94 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



for most purposes, as part of France proper. The de- 

 partment has representatives of all the Ministries, and 

 is placed under a Prefect, nominated by Government, 

 and having wide and- undefined functions. He is 

 assisted by a Prefectorial Council, an administrative 

 body, whose advice he may take without being bound to 

 follow it. The Prefect is a representative of the Execu- 

 tive, and, as such, supervises the execution of the laws, 

 issues police regulations, supplies information on mat- 

 ters which concern the department, nominates subor- 

 dinate officials, and has under his control all officials of 

 the State. There is a sub-Prefect in every arrondisse- 

 ment, except capitals of departments and the depart- 

 ment of the Seine. 



The unit of local Government is the commune, the 

 size and population of which vary very much. There 

 are 36,170 communes, and new ones cannot be created 

 otherwise than by law. Most of them (31,610) have less 

 than 1,500 inhabitants, and 18,054 have even less than 

 500; while 117 communes only have more than 20,000 in- 

 habitants. The local affairs of the commune are under 

 a Municipal Council, composed of from 10 to 36 mem- 

 bers, elected by universal suffrage, and by the scrutin 

 de liste for 4 years by Frenchmen after 2i years and 6 

 months' residence; but each act of the Council must re- 

 ceive the approval of the Prefect, while many must be 

 submitted to the Council Generator even to the Presi- 

 dent of the Republic, before becoming lawful. Even 

 the commune's quota of direct taxation is settled by 

 persons (r&partiteurs) chosen by the Prefect from among 

 the lists of candidates drawn up by the Municipal Coun- 

 cil. 



Each Municipal Council elects a Mayor, who is both 

 the representative of the commune and the agent of the 

 central government. He is the head of the local police 

 and, with his assistants, acts under the orders of the 

 Prefect. 



In Paris the Municipal Council is composed of 80 mem- 

 bers ; each of the 20 o rrondissements into which the city is 

 subdivided has its own Mayor. The place of the Mayor 

 of Paris is taken by the Prefect *f the Seine, and, in 

 part, by the Prefect of Police. Lyons has an elected 

 Mayor, but the control of the police is vested in the Pre- 

 fect of the department of the Rhone. 



The next unit is the canton (2,SX> in France), which is 

 composed of an average of 12 communes, although sonic 

 of the largest communes a re, on the contrary, divided 

 into several cantons. It is a seat of a justice of the 

 peace, but is not an administrative unit. 



The district, or arrondissement (3<;2 in France), has an 

 elected conseil d'arrondisemtont, with as many members 

 as there are cantons, its chief function being to allot 

 among the communes their respective parts in the direct 

 taxes assigned to each arrondissement by the Council 

 General. That body stands under the control of the 

 sub-Prefect. A varying number of arrondissements 

 form a department, which has its conseil general re- 

 newed by universal suffrage. 



Religion. All religions are equal bv law, and any 

 sect which numbers 100,000 adherents is entitled to a 

 grant ; but at present only the Roman Catholics, Protes- 

 tants, and Jews have State allowances. 



Instruction. Public education in France is entirely 

 under the supervision of the Government. The highes't 

 schools, or " faculte's de 1'Etat," are now often designated 

 by the name of universities. There are 15 " faculte's des 

 lettres," one in each academy (except Chambery) at 

 Paris, Aix, Besancpn, Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont, liijon, 

 Lille, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Nancy, Poitiers, 

 Rennes, and Toulouse. At all of these, except Aix, are 

 also " f acultes des sciences," besides one at Marseilles 

 (instead of Aix, belonging to the same academy). There 

 arealsp 2"facultes" of Protestant theology, 13'" faculte's 

 dedfoit," and 7 " faculte's de medecine et pharmacie," 19 

 superior or preparatory schools of pharmacy, and 8 

 schools of law, science, or letters. In January, 1898, 

 there were 137 students of Protestant theology ; 9*371 of 

 law ; 7,426 of medicine ; 3,544 of sciences ; 3,404 of letters ; 

 and 4,G61 at superior and preparatory schools of phar- 

 macy, etc.; total, 28,543 students. To the support of 

 the " faculte's " the sum of 1-2,496,911 francs was set down 

 in the budget of 1899. The Roman Catholic theological 

 " facultes " were suppressed in 1885. Catholic " faculte's " 

 or " 6coles libres " exist on certain conditions asprivate 

 establishments. The " College de France," " Museum 

 d' histoire naturelle," " Ecole pratique des hautes Etudes," 

 " Ecole des chartes," etc., are public establishments for 

 highest education. The " Ecole libre des Sciences poli- 

 tiques" is a private establishment. 



There are many other public establishments for spe- 



cial training. For military and naval education : Ecole 

 Supedeure ae Guerre, Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole Spe- 

 ciale Militaire de St. Cyr, Ecole Superieure de la Marine, 

 Ecole Navale de Brest, etc. ; for civil servicesand indus- 

 try: Ecole des Mines, Ecole des Ponts et Chauss^es, 

 Ecole Centrale des Artes et Manufactures, Krolo Supe- 

 rieure des HauteS Etudes commerciales, Conservatoire 

 des Artes et Metiers. 



Elementary schools existed before the Revolution in 

 the towns and in many of the rural parishes of France, 

 but little was done for the advancement of education 

 till near the first quarter of this century. In 1833 a 

 law was passed requiring every commune 'to maintain 

 at least one primary school, every town one higher pri- 

 mary school, and every department one primary normal 

 school. A law of 1850 obliged every commune with a 

 population of 800 (extended in 1867 to communes with a 

 population of 500) to have a school for girls. Since 1878 

 elementary education has advanced rapidly ; many 

 schools have been built, the number of teachers and 

 pupils has increased (until 1889), and the standard of 

 education has been raised. In 1881 primary instruction 

 was made free, and in 1882, obligatory for children from 

 6 to 13 years of age. In 1886 the system of education 

 was reorganized, and it was ordained that all public 

 schools should be under the charge of laymen. In 1892 

 there were only 50 communes which had no primary 

 school, public or private. 



Colonies and Dependencies. 



