i KAMI:. 



307 



The special commerce * of France was, in 



;i> r.illiiws (value expressed in francs) : 



The figures marked (*) are those officially 

 reported for 1867, those for 1868 not being 

 made available in detail. There is, however, 

 ft report of the entire special commerce of 

 1868, giving the imports at 3,303,700,000 

 francs, and the exports at 2, 789,900,000 francs, 

 which figures indicate an increase of imports 

 in the respective countries, not specified in the 

 report for 1868, of 205,700,000 francs, and an 

 increase of exports of 133,400,000 francs, as 

 compared with 1867. The entire increase of 

 the imports of 1868 over those of 1867 amounts 

 to 277,200,000 francs, while the entire exports 

 fall short of those of 1867, 36,000,000 francs. 

 The estimates of the special commerce of 1869 

 are: Total imports, 3,174,200,000 francs; ex- 

 ports, 8,097,400,000 francs. The movement 

 of specie and precious metals during the years 

 1868-'69 was as follows : 



On the 1st of January, 1870, the total length 

 of railroads which were in operation was 10,- 

 662 miles ; besides, permission had been grant- 

 ed for the construction of 4,023 miles. Of the 

 railroads in operation there were 5,054 miles 

 with double track. The length of telegraphio 

 lines, in 1869, was 26,605 miles, length of wire 

 72,815 miles ; length of lines of electric sema- 



* By special commerce those Imports nre understood 

 which are intended for consumption In Prance, and the 

 export* of such articles and commodities as arc produced 

 in France. 



phores, in 1806, 895 miles ; length of wire, 1,325 

 miles ; length of submarine cables, 859 miles. 

 Number of t.-U-nii.li-olHcc-H, in 1869,2,625; 

 number of home and international di|> 

 received and forwarded, in 1869, 4,218,188. 

 The French blae-book for the administration 

 of the interior contains the following state- 

 nit -at of the improveini-nts introduced into the 

 telegraph system during tho year I860: In 

 France and Corsica 225 new telegraph-stations 

 were opened ; the improved apparatus of 

 Meyer, which gives lac-similes of the dis- 

 patches, was introduced on the Paris-Lyons 

 . and Paris-Bordeaux lines. The rates for homo 

 dispatches were considerably reduced, while 

 the completion of the Franco- American cable 

 line caused a reduction, in the rate of a dis- 

 patch from Paris to New York, fivm 137 fnncs 

 25 centimes to 37 francs 50 centimes. The 

 receipts during the first nine months of the 

 year exceeded the total receipts of the pre- 

 vious year by more than one million francs. 



Tho ministerial crisis which had begun in 

 December, 1869, ended on January 3d by the 

 appointment of a new Cabinet, under the presi- 

 dency of Emile Ollivier. The new ministry was, 

 according to the Journal Official, composed as 

 follows: Minister of Justice and Religion, 

 Emile Ollivier ; Foreign Affairs, Count Napo- 

 leon Daru ; Interior, Chevandier de Valdrome ; 

 Finances, Louis Joseph Buffet; War, General 

 Edmund Leboeuf; Marine, Regault de Ge- 

 nouilly ; Public Instruction, Emile Alexis Le- 

 gris; Public "Works, Marquis de Talhouet; 

 Agriculture and Commerce, Charles Lonvet; 

 Fine Arts, Maurice Richard ; the Emperor's 

 Household, Count Vaillant; president of Coun- 

 cil of State, Esqniron de Porieu. Only two 

 of the members, tho Ministers of War and 

 Marine, had been members of the preceding 

 ministry ; all the others were new men. A 

 novel feature in the composition was the sepa- 

 ration of the ministry of Fine Arts from that 

 of the Emperor's household. The press of 

 France, on the whole, showed itself favorable 

 to the new ministry, which, it was expected, 

 would unite the moderate wing of the Liberal 

 opposition with the Government party for the 

 support of the dynasty and the gradual intro- 

 duction of some of tho most urgent reforms. 

 The organs of the radical party had, of course, 

 no confidence in the ministerial promises, and 

 some ultra-conservative papers made their 

 support of the new Cabinet dependent upon 

 the condition that the policy "be not too 

 bold." Among the earliest steps of tho new 

 Cabinet, which were regarded as concessions 

 to public opinion, was the abolition of the 

 censorship offoreign papers by an order of the 

 Minister of the Interior, and, on the 5th of Jan- 

 uary, the removal of Baron Haussmann, who, 

 as prefect of tho department of the Seine, was 

 succeeded by Chevreau, and tho appointment 

 of Odillon Barrot as President of the Com- 

 mittee of Decentralization. On the 15th of 

 January, the new Prime Minister gave in tho 



