334 



FRANCE. 



depression, production and commerce have been 

 greatly increased under the French protectorate, 

 and enormous progress has been made in justice, 

 education, and civil government. Railroads, 260 

 miles in length, connect with the Algerian sys- 

 tem. The length of telegraphs is 2,000 miles. 



In May, 1890, the Bey issued a decree requir- 

 ing every employer of negro domestics to give 

 them an official certificate that they are free and 

 imposing a penalty of imprisonment from three 

 months to three years on all persons selling, buy- 

 ing, or holding slaves. Cardinal Lavigerie says 

 that a few of the old families have kept their 

 slaves from tradition, but the number is con- 

 stantly diminishing, and soon none will be left. 



Colonies. The area of the colonies of France, 

 including Algeria, which is considered politically 

 as a part of the republic, with that of the pro- 

 tectorates, was in 1887 about 1,250,000 square 

 miles and the total population nearly 30,000,000. 



In Asia the old colony of Pondicherry, with 

 an area of 203 square miles, in 1887 had, with 

 dependencies, a population of 282,723, of whom 

 279,970 are Indians and 962 Europeans by de- 

 scent. The local budget in 1888 was 1,952,014 

 francs ; the expenditure of the Central Govern- 

 ment, 469,296 francs. The imports in 1887 were 

 5,900,000 francs ; the exports, 21,400,000 francs, 

 of which 9,600,000 francs were exports of prod- 

 uce of the colony. 



French Cochin-China, annexed in 1861, is 23,- 

 000 square miles in extent, and in 1887 con- 

 tained 1,864,214 inhabitants. Cambodia, which 

 was taken under the French protection in 1862. 

 with an area of 32,390 square miles, has about 

 1,500,000 inhabitants. Tonquin, which was made 

 a French colony in 1884, contains a population 

 of 12,000,000 in a territory of 34,700 square 

 miles, and the less thickly peopled Kingdom of 

 Annarn, declared a protectorate in the same 

 year, has some 5,000,000 more on an area of 

 106,250 square miles. The administration is in 

 the hands of native officials. Prince Bun Can 

 was proclaimed King on Jan. 31, 1889. French 

 troops occupy part of the citadel at Hue, the 

 capital. The port of Tulane has been ceded to 

 France, and Quin Hon and Xuan Day are open 

 to European commerce. The four colonies and 

 protectorates were placed in 1887 under the 

 direction of a Superior Council of Indo-China 

 and were united in a customs union. The im- 

 ports of the union in 1888 amounted to 71,828,- 

 153 francs, and the exports to 68,079,305 francs. 

 From Annam the chief exports are cinnamon, 

 sugar, cotton, tea, coffee, tobacco, and seeds; 

 from Cambodia, salt fish, cotton, beans, carda- 

 mom seeds, and sugar. In Cochin-China, where 

 2,000 Europeans are settled, the main product is 

 rice, which constitutes 70 per cent, of the total 

 exports. Tonquin produces rice, sugar, silk, 

 and cotton, raw and manufactured, oils, pepper, 

 tobacco, copper, and iron. The total imports 

 of Annam were reported in 1888 as 4,362,370 

 francs; exports, 3,372,383 francs. From Cam- 

 bodia the exports of native produce amounted to 

 12,000 francs. The imports of Cochin-China 

 were valued at 39,392,851 francs, and the exports 

 at 69,513,433 francs. In 1889 the rice crop was 

 short. Only 280,000 tons were exported, against 

 500,000 tons in 1888, and in the country districts 

 the people suffered from want of food. The 



deficiency in the exports was partly supplied by 

 the trade in raw cotton that has sprung up be- 

 tween the colony and Japan. The imports into 

 Tonquin were 23,881,012 francs in value and the 

 exports 6,988,249 francs. The revenue of Ton- 

 quin and Annam in 1888 was 17,321,000 francs, 

 and the expenditure 17,034,620 francs ; the rev- 

 enue of Cambodia was 3.275,000, and the expen- 

 diture 3,059,236 francs ; the revenue and expen- 

 diture of Cochin-China were made to balance at 

 30,215,943 francs. These sums do not include 

 the expenditures of the French Government, 

 which are given in the budget for 1890 as 12,- 

 450,000 francs for Tonquin and Annam and 

 6,288,718 francs for Cochin-China. In Annam 

 23,230 troops are maintained, of whom 11,830 

 are native levies ; in Cambodia the French gar- 

 rison numbers 300 ; in Tonquin there were 11,- 

 475 French troops and 6,500 native soldiers in 

 1889. In Cochin-China a garrison is kept of 

 5,660 European troops in addition to 2,800 An- 

 namite soldiers. In the early months of 1890 

 several fights took place between the French 

 troops and pirates in the remoter provinces of 

 Tonquin. In February the bands of Doc Sung 

 and Thanh Dhuat were pursued in Bacninh 

 and an attempt was made to surround them. 

 Pirates attacked the post of Lakaon in Haiduong 

 on Feb. 2, and were repelled after a severe 

 combat. The Doi Vo was surprised in his vil- 

 lage by a French force early in March, and 

 offered a desperate resistance, but was finally 

 killed, freeing the province of Bacninh from a 

 troublesome brigand. At the end of March a 

 severe encounter took place between Thanh 

 Dhuat and a French patrol, which carried his 

 village at the point of the bayonet. A few days 

 later Lieut, de Miribel laid an ambuscade for a 

 band of 300 Chinese brigands, and put them to 

 flight, rescuing their captives. Lun Ky, who 

 infests the neighborhood of Dong Trien, captured 

 two Frenchmen, who were only released on the 

 payment of a heavy ransom. 



The American colonies of France are Guada- 

 loupe and adjacent islands, in the Lesser Antilles, 

 the island of Martinique, French Guiana, and 

 the fishing islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, 

 near the coast of Newfoundland. Guadaloupe 

 has an area of 720 square miles, and contained 

 182,182 inhabitants in 1888. The revenue and 

 expenditure were made to balance at 5,027,130 

 francs in 1889. The expenditure of the mother 

 country in 1890 was 2,122,085 francs. Besides 

 sugar, of which 58,075,430 kilogrammes were 

 produced in 1886, valued at 17,670,250 francs, 

 coffee, cacao, spices, vanilla, manioc, and other 

 food plants, and to some extent cotton, ramie, 

 and tobacco are grown, and valuable timber is 

 cut in the forests. There are 60 miles of rail- 

 road. The imports in 1887 were 14,196,966 francs 

 in value, and the exports 21,519.696 francs. Mar- 

 tinique, with an area of 380 square miles, and 

 175,391 inhabitants in 1888, grows sugar and a 

 little coffee, cacao, and tobacco for export, and 

 manioc, yams, and bananas for food. The im- 

 ports in 1887 amounted to 23,461,450 francs, the 

 chief items being textiles, flour, fertilizers, salt 

 fish, and rice. The exports were valued at 20,- 

 859,310 francs, 11,873,774 francs standing for 

 sugar, and 5,401,211 francs for liquors. The 

 chief commercial center is St. Pierre, with 20,000 



