FRANCE. 



353 



The "Wallis Islands, lying midway between 

 Samoa and Fiji, were declared a French pro- 

 tectorate on Dec. 31, 1887. French influences 

 became predominant half a century ago, but 

 regard for British susceptibilities prevented 

 annexation at that time. Tinea, the principal 

 island, is only 7 miles long, but contains 4,000 

 inhabitants, belonging to the finest of the Pa- 

 cific races, a large majority of whom, including 

 Amelie, their Queen, are Catholics. 



Algeria. The Governor-General of Algeria 

 is Louis Tirman, appointed Nov. 26, 1881. 



In the census of 1886, the population was 

 3,817,465, exclusive of wandering Arab tribes, 

 occupying an area of 122,867 square miles. Of 

 the total population the department of Algiers 

 contained 1,380,541, Constantine 1,566,419, 

 and Oran 869,505. To the above must be 

 added the Algerian Sahara, with an estimated 

 area of 135,000 square miles, and an estimated 

 population of 50,000. In 1886, of the total 

 population, 201,591 were of French origin, 

 42,7-44 naturalized Jews, 3.274,354 French in- 

 digenous subjects, n.(ir..j Tunisians, and 233,721 

 foreigners, including Spaniards, Italians, Anglo- 

 Maltese, and Germans. The population of the 

 city of Algiers in 1886 was 71,199; of Oran, 

 68,646 ; of Constantine, 36.536. 



The total expenditure of the Government 

 for 1887 was 120,340.256 francs, the cost of 

 the civil government being 39,205,285 francs; 

 special services, 6,127,206 francs ; military 

 services, 54.048.068 francs; extraordinary ex- 

 penses, 20,958,797 francs ; colonization, 2,815,- 

 000 francs. The revenue for the same year 

 was 43,734,303 francs. The number of troops 

 in Algeria was 54.000. 



The imports in 1886 amounted to 242.274.- 

 279 francs, of which 189,175,785 francs came 

 from France, and 53,098.494 from other coun- 

 tries. The exports were 182,255,122 francs, 

 125,587,932 francs to France and 56,667,191 

 francs to other countries. 



The lines of railway open for traffic in 1887 

 were 1,290 miles in length. The receipts in 



1886 amounted to 21,174,400 fn 

 Wine-growing is an industry of increasing 



importance. The area planted in vineyards in 



1887 was 190,000 acres, yielding 2,000,000 

 hectolitres of wine. TLe product of the older 

 vineyards compares favorably with the best 

 French wines. The phylloxera has appeared, 

 but has been kept iu check by stringent meas- 

 ures of protection. The colonization of Al- 

 geria has increased rapidly since 1871, when 

 10,500 refugees from Alsace-Lorraine were 

 granted lands and the means of beginning as 

 agriculturists. During the past eleven years 

 8,000 families have been settled under favor- 

 able conditions on lands that were taken from 

 the Arabs in consequence of revolts, at a cost 

 to the Government of 15,000,000 francs, not 

 reckoning the value of the land. Grasshop- 

 pers did much damage to the growing crops 

 in 1887, and in 1888 swarms of crickets de- 

 vastated many localities. 



VOL. xxvni. 23 A 



Tunis. The principality of Tunis has not 

 been formally annexed, but is under the re- 

 gency of France. The ruling Bey is Sidi Ali, 

 born Oct. 5, 1817, who succeeded his brother, 

 Sidi Moharned-es-Sadok, Oct. 28, 1882. The 

 French Resident-General, M. Massicault, prac- 

 tically administers the government of the coun- 

 try under the Bureau des Affaires Tunis; 

 of the French Foreign Office. 



The area is about 42,000 square miles, and 

 the estimated population is 2,100,000, of which 

 number 2,028,000 are Mohammedans, 45,000 

 Jews, 25,100 Roman Catholics, 400 Greek 

 Catholics, and 100 Protestants. The capital 

 city. Tunis, has a population of about 145,000. 

 The estimated revenue for 1887-'88 was 

 21,806,531 francs, which was balanced by the 

 expenditure. The main sources of revenue 

 are as follow: Direct taxes, 7,454,562 francs; 

 monopolies, 4,355,625 francs; customs, 2,020,- 

 000 francs. The charges for civil government 

 that are borne by France do not exceed 150,000 

 frnncs per annum. In 1886, 5,752 vessels, cf 

 1.301,695 tons, entered, and 5,592 vessels, of 

 1.292,275 tons, cleared the ports of Tunis. 

 The principal articles of export are olive-oil, 

 wheat, barley, sponges, and woolen goods. 

 The imports are cotton goods, coffee, sugar, 

 spirits, silks, etc. Tunis had 256 miles of rail- 

 way and 2,000 miles of telegraph in operation 

 in 1885. 



Since Tunis was made a French protectorate 

 European farms have become numerous, the 

 cultivation of the vine has been introduced and 

 is extending, foreign commerce has doubled, 

 banks have been established, and public works 

 have been constructed, though without undue 

 haste. Much attention is given to the conser- 

 vation and improvement of native industries, 

 and some new branches have been introduced. 

 There has been much progress iu education, 

 primary schools having been established in all 

 parts of the country, and supplied with teach- 

 ers from a normal college in Tunis. The Gov- 

 ernment has given care to the preservation 

 and encouragement to the study of the ancient 

 monuments that are scattered through the 

 country, and has founded libraries and muse- 

 ums. In 1888 the first steps were taken to- 

 ward the establishment of a uniform system of 

 education, such as exists in France ; but the 

 Italians, who have schools in which their lan- 

 guage is taught and formerly received conces- 

 sions and encouragement from the Bey, object- 

 ed to having the continuance or the character 

 of these schools depend on the will of French 

 officials. They therefore invoked the capitu- 

 lations, which were originally designed for the 

 protection of subjects of the Christian powers 

 of Europe against arbitrary acts of Mussulman 

 governments. The French Government, while 

 insisting that the capitulations were still oper- 

 ative at Massowah, denied the Italian conten- 

 tion that they were in force in Tunis. The 

 Italian residents in Tunis objected especially 

 to the new school-regulations that the Bey had 



