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FRANCE. 



FRANCE, a republic of Western Europe. 

 The third republic was established by procla- 

 mation September 4, 1870. By the law of 

 February 25, 1875, the legislative power is 

 vested in the two Houses of the National As- 

 sembly, the Chamber of Deputies and the 

 Senate. The deputies are elected by universal 

 suffrage for the term of four years. Under the 

 law of the scrutin cParrondissement, passed 

 November 11, 1875, each arrondissement of 

 under 100,000 inhabitants elects one deputy. 

 An additional deputy is allowed if the popu- 

 lation exceeds 100,000, two if over 200,000, 

 and so on. The Chamber of Deputies contains 

 557 members. The Senate is composed of 300 

 members, 75 of whom are appointed for life, 

 the vacancies being filled as they occur by the 

 Senate. The rest are elected for nine years, 

 one third of them retiring every three years. 

 They are appointed by an electoral college, to 

 which each commune and municipality sends a 

 member. The National Assembly meets annu- 

 ally on the second Tuesday in January, unless 

 summoned earlier by the President, and re- 

 mains in session at least five months. An ex- 

 traordinary session can be called by the Presi- 

 dent on his own motion, or upon the demand 

 of one half the members of each House. The 

 President can order an adjournment for not 

 more than one month and not oftener than 

 twice in one session. The President of the 

 Republic is elected for the term of seven years 

 by a majority of the votes of both Chambers 

 united in joint session. The President, as 

 well as either Chamber, can initiate legislation. 

 With the approval of the Senate the President 

 can dissolve the House of Deputies. The 

 President promulgates the laws and sees to 

 their execution. He has control of the mili- 

 tary forces, and makes all appointments, civil 

 and military. The Ministers are collectively 

 responsible for the general policy of the Gov- 

 ernment to both Chambers. The President 

 can only be removed for high-treason. 



The President of the French Republic is 

 Jules Grevy, born August 15, 1808. He was 

 elected January 30, 1879. 



AREA AND POPULATION. In the census of 

 December 18, 1881, the total population of 

 France was found to be 37,672,048. The total 

 area is 528,571 square kilometres, or 203,285 

 square miles. Before the separation of Alsace 

 and Lorraine the area was 543,051 square 

 kilometres, and the population, at the census 

 of 1866, 33,067,064. In 1872 the population 

 was 36,102,921 ; in 1876, 36,905,788. Of the 

 total population, 36,069,524, or 97'74 per cent, 

 are of French birth; 801,754, or 2-17 per 

 cent, foreign citizens ; and the remaining 34,- 

 510 naturalized citizens. Of the foreign popula- 

 tion 374,498 are Belgians, 165,313 Italians, 62,- 

 437 Spaniards, 59,028 Germans, 50,203 Swiss, 

 30,077 English, and 9,855 Americans. In re- 

 spect to religion 35,387,703, or 98 per cent, are 

 Catholics; 580,757, or 1-6 per cent, Protes- 

 tants (Calvinists 467,531, Lutherans 80,117, 



other confessions 33,109); 49,439, or 014 per 

 cent, Israelites; 3,071 of other non-Christian 

 faiths; and 81,951, or 0'23 per cent, of no reli- 

 gion. In the departments of Drome, Doubs, 

 Deux-Sevres, Ardeche, and Lozere from 10 to 

 15 per cent, and in Gard 28 per cent of the 

 population are Protestants. In 1880 the num- 

 ber of marriages was 279,035, against 282,776 

 in 1879, 279,650 in 1878, 278,094 in 1877, 

 and 291,393 in 1876; the number of births, 

 including still-born, was 961,914, against 980,- 

 404 in 1879, 980,590 in 1878, 987,963 in 1877, 

 and 1.011,362 in 1876; the number of deaths, 

 including still-born, was 900,074, against 883,- 

 757 in 1879, 882,349 in 1878, 845,343 in 1877, 

 and 878,754 in 1876 ; and the excess of births 

 over deaths was 61,840 in 1880, against 96,647 

 in 1879, 98,241 in 1878, 142,620 in 1877, and 

 132,608 in 1876. The total emigration in 

 1877 was 3,666, of which number 917 de- 

 parted for Buenos Ayres, 890 for Algeria, and 

 550 for the United States. The towns of over 

 30,000 inhabitants in 1881 were the following : 



There were in 1881 6,158 post-offices. The 

 mails carried 569,910,358 letters, 32,224,239 

 postal-cards, 11,327,262 letters with inclosures 

 of declared value, 345,364,572 newspapers, and 

 378,075,770 samples and circulars. The re- 

 ceipts amounted to 123,472,000 francs, and the 

 expenses to 81,898,988 francs. 



The number of telegraph-offices in 1881 was 

 6,841 . The length of the state lines at the end 

 of 1881 was 73,878 kilometres, of which 685 

 kilometres were under-ground, 3,452 subma- 

 rine, and 103 pneumatic. The length of wires 

 was 233,057 kilometres, 12,521 of which were 

 under-ground and 3,663 submarine. The num- 

 ber of dispatches sent in 1881 was 17,514,147 

 domestic and 1,952,017 international. The re- 

 ceipts were in 1881 25,612,399 francs, expenses 

 32,222,642 francs. 



The number of kilometres of railroad in 

 operation on the 1st of January was 1,999 be- 

 longing to the Government, 21,753 belonging to 

 unchartered companies, 1,515 to companies, 

 and 2,152 of local lines. 



COMMERCE. The special imports in 1881, 

 that is, all non-dutiable goods and those on 



