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FRANCE. 



to disturb the public tranquillity. The Gov- 

 ernor having been repeatedly applied to and 

 solicited to call out the militia, deemed it pru- 

 dent to forbear doing so; but on August 12, 

 1870, he issued a proclamation, in which he 

 appealed to all good citizens, saying that the 

 responsibility and odium of such a state of 

 things rested upon the people themselves, who 

 seemed by their inaction to countenance the 

 offenders. He warned them that, if the out- 

 rages complained of were again perpetrated, 

 unless the residents in the respective localities 

 effectually cooperated with him in upholding 

 the authority of the law, by aiding the civil 

 officers in the exercise of their duty to bring 

 the offenders to justice, he should be com- 

 pelled to " ask aid of the power whose arm he 

 feared was then alone strong enough for pro- 

 tection." 



Concerning public instruction, no report for 

 the year 1870 has been submitted to the Legis- 

 lature, the superintendent having died in Sep- 

 tember last. In his report for 1869, dated 

 January 3, 1870, he said that the State system 

 of popular education had been successfully in- 

 augurated, and that free schools were gaming 

 in favor with the people. It seems, however, 

 that a great part of the machinery has remained 

 inoperative. 



FRANCE. At the close of the year 1870, 

 France was, in consequence of the German- 

 French War, in a 'greatly-disorganized condi- 

 tion. On the 4th of September the republic had 

 been proclaimed, and a provisional government, 

 called " Gouvernement provisoire de la defense 

 nationale," had its seat partly in Paris, partly in 

 Bordeaux. The Government consisted of Gen- 

 eral Trochu, President, and commanding gen- 

 eral at Paris ;. Jules Favre, Vice-President ; 

 Jules Ferry, Secretary; C. Arago, Cremieux, 

 Gambetta, Gamier Pages, Glais Bizoin, Pelle- 

 tan, Picard, Rochefort, J. Simon. The ministry, 

 appointed on September 4th, was composed as 

 follows : Jules Favre, Minister of Foreign Af- 

 fairs ; Gambetta, Minister of the Interior; Gen- 

 eral Lefl6, Minister of War ; Fourichon, Minis- 

 ter of Marine ; Cremieux, Minister of Justice ; 

 Picard, Minister of Finances ; Simon, Minister 

 of Public Worship and Instruction ; Dorian, 

 Minister of Public Works ; Magnin, Minister 

 of Commerce and Agriculture. 



Previous to the year 1868 the land forces at 

 the disposal of the French Government consist- 

 ed of the troops of the regular army alone, from 

 the ranks of which the contingents required in 

 time of war were exclusively furnished. The 

 main object, therefore, of the reorganization of 

 the army, was the formation of a militia or 

 garde mobile for garrison duty and for home 

 service, in order that the entire regular army 

 might become available for war purposes. The 

 land forces in 1870, according to the new mili- 

 tary law, were composed of the regular ac- 

 tive army ; the reserve ; and the National Garde 

 Mobile. Every able-bodied male inhabitant is 

 liable to serve in the regular army (some excep- 



tions are specified by law), but may furnish a 

 substitute. For service in the National Garde 

 Mobile substitutes are accepted in very rare in- 

 stances. The number of recruits to be drafted 

 is fixed by a special law for each separate year ; 

 in 1868 and 1869 the contingent amounted to 

 100,000 men per annum; while in 1870 it was 

 reduced to 90,000 men. The number of young 

 men who annually attain the age at which 

 they become liable to military duty amounts 

 to about 320,000, of whom about one-half, or 

 160,000, are generally able bodied and fit for 

 service. Of these 160,000 men, 100,000 are 

 usually taken for active service, while the re- 

 maining 60,000 are consigned to the National 

 Guard. The following deductions must yet be 

 made from the above contingent of 100,000: 

 1. 9,000 men for the marine ; 2. 15,000 men 

 who have either previously volunteered or are 

 exempt by law ; 3. 20,000 who furnish substi- 

 tutes, and are thus exempt from service in the 

 regular army, but have to enter the ranks of 

 the National Garde Mobile. Thus, of the 

 above 100,000 men, only 56,000 remain avail- 

 able for the regular army. They are again 

 divided into two classes, of which the first, 

 numbering 43,000 men, have to do continuous 

 service during five years, and are then con- 

 signed to the reserve for the ensuing four 

 years. The second class, comprising 13,000 

 men, are drilled during one month every year 

 for the first five years, but can be called into 

 the ranks at any time during that period in 

 case of emergency. During the remaining four 

 years of their term they form part of the 

 reserve. 



The National Garde Mobile is intended for 

 the defense of fortresses, of the coasts and 

 frontiers, and for the maintenance of order in 

 the interior. Its nominal strength is officially 

 computed at 550,000 men, but it has not, so far, 

 exceeded 850,000 men actually available for 

 service. The regular French army at the be- 

 ginning of the year was divided into seven army 

 corps, each of which was under the command 

 of a marshal of France. The principal divis- 

 ions of the army were: the Imperial Guard, 

 and the troops of the line. The former con- 

 sisted of 16,000 infantry, somewhat more 

 than 3,000 cavalry, and 2,500 artillery, with 

 72 guns. The infantry of the line consisted 

 of 100 regiments of 2,000 rank and file, 

 or 200,000 men; to these must be added three 

 regiments of Zouaves, with 6,000 men ; four 

 regiments of African tirailleurs or Turcos, 

 with 9,000 men ; twenty battalions of chas- 

 seurs, with 14,000 men; one regiment of the 

 Foreign Legion, with 3,000 men ; and three 

 battalions of African light infantry, with 1,000 

 men; or, in all, 233,000 men. The cavalry 

 of the line comprised ten regiments of heavy 

 cavalry or cuirassiers, with 6,000 men ; twelve 

 regiments of dragoons and four regiments of 

 lancers, together 12,000 men ; and twenty 

 regiments of light cavalry, of which twelve 

 regiments were chasseurs and eight regiments 



