316 



FRANCE. 



The following details of the territorial losses 

 suffered by France, in consequence of the trea- 

 ties of February 26 and May 10, 1871, and the 

 Convention of October 12th of the same year, 

 have been published by the Government : 



The colonies and dependencies of France 

 had, according to the latest French publica- 

 tions, the following area and population : 



The new army law of August 16, 1872, which 

 makes military service general and obligatory, 



went into operation on January 1, 1873. Arti- 

 cle I. of the law provides that every Frenchman 

 is obliged to do military service. Article II. 

 abolishes the right of furnishing substitutes, 

 etc. Every able-bodied Frenchman must serve 

 for twenty years, namely, four years in the ac- 

 tive army, five years in the reserve of the active 

 army, eleven years in the "territorial army" 

 (landwehr), and six years in the reserve of the 

 territorial army. The reorganization was not 

 yet completed at the close of the year 1872. 

 At the time, the infantry embraced 134 regi- 

 ments, and 33 bataillons, or 569 bataillons ; the 

 cavalry, 63 regiments ; the artillery, accord- 

 ing to the budget of 1873, is to consist of 32 

 regiments. The genie-troops thus far con- 

 tained 3 regiments of sappers, each of 2 batail- 

 lons and one company of workmen ; the train 

 was composed of 3 regiments (of 16 companies 

 each) and one escadron of 3 companies. The 

 effective strength was 382,044 infantry, 60,- 

 044 cavalry, 51,308 artillery, 9,000 genie-troops, 

 8,000 trains; total, about 425,000. 

 The navy is to consist in future of 



Iron-clads, first-class 12 



Iron-clads, second-class. 12 



Iron-clad gunboats 20 



Frigates 8 



The time of service in the French navy is the 

 same as that in the army, with similar condi- 

 tions as to reserve duties, furloughs, and leave 

 of absence for lengthened periods. It is en- 

 acted by the law of 1872, that a certain number 

 of young men liable to service in the active 

 Army may select, instead, the navy service, if 

 recognized fit for duty. 



The total and special commerce t of France, 

 during the time from 1855 to 1871, is shown 

 by the following table (value in francs) : 



Corvettes 8 



Avisos 38 



Transport-steamers 25 



Gunboats... 32 



* The portion of the, two departments Mcnrthe and Moselle, which remained with France, have been consol- 

 idated into one department, called Meurthe-ct-Moselle. The remainder of Rhin Haut, embracing three cantons 

 of the Arrondissement Helfort, had, at the close of the year 1872. not yot been united with any oilier depart- 

 ment, and a special administration had been appointed lor "the ArrondWement of Belfort." 



t Special commerce consists of the imports of goods for home consumption, and of the exports of goods man- 

 ufactured in F r ance. 



