296 



FRANCE. 



ministers to defend and press it, and thus bring 

 about their own fall, the Cabinet succeeded in hav- 

 ing the subject postponed, and on July 10 carried a 

 bill renewing for a year the existing taxes by 424 

 votes to 66. A bill for the protection of sugar re- 

 finers raises the import duty on foreign sugars and 

 offers a direct bounty on exportation. The Cham- 

 ber adjourned on July 11. Three days later, dur- 

 ing the national festival, a pistol shot fired at Presi- 

 dent Paure in his carriage caused alarm until it 

 was discovered that the assailant was an irresponsi- 

 ble lunatic. A cry having been raised against the 

 competition of 800 foreign doctors in France who 

 have obtained their diplomas more easily than 

 French doctors, and against the 1,054 medical 

 students in French schools who were likely to add 

 to the competition, the Minister of Education is- 

 sued a decree that foreign students if they in- 

 tended to practice medicine in France would be 

 required to produce the usual baccalaureate diplo- 

 mas showing studies in science and the classics ac- 

 cording to French standards, the regulation not to 

 apply to persons already studying, or to students 

 intending to return home, or to natives of countries 

 that had concluded conventions on the subject. 



Visit of the Czar. The proceedings that attend- 

 ed a visit of the Emperor of Russia in October were 

 intended to impress on the world the binding char- 

 acter of the Franco-Russian understanding and the 

 reality of the military convention that has been 

 supposed to exist since August, 1892. This alliance 

 has enabled France to emerge from her isolation 

 and reassert her influence among the great powers, 

 and has enabled Russia to draw upon the savings of 

 the French people for the pecuniary means that 

 have helped immensely to develop her military 

 and economic resources. In Bulgaria, in Turkey, in 

 Egypt, in Abyssinia, and in China the diplomacy of 

 both countries has spoken with one voice. 



The reception given to the Czar by the people of 

 France was more enthusiastic than sovereigns often 

 receive from their own subjects. The festivities at- 

 tracted 1,500,000 people from the provinces to the 

 capital. At the banquet in the Elysee on Oct. 7 

 President Faure, in proposing the toast to the Em- 

 peror, said that his presence had sealed the bonds 

 uniting the two countries in a harmonious activity 

 and in a mutual confidence in their destinies, and 

 that the union of a powerful empire and a hard- 

 working republic had already exercised a be- 

 neficent action on the peace of the world and, 

 strengthened by a proved fidelity, would continue 

 to spread abroad its fortunate influence. The Czar 

 replied that, faithful to an unforgettable tradition, 

 he had come to France to greet the head of a nation 

 to which he was united by such precious bonds, 

 and he begged the President to interpret to the 

 whole of France his sentiment that this friendship 

 could not but have the happiest influence. 



The Autumn Session. Parliament was re- 

 opened on Oct. 27. The Budget Committee had re- 

 duced the estimates by 10,000,000 francs, leaving a 

 surplus of 9,000,000 francs to be devoted to the re- 

 demption of treasury bonds. A scheme of decen- 

 tralization of local government submitted by M. 

 Barthou enlarges the powers of departmental and 

 municipal councils by dispensing in certain cases 

 with the approval of the prefect. M. Cochery an- 

 nounced the definitive abandonment of the pro- 

 posed duty on rentes, and proposed instead to tax 

 the interest on loans, increase the duty on bonds 

 payable to bearer, raise the transfer duty on regis- 

 tered bonds, and fix the duty on bourse transac- 

 tions at -i\,- per cent. The duty on interest on loans 

 is to be enforced by requiring the lender to register 

 within twenty days on pain of losing his right to 

 recover the interest. Casting about for a new 



source of revenue to meet the ever-increasing ex- 

 penses of the state, the ministers took up the proj- 

 ect of a Government monopoly of spirits, in con- 

 nection with which the dangerous spread of alco- 

 holism in France was thoroughly discussed. As a 

 preliminary measure, a bill was submitted requiring 

 alcohol to be tested at Government depots to pre- 

 vent frauds and deleterious adulterations. The 

 Ministers of Education in the two previous Cabinets 

 had ordered antialcoholic instruction to be given 

 in the schools, M. Poincare's order applying to nor- 

 mal schools being extended by M. Combes to teach- 

 ers of physiology, hygiene, and chemistry in sec- 

 ondary and elementary schools. The question of 

 the renewal of the charter of the Bank of France, 

 which no Cabinet had ventured to bring to an 

 issue and brave Radical and Socialistic assaults, 

 was made the subject of a bill which could no 

 longer be delayed, as the present charter expires in 

 1897. The Radicals had a majority over the Gov- 

 ernment on the question of electing the delegates 

 who elect Senators by universal suffrage, for which 

 the Premier himself had formerly voted. The mo- 

 tion was carried on Nov. 17 by 297 votes against 

 238, but the matter was shelved by the Senate. An 

 attempt to overthrow the Cabinet' by an interpella- 

 tion on its allowing priests to hold congresses and 

 refusing the same right to professors and school- 

 teachers was defeated on Nov. 12 by 324 votes to 

 225. Gen. Billot's scheme for forming a colonial 

 army dependent on the Ministry of War was con- 

 demned by the army committee,' which adhered to 

 the view that it should be controlled by the Minis- 

 try of Marine. The extraordinary session was 

 brought to a close on Dec. 20. 



Algeria. The government of Algeria has been 

 assimilated to that of the republic to such an ex- 

 tent that it is regarded as a detached part of 

 France, administered by a civil governor general in 

 accordance with laws passed for Algeria by the 

 chambers or with decrees of the President of the 

 republic. The present Governor General is Jules 

 Cambon, appointed in 1891. The area of the three 

 departments of Algiers, Oran, and Constantino is 

 184,474 square miles, with a population of 3,636,967 

 in the civil territory and 487,765 in the military 

 territory ; total, 4,124,732, of whom 271,101 were 

 French, 47,564 Jews, 3,554,067 Algerian natives, 

 18,617 Moors and Tunisians, and 233,353 Spaniards, 

 Italians, Maltese, and Germans. The city of Al- 

 giers has 82,585 inhabitants. The native Jews have 

 been admitted to French citizenship. The rest of 

 the indigenous population are Mussulmans. There 

 are 3,481,285 persons engaged in agriculture, of 

 whom 201,541 are Europeans. The latter cultivate 

 hard and soft wheat, barley, oats, and other crops 

 on 417,624 hectares, while the natives till 2,653,487 

 hectares. The vineyards cover 116,392 hectares, 

 yielding 3.772,778 hectolitres in 1893. Alfa is gath- 

 ered for export to England for the manufacture of 

 paper, but not so extensively as formerly. Other 

 products are olives, tobacco, flax, colza and other 

 oil seeds, and ramie. There were 360,025 horses, 

 268,078 camels, 1.193,915 cattle, and 3,829,740 goats 

 in 1893, mostly belonging to the natives, and 9,502,- 

 046 sheep, which are sold in France for mutton. 

 Iron and other metals are mined, and a large 

 export of phosphates has sprung up. Some con- 

 cessions have been annulled on account of corrup- 

 tion. There is a bank of phosphates in the depart- 

 ment of Constantino that is said to be 10 feet thick 

 and 50 miles long. In the district of Tebessa are 

 deposits of unknown extent that are 50 feet thick. 

 English companies were formed to work the de- 

 posits, and the royalties were fixed by the Algerian 

 officials at 1 franc 50 centimes a ton or less, while 

 the prices charged to French farmers for the phos- 



