FRANCE. 



299 



The foreign countries chiefly interested in 1870, were the Mowing (the value being ex- 

 the trade ot France, in the years 1869 and pressed in francs) : 



The merchant navy, in 1872, was composed 

 as follows : 



were, on June 1, 1873: 



Kllomctra.* 



In operation ^ 2.10 



In course of construction. 



To be constructed... llffi 



Chartered 'gjuj 



Ti.tnl. 



Algeria has three roads in operation, from 

 Ajgtan to Oran, 420 kilometres; from Phi- 

 lippevillo to Constantino, 86 kilometres ; and 

 the little road from Bona to the mines of Aln- 

 ilokra, 30 kilometres. 



The number of letters forwarded by the 

 French post-office in 1870 was 281,352,000, 

 exclusive of 3,660,000 registered letters. It 

 bo forwarded 347,959,000 printed matter and 

 parcels, and issued 6,260,000 money-orders. 

 The revenue of the department was, "in 1870 

 72,246,000 francs; in 1871, 91,242,000 The 

 expenditures, in 1870, for administration, 

 J8, 1 71,000 francs; on subsidies for mail- 

 steamers, 24,590,000; in 1871, for administra- 

 tion, 44,639,000; on subsidies for mail-steamers 

 -*- in 1870,8,884,000; in 



At tho end of the year 1871 there were 43,- 

 1 kilometres of lines of telegraphs in opera- 

 tion, comprising 122,653 kilometres of wires. 

 The number of telegraph-offices was 3,187. 



* One kilometre = 0.62 English mile. 



o<=- -o revenue, in 1871, a,-ot,w 

 francs; the expenditures, 12,570,000 francs. 



At the beginning of the year 1873 the eyes 

 of all France were turned upon the Committee 

 of Thirty, which, in December, 1872, had been 

 elected to draft laws regulating the powers of 

 the President of the Republic and of the Na- 

 tional Assembly. The report of the commit- 

 tee was made on February 20th, by the Duke 

 i Broglie. After a brief review of the his- 

 tory of the committee, the report states the 

 reasons which, in the opinion of the majority 

 made it necessary to restrict the power of the 

 President in his relation to the National As- 

 sembly. He is not to have the right to take 

 part in the debate, but on important occasions 

 he shall have the power of setting forth his 

 views to the Assembly. In such cases the 

 Assembly is to adjourn after the President 

 has spoken, and the debate is to be continued 

 on the next day. The report then enumerates 

 the labors which the Assembly has still to 

 perform before being dissolved ; it must reor- 

 ganize the army and the administration, solve 

 the question of municipal government, com- 

 plete the liberation of the French territory 

 and prevail upon the Government to assume a 

 resolute attitude with regard to the anti-social 

 question. De Broglie gratefully referred to the 

 services which Thiers had rendered to the 

 country, an acknowledgment which provoked 

 the laughter and noisy remonstrance of the 

 extreme Right. One member accused the com- 

 mittee of servility, and the Duke de Broglie and 

 the Duke d'Audiffret Pasquierof being the au- 

 thors of this compromise. The debate began 

 on February 28th, and the several parties de- 

 fined their positions. The left centre demanded 

 the consolidation of the republic; the mon- 

 archists the reestablishment of the throne ; 

 and the Bonapartists an appeal to the plebis- 

 cite. Gambetta, on Febrnary 28th, vehe- 

 mently attacked the 'draft, and demanded to 

 know whether the Government adhered to tho 

 message of November 13, 1872, or renounced 

 it. He and all radical republicans did not 

 want a republic which trampled under foot 

 the democratic principle; they demanded a 

 republic with all its liberties, with the right 

 of meeting and association, which are even 

 above the law; they demanded a republic 



