FRANCE. 



317 



The movement of shipping from 1867 to to 1869 is given in the following table : 



The commercial navy, on December 31, 1869, 

 was composed of 15,324 sailing-vessels of 931,- 

 714 tons, and 454 steamers of 142,942 tons; 

 total 15,778 vessels and 1,074,656 tons, exclu- 

 sive of 8,892 coasting-vessels (in 1867) of 67,- 

 077 tons. 



The total imports into Algeria, in 1869, 

 amounted to 118,900,000 francs, the exports 

 to 254,000,000 ; the aggregate number of ves. 

 sels entered and cleared was 6,232, of 1,125,- 

 343 tons ; the commercial navy consisted of 

 152 sailing-vessels, of 4,609 tons. 



The aggregate length of the French rail- 

 roads, in September, 1872, was 17,600 kilo- 

 metres (=10,912 miles). The French mail 

 forwarded, in 1869, 364,750,000 letters, and 

 379,190,000 newspapers and printed parcels; 

 in 1870, 281,350,000 letters, and 347,960,000 

 newspapers. The aggregate length of tele- 

 graph-lines was, in 1869, 26,301, and that of 

 wires, 71,829 miles. 



The number of saving-banks, in 1868, was 

 520, 17 of which had suspended their opera- 

 tions; the number of depositors was 1,971,- 

 523, or about one for every 20 inhabitants ; 

 the amount due to the depositors amounted 

 to 633,238,270 francs. The number of mu- 

 tual aid societies (societe's de secours mutuel) 

 was, in December, 1869, 6,139, with 794,473 

 active and 119,160 honorary members. The 

 aggregate capital of the society was 55,133,- 

 551 francs. France had, in 1872, 15 large 

 moneyed institutions (etablissement de credit), 

 namely : 



Name. Capital Francs. 



La Banque de France 182,500,000 



Le Credit fonder 60,000,000 



La Credit agricole 200,000,000 



Le Credit industrial 40,000,000 



Le Credit mobilier 60,000.000 



Le Comptoir d'Escompte 40,000,000 



Le Credit colonial 12,000,000 



Le Sous-comptoir du Cheinin de Fer 6,000.000 



The Colonial Banks 10,000,000 



Le Banque d'Al^erie 4,000,009 



La Sous-comptoire du Commerce et de 1'In- 



dustrie 20,000,000 



Le Sous-comptoir des Entrepreneurs 5,000,000 



Le Comptoir de 1' Agriculture 6,003 000 



La Caissc des DepOts 60,000,000 



Le Credit des Halles et Marches 28,000,000 



Total 551,500,000 



At the beginning of the year 1872, the Na- 

 tional Assembly was in session in Versailles, and 

 the conflicts of the great political parties in that 

 body, as well as out of it, were very animated. 

 On January 7th, supplementary elections for 

 seventeen members took place, and resulted in 

 the success of four Conservatives, four Radi- 

 cals, and nine Moderate Republicans. A notable 

 feature of this election was the defeat, in Paris, 



of the Radical Victor Hugo, by the Moderate 

 Republican Vautrain. In the Assembly the 

 United Conservatives, or partisans of a resto- 

 ration of monarchy, gave many proofs of their 

 continued ascendency. When the presidents 

 of the fifteen bureaus were elected, all but 

 three were Conservatives. Bishop Dupanloup, 

 of Orleans, was elected president of the Bu- 

 reau of Education. The Bonapartists were 

 active, and endeavored to strengthen their in- 

 fluence, especially in the army; but, in spite 

 of their great efforts, they appeared to be the 

 weakest of the three monarchical parties. On 

 February 2d a new play by Victorien Sardou, 

 entitled " Ragabas," and containing some ex- 

 pressions in favor of imperialism and the Bo- 

 napartes, caused wild scenes of excitement at 

 the Vaudeville of Paris; crowds passing through 

 the boulevards shouting some, "Down with 

 the Bonapartes ! " and others, " Vive 1'Em- 

 pire ! " At one time a disturbance was threat- 

 ened, but the crowd finally dispersed without 

 coming to blows. To prevent the recurrence 

 of dangerous agitation, President Thiers or- 

 dered General Ladmirault to suspend the per- 

 formance of the play, and, if necessary, tem- 

 porarily close the theatre. Both the Orlean- 

 ists and the Legitimists appeared to develop 

 a greater strength, and numerous petitions for 

 the restoration of monarchy, either under the 

 Count de Chambord or the Count de Paris, 

 were sent to the Assembly. The Count de 

 Chambord, in the latter part of January, is- 

 sued a new manifesto to the French people, 

 claiming a divine right to the throne, saying : 

 " I shall never abdicate my claim to throne of 

 France. I shall never forsake the monarch- 

 ical principle which I have preserved intact 

 for forty years, and which is the last hope of 

 France's greatness and liberties. Cresarism 

 and anarchy threaten France because her sal- 

 vation is sought in personal questions, and not 

 in principles. I shall ever uphold the flag of 

 France, and aid in restoring the ancient pres- 

 tige of her armies. Time presses, and alliance 

 and reorganization are urgent. The happiness 

 of France is my only ambition, and I will 

 never consent to become a revolutionist where 

 I am the legitimate king." The hopes of the 

 Radicals centred in Leon Gambetta, who, in 

 the. beginning of the year, was travelling in 

 the south of France, and stirring up the popu- 

 lar mind by radical addresses. In Marseilles 

 his presence was the cause of much agitation 

 and some disorder. The assemblage in front 

 of his hotel appearing to become turbulent, 

 troops were ordered to charge upon and dis- 



