisers, 14 

 avisos of the first, 26 of the second, and 6 of 

 the third class, 13 transport avisos, 6 torpedo 

 avisos, 20 gun-boats, 40 sloop gun-boats, 10 sea- 

 going torpedo-boats, 72 first-class and 41 sec- 

 ond-class torpedo-boats for coast defense, 5 

 pontoons, 25 transports, and 22 sailing-vessels. 

 The " Caiman " and the " Terrible," sister- 

 ships to the "Indomptable," belted ships with 

 19f inches of compound armor at the water- 

 line, carrying 75-ton guns mounted en barbette 

 in two fixed towers, are practically completed, 

 and the u Requin " is approaching completion. 

 The "Admiral Baudin," a monster ironclad of 

 11,200 tons displacement with 21f-inch plates 

 at the water-line, armed with three 60-ton and 

 twelve smaller guns, and the "Formidable," 

 a sister-ship, were completed in 1888. The 

 "Hoche" and the "Neptune," of 10,500 tons, 

 and the " Marceau," a heavily armored steel 

 cruiser with four barbette towers, having three 

 full decks, and fitted with four torpedo tubes, 

 will be ready for service by 1890. Two first- 

 crass ironclad squadron vessels, four first-class 

 ironclad gun-boats, four armored gun-boats of 

 the second class, two battery cruisers, two tor- 

 pedo cruisers, eleven cruisers of various classes, 

 and a large number of first-class torpedo-boats 

 are in different stages of construction. An- 

 other first-class ironclad and two torpedo dis- 

 patch-boats will be begun in 1889. Before 

 the end of that year one first-class and four 

 third-class cruisers will be finished, and three 

 first-class, one third-class, and the two torpedo 

 cruisers are expected to be done the year after. 

 The expenditure on the navy set down in the 

 budget for 1888 is 219,883,311 francs. The 

 valuation of the fleet given in the budget is 

 502,000,000 francs. 



Fall of the Tirard Ministry. The Cabinet was 

 overturned on March 30 by a vote of 268 to 

 234 on a motion of M. Laguerre, leader of 

 Gen. Boulanger's faction, which numbered only 

 13 in the Chamber, in favor of the revision of 

 the Constitution. Royalists and Bonapartists 



