478 



FRANCE. 



reputation of the count was bad, and the bill 

 was rejected, and although the emperor some- 

 what angrily demanded its passage, it was a 

 second time and almost unanimously rejected, 

 and the baffled monarch was compelled to 

 withdraw it. The prosecution of the war with 

 Mexico has also excited a considerable opposi- 

 tion, which at the session of the present year 

 is likely to be materially increased. 



The press at first supposed that the notices 

 and compulsory cessation of publication which 

 had been the fate of the greater part of the 

 newspapers of Paris and the other cities of 

 France, at one time or another within the past 

 ten years, were to be henceforth abandoned, 

 and were a little riotous, perhaps, in their new- 

 found liberty ; but the delusion was a brief one, 

 and they soon found that though the name of 

 the thing was changed, a " communique " was 

 just as effective a check upon the freedom of 

 the press as a " notice." The censorship both 

 of books and newspapers, has, in fact, been 

 maintained with even greater rigidity, though 

 under somewhat different forms, during the 

 past year than in any of the ten which have 

 preceded it. 



The heavy duties imposed by the United 

 States Congress on silks and other fabrics im- 

 ported from Europe in 1861, and the general 

 stagnation of trade induced by the American 

 war, greatly depressed the manufacturing inter- 

 est in France, and the silk manufacturers of 

 Lyons were under the necessity, for a time, of 

 stopping their looms ; great suffering ensued 

 among the operatives of that city and its vicini- 

 ty, which was aggravated by the fact that there 

 was early in 1862 a dearth in cotton, which 

 rendered the production of cotton goods diffi- 

 cult and unprofitable. Lyons is not however 

 the principal seat of the cotton manufacture ; 

 Rouen and the department of Seine Inferieure, 

 and the departments adjacent have almost the 

 monopoly of the production of French prints, 

 while other descriptions of cotton goods are 

 manufactured in Normandy; Of the 89 de- 

 partments into which France is divided, 14 

 are, to a considerable extent, engaged in the 

 production of goods of which cotton is partially 

 or entirely the material. The scarcity and 

 high price of cotton in the autumn of 1862, 

 caused the closing of the greater part of the 

 manufactories, and in the departments of Rouen 

 and Seine Inferieure alone it was estimated 

 that at the close of the year 30,000 workmen 

 were out of employment and starving, and half 

 as many more in Normandy. At the com- 

 mencement of 1863 active measures were taken 

 to raise funds for their relief, and large contri- 

 butions were made by individuals, cities, and 

 the Government. 



STATISTICS. In France a census is taken every 

 five years, but it extends only to the popula- 

 tion, not to the agricultural or industrial pro- 

 ductions, mines, or railroads. The last census 

 was taken in 1861. It gave as the population 

 of the 80 original departments of France 36,- 



735,871, and adding the population of the new- 

 ly annexed departments of Savoy, High Savoy 

 and Nice (645,103), the whole population of 

 the France of to-day was 37,400,974. The in- 

 crease in the population of the old departments 

 in 5 years, was 716,507; in ten years, 972,812; 

 and in 15 years 1,355,385, or 3.79 per cent, in 

 15 years. Of this increase 1.99 per cent, was 

 since 1856. The increase of the French popu- 

 lation is slower than that of any other na- 

 tion of Europe, although the losses by emi- 

 gration are not large. The two great wars of 

 Italy and the Crimea, the short crops, and the 

 revolutions through which it has passed, may 

 all have had their influence in producing this 

 result; but the general laxity of morals, and 

 the abandonment of so many infants, legiti- 

 mate or illegitimate, to the foundling hospitals, 

 have unquestionably been the principal cause. 

 The population since 1789 has increased but 

 about 33 per cent., being at that time 27,957,- 

 165. The sexes are more nearly equal in num- 

 bers than anywhere else in Europe except 

 in Italy, the excess of females over males 

 being only ^ of one per cent. Of the 

 males 27.25 per cent, are unmarried (including 

 children), 20.13 per cent, married, and 2.49 

 per cent, widowed ; of the females, 25.31 per 

 cent, are unmarried (including children), 19.01 

 per cent, are married, and 4.81 per cent, are 

 widows. 



In 26 departments, there had been an actual 

 loss of population amounting in all to 101,678; 

 in 60 departments there had been a gain, 

 though in some it was very slight. 



There has been no census of agricultural 

 products since 1852 ; but that year, being a good 

 average year for crops, will indicate pretty 

 nearly the average amount at present ; while in 

 grains, it will be in excess of the last two years, 

 which have been years of short crops. The 

 crop of wheat in that year was 273,321,420 

 bushels ; of barley, 48,943,245 bushels ; of maize 

 and millet, 23,813,088 bushels ; the entire crop 

 of cereals was 640,849,488 bushels, and it was 

 valued at $522,833,340.40 for the grain, and 

 $119,145,203 for the straw. The crop of pota- 

 toes was 165,859,400 bushels; of peas and 

 beans, 17,428,571 bushels. The value of gar- 

 den products was $7,708,100, and of orchard 

 products, $6,900,492. The entire value of ag- 

 ricultural productions was $1,127,493,530. The 

 number of horned cattle the same vear was 

 10,093,737; of sheep, 33,281,592; of swine, 

 5,246,403; of goats, 1,337,940; of horses, 

 mares and colts, 2,866,054; mules, 315,831. 

 Total value of live stock, $556,192,282, the 

 total annual gross product of farm animals (in- 

 cluding 1,956,241 hives of bees) was $543,300,- 

 096. The production of brandy was $12,- 

 873,078; of beer, $12,679,842; of cider, $9,- 

 439,140; of Colza oil, $23,285,053; of olive 

 oil, $5,940,225; of nut oil, $2,857,679; of silk, 

 $13,198,094. The entire amount of industrial 

 products, derived immediately from agriculture 

 was $80,072,713. An industrial census was 



