334 



FOLGER, CHARLES J. 



FRANCE. 



delegates agreed to the formation of an organi- 

 zation to be called "The Florida State Tem- 

 perance Association," and adopted the follow- 

 ing resolutions : 



That the friends of temperance reform in the State 

 of Florida are earnestly requested to establish county, 

 town, and city organizations in sympathy with this 

 State organization, and report to the corresponding 

 secretary, whereupon they shall be considered as 

 forming a part of this Association. 



That the members of this Association, can not con- 

 scientiously, nor will they in any case, support candi- 

 dates for public office, who will not sustain the local- 

 option law. 



FOLGER, CHARLES JAMES, an American ju- 

 rist, born in Nantucket, Mass., April 16, 1818; 

 died in Geneva, N. Y., September 4, 1884. In 

 1830 his father and family removed from Nan- 

 tucket to Geneva, which place became his 

 home for life. He early manifested a love for 

 books and study, entered Geneva (now Hobart) 

 College at an unusually early age, and was 

 graduated in 1836 with the highest class 

 honors. He studied law with Messrs. Worden 

 & Sibley, in Geneva, and was admitted to the 

 bar in 1889. His first office was that of justice 

 of the peace in his place of residence. He was 

 appointed Judge of the Court of Common 

 Pleas in 1844, and soon after was made Master 

 and Examiner in Chancery. In 1851 he was 

 elected County Judge of Ontario County. 



He entered upon political life in the ranks 

 of the Democratic party, being one of those 

 known at the time as Silas Wright Democrats. 

 In 1861, -however, he was elected to the New 

 York State Senate by the Republican party. 

 This office he filled with signal ability for 

 eight years, and was regarded as one of the 

 leaders of the party. In the Constitutional 

 Convention of 1867 he served on the Judiciary 

 Committee. He was a warm personal friend 

 of Senator Conkling, through whose influence 

 he was appointed, in 1869, by President Grant, 

 to the office of United States Treasurer in New 

 York city. A year later he was elected one 

 of the Judges of the Court of Appeals for the 

 State of New York, and on the death of Chief- 

 Justice Church, in 1880, he was designated by 

 Governor Cornell to act as Chief-Justice, and 

 in November of that year he was elected by a 

 majority of over 45,000 for the full term of 

 fourteen years in the highest court of the 

 State. 



Judge Folger resigned his seat in the Court 

 of Appeals to accept President Arthur's ap- 

 pointment of him, in 1881, as Secretary of the 

 Treasury, In 1882 the Republican Convention 

 nominated him for Governor of New York, 

 but he was defeated by an overwhelming 

 majority, because it was believed that the 

 national Administration had practically dic- 

 tated the nomination, and used unfair means 

 in the convention. He took his defeat so much 

 to heart that, in the opinion of those who 

 knew him well, his health was seriously af- 

 fected, and thereafter he steadily declined. 



As a member of the Cabinet at Washington, 



Secretary Folger proved himself to be a wise 

 and judicious adviser, as well as an able and 

 efficient head of the department over which 

 he presided. He was a man of solid rather 

 than brilliant qualities. He possessed in large 

 degree the judicial faculty, was a man of ex- 

 tensive attainments in his profession, and held 

 the confidence of the country as a citizen of 

 undoubted integrity and faithfulness. He con- 

 tinued at work up to the last ; but within a 

 few days of his death he sank so rapidly that 

 his passing away took his friends and the com- 

 munity quite by surprise. 



(See portrait in "Annual Cyclopeedia " for 

 1882, page 807.) 



FRANCE, a republic in western Europe. The 

 republic was proclaimed Sept. 4, 1870. The 

 Constitution was adopted Feb. 25, 1875, by 

 the National Assembly elected in 1871. The 

 Chamber of Deputies is elected by universal 

 suffrage under the scrutin d'arrondissement, 

 which was adopted Nov. 11, 1875. Each ar- 

 rondissement is represented by a deputy, and, 

 if its population is in excess of 100,000, by 

 additional deputies for each 100,000 or part of 

 100,000 beyond that number. The number of 

 electors in 1881 was 10,179,345. The number 

 of deputies is 557. The Senate is composed of 

 300 members, 75 of whom are chosen for life, 

 the Senate electing the successors of deceased 

 members. The remaining 225 are elected, 75 

 every three years, by the departments and 

 provinces. They are chosen by senatorial elect- 

 ors, elected to represent each of the communes 

 and municipalities, together with the members 

 of the Council General and the deputies of the 

 department, who possess votes ex-officio. The 

 Chamber of Deputies is elected for four years. 

 The National Assembly meets annually on the 

 second Tuesday in January, and must remain 

 in session five months. The President of the 

 Republic can call an extraordinary session, 

 and is compelled to do so if one half of the 

 members of each Chamber unite in demand- 

 ing it. The two Chambers possess equal and 

 concurrent powers of legislation ; bat all finan- 

 cial measures must originate in the Chamber 

 of Deputies. The executive head of the re- 

 public is the President, who is elected for the 

 term of seven years by a majority of the depu- 

 ties and senators in joint session. The Presi- 

 dent has the disposal of the military forces, 

 makes all appointments, civil and military, and 

 can propose legislation; but all acts must be 

 countersigned by the ministers, who are ap- 

 pointed by the President and are responsible 

 to the Chambers. 



The Government. The President of the Re- 

 public is Francois P. Jules Gr6vy, born in 

 1813, who was a member of the Constituent 

 Assembly of 1848, President of the Assembly 

 from 1871 to 1873, and President of the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies from 1876 to 1879 ; elected Jan. 

 30, 1879. 



The ministry, constituted Feb. 21, 1883, is 

 composed as follows : President of the Council 







