FRANCE. 



291 



marriage 2'1. In 1*91 and 1S92 there was an actual 

 decrease <>f population, in ls<)3u slight increase, and 

 in 181*4 a surplus of 39.?is births over deaths, the 

 total number of births 1 id that of 



deaths si.-,.i;-jo. 'I'll,- ro \ 52 marriages in 



that year, airainst 2*7.294 in 1893 ami 290,319 in 

 1*'.(2. ' Tli" a v,- rage birth rate in 1*1)4 was 22 to 

 l.(HH) inhabitants; the death ra'.e. 22: the excess of 

 births over deaths. 1 to 1,000. The number of di- 

 3 in ls<)4 was 6.410. S3 in every 100.000 families. 

 The census of March. 1*96. makes the total popula- 

 tion of France 38,228,989, an increase of 133,819 in 

 live years, or 2i!.5ot) per annum, showing a birth 

 rate of 1 to 1,500. The increase is largely confined 

 to the cities, and is balanced by a decrease in many 

 of the rural communes. The greatest increase has 

 in the departments of the Seine, the Xord. the 

 Bouches-du-Rhone, the Rhone, the Seine-et-' 

 the Pas de Calais, the Meurthe-et-Moselle. the Var, 

 the Gironde. the Alpes Maritimes, and the Vosges. 

 In the departments of the Orne, the Manche, the 

 Lot. the Calvados, the Dordogne, and the Gers the 

 diminution was most marked. 



The total emigration from 183? to 1891 was 285.- 

 >f which number 59,304 went to the United 

 ss. The number of emigrants in 1892 was 

 5.528. and in 1893 it was 3.586. The preliminary 

 results of the census of 1896 make the population 

 of Paris 2,511,955. The increase of population in 

 none of the inland towns was important ; it was 

 only 28,000 in Lyons. 15.000 in Lille, and in St.- 

 Etienne. Koubaix. Nancy, and Tourcoing it was 

 also small, while Rouen, Toulouse, Rennes, Bourges, 

 and other places show an actual decrease, indicating 

 that the migration to the towns from the villages 

 has greatly 'slackened. The ports on the channel 

 and the Bay of Biscay are also stationary or declin- 

 ing. Nantes having actually fallen off from 122,000 

 to 105,000. St.-Na/aire remaining about the same, 

 and Bordeaux having merely risen to 256.000 and 

 Havre from 116.000 to 117,000; while Brest has 

 fallen from 75,000 to 72,000, Calais shows a slight 

 sase, Lorient also, and Boulogne, Dunkirk, 

 Cherbourg, and Rochefort are nearly stationary. 

 The Mediterranean ports, on the contrary, show a 

 jemarkable growth. Marseilles having increased to 

 447.0(10 and Toulon from 77.000 to 94,000. The 

 urban population of France in 1891. embracing all 

 communes of more than 2,000 inhabitants, was 14,- 

 311.292. or 3?-4 per cent, of the whole, while the 

 rural population was 24.031.900, or 62'6 per cent. 



The Army. Every Frenchman is liable to serv- 

 ice in the army, and may be called into the active 

 army or the reserves from the age of twenty to that 

 of forty-five, unless he is pronounced unfit. All 

 the youiiii men of the country belong to the active 

 army from the age of twenty, unless exempted, and 

 serve three years, after which they form part of the 

 active army reserve for ten years, then of the terri- 

 torial army for six years, and finally of the terri- 

 torial reserve. Students in higher institutions of 

 learning and seminarists serve but one year with 

 the colors, and every soldier who has acquitted 

 himself well in military exercises and can read and 

 write, may be sent on indefinite furlough after a 

 year of active service. The number of men com- 

 posing the total war strength of France is estimated 

 ar 2.350.000 in the active army and its reserve. 900.- 

 000 in the territorial army, 'and 1.100,1X10 in the 

 territorial reserve ; total. 4.350.000, of whom 2,500,- 

 000 are counted on as available. 



The peace strength of the army is estimated in 

 the budget for 1896 to be 598.263 men, of whoi: 

 9<:>:'> are officers, showing an increase of 22.036 over 

 the preceding year. The number of horses is 142.- 

 661. The strength and distribution of the various 

 arms and services were as follow : 



Deducting the sick and absent, the effective of 

 the active army in 1896 was 528,147 officers and 

 men of the total 572,402. 



The Navy. France has, next to Great Britain, 

 the strongest navy in the world. There are 16 

 battle ships of the first class, 10 of the second class, 

 and 4 of the third class, 17 port-defense vessels, 14 

 first-class, 26 second-class, and 110 third- 

 cruisers, and 100 first-class, 80 second-class, and 06 

 third-class torpedo craft. The vessels under con- 

 struction comprise 2 battle ships. 2 corsair cruisers 

 or commerce destroyers, 2 first-class cruisers. ,' 

 ond-class cruisers. 3 third-class cruisers, a dispatch 

 vessel, a gunboat, a torpedo dispatch vessel, a tor- 

 pedo gunboat, 3 seagoing torpedo boats, 7 first-cla-s 

 torpedo boats, and 5 aluminium boats. The navy 

 budget has grown from 121,484.000 francs in 1872 

 to 278.000,000 francs in 1894. The navy is manned 

 partly by conscription and partly by enlistments. 

 The new commerce destroyers are designed to make 

 23 knots with 24.000 horse power and triple screws. 

 They will have 2-inch deck armor, with a splinter- 

 proof deck below. Their displacement is 8,500 tons. 

 They will carry an armament of 2 6'2-inch. 6 5'5- 

 inch. and a number of 1'85-inch guns. The iron- 

 clad " Gaulois," launched in October, 1896, has a 

 .displacement of 11,275 tons. and. with engines of 

 14.500 horse power, was built to make 18 knots and 

 carry an armament of 22 guns, besides 32 small 

 guns for repelling torpedo attacks. 



Finances. The budget for 1896 estimates the 

 total revenue at 3.448.317.093 francs, of w'iich 522.- 

 101.183 francs are derived from direct taxes. 2.064.- 

 39V230 francs from indirect taxes, and 686.613.732 

 francs from monopolies, services, and domains, 

 making the total ordinary revenue 3.273.113.145 

 francs, which does not include 64.816.354 francs of 

 formal recettes d'ordre. 57,372.575 francs from vari- 

 ous extraordinary sources, and Algeria's revenue of 

 53.015.019 francs." The direct taxes are the folio wins : 

 Land tax, 118.607.919 francs: tax on buildings. 80.- 

 042.227 francs; personal-property tax. 90,470,476 

 francs : door and window tax. 58.425.474 francs : 

 trade licenses, 125,580,402 francs: tax on preinii-rc 

 <ii_-i-rf>*x<'t>''nt. 1.054.100 francs: taxes on servants 

 and carriages and horses. 47.92o.5sr> francs. The 

 indirect taxes are: Customs. 469.2?o.230 francs: 

 registration. 555.689,500 francs : stamps. 188.402.500 

 francs; 4-per-cent. tax on movables. 66.220,000 

 francs: snsrar tax. 196.473,000 francs: other taxes. 

 >\343.000 francs. The revenues from monopolies 

 and state property were: Tobacco. 376.301.800 

 francs: matches and gunpowder. 39.959.300 francs; 

 pi >sts. telegraphs, and telephones. 215.014.350 francs ; 

 domains and forests. 45.019.420 francs; various. 10,- 

 318.862 francs. 



The budget estimated for 1896 fixed the expendi- 

 tures for all purposes at 3.447.918.198 francs, divided 

 as follows: Public debt, 1.219.792.036 francs ; Presi- 

 dent, Chamber, and Senate, 13.171,720 francs; Min- 



