306 



FRANCE. 



metres, besides 2,944 kilometres for local traffic. 

 The Government owned 2,628 kilometres. Many 

 of the railroads enjoy a state guarantee. The 

 gross receipts of the French railroads in 1889 

 were 1,132,100,000 francs, as compared with 

 1,059,900,000 francs in 1888. The net revenue 

 in 1888 was 509,600,000 francs, the number of 

 passengers carried was 224,801,159, and the 

 freight transported was 82,355,288 tons. 



Posts and Telegraphs. In 1888 the internal 

 postal traffic comprised 566,300,000 ordinary 

 letters, 17,300,000 registered letters, 38,000,000 

 postal cards, 354,000,000 journals, 25,300,000 

 samples, and 370,400,000 circulars and manu- 

 scripts. In the internatianal service 116,500,000 

 letters, 3,000,000 registered letters, 3,500,000 

 post cards, 67,800,000 newspapers and periodicals, 

 6,900,000 samples, and 24,200,000 circulars and 

 manuscripts were forwarded. The domestic 

 money orders numbered 22,200,000, of the aggre- 

 gate amount of 655,500,000 francs, and the for- 

 eign money orders 1,400,000, of the value of 75,- 

 900.000 francs, besides postal orders represent- 

 ing 8,300,000 francs. 



The length of the state telegraphs in 1889 was 

 88,047 kilometres, having 276,527 kilometres of 

 wire, in addition to which there were 237 kilo- 

 metres of pneumatic tubes in Paris, by which 

 3,476,000 cards and letters were transmitted in 

 1888. The number of telegraphic, dispatches 

 was 26,703,597, including the pneumatic service. 



The Army. Every Frenchman fit for mili- 

 tary service may be called upon to serve the re- 

 public in the active army or the reserves. The 

 period of military service begins at the age of 

 twenty. The men drawn for the active army 

 owe three years of service with the colors, but, 

 in order to train the largest possible number of 

 soldiers, a part of the active army the number 

 being fixed annually by the Ministry of War is 

 replaced by new recruits at the end of one year 

 of service if the men can read and write, or if 

 they are illiterate at the end of the second year. 

 Those thus furloughed are chosen by lot. Since 

 1887 no exemptions have been allowed, even to 

 students in theological seminaries. After receiv- 

 ing their military training, the soldiers pass into 

 the reserve of the active army, and can be re- 

 called to take their place in the ranks for exercises 

 or peace manuoevres or for any military duty up 

 to the age of thirty. From then till they are forty- 

 five years of age they form part of the territorial 

 army, which is organized by military districts 

 and divisions, and during the first six years are 

 summoned to the drill camp for two weeks every 

 year, after which they are inscribed in the terri- 

 torial army reserve. All who are incapacitated 

 by physical defects for military service must pay 

 a fixed military tax of 6 francs a year and a vari- 

 able surtax. In the active army recruits from 

 all parts of France are mingled without refer- 

 ence to their places of residence. Each of the 

 18 regions into which France is divided is garri- 

 soned by an army corps, and Algeria is occupied 

 by the Nineteenth Corps. Each of the 18 army 

 corps has 2 divisions of infantry, 1 brigade of 

 cavalry, 1 brigade of artillery, 1 battalion of en- 

 gineers, 1 squadron of wagon train, and 1 legion 

 of from 2 to 4 companies of gendarmerie. The 

 Nineteenth Corps has 3 infantry divisions. Every 

 division of infantry is composed of 2 brigades, each 



of 2 regiments. There are 6 divisions of cavalry 

 not attached to the army corps, each consisting 

 of 1 brigade of cuirassiers, 1 brigade of dragoons, 

 1 brigade of chasseurs or of hussars, and 2 or 3 

 batteries of horse artillery. The 144 regiments 

 of the line attached to the 18 army corps, and 

 quartered each in one of the subdivisions of the 

 regions, are divided each into 3 battalions of 4 

 companies and a complementary cadre of 9 offi- 

 cers, every regiment consisting of 62 officers and 

 1,591 men. Besides these there are 18 extra regi- 

 ments, having 51 officers and 1,560 men, each of 

 which is destined to occupy the strong places in 

 one of the regions. The other classes of infantry 

 are 17 battalions of mountain chasseurs, each 

 consisting of 27 officers and 809 men ; 13 bat- 

 talions of foot chasseurs, each with 19 offi- 

 cers and 552 men ; 4 zouave regiments, with 

 73 officers and 2,551 men each ; 4 regiments of 

 Algerian tirailleurs, with 103 officers and 2,632 

 men in each regiment ; 2 regiments in the foreign 

 legion ; 5 battalions of African light infantry ; 

 and the Tonquin regiment of tirailleurs. The 

 infantry is armed with the Lebel rifle, with the 

 caliber of 8 millimetres, carrying 8 cartridges in 

 the magazine. The weapon is used as a single- 

 loader for volley firing and for all ordinary pur- 

 poses, and only by special command in emergen- 

 cies, such as an enfilading fire of the enemy or a 

 cavalry charge, is the magazine to be emptied. 



The cavalry consists of 29 regiments of dra- 

 goons, 21 of chasseurs, 13 of cuirassiers, 12 of 

 hussars, and 6 of Algerian chasseurs in all 80 

 regular regiments, each consisting of 37 officers 

 and 829 men, with 722 horses. There are besides 

 3 regiments of Algerian spahis and 1 regiment 

 of spahis in Tunis. The law of July 25, 1887, 

 ordered the formation of 4 new regiments of 

 dragoons, 1 of chasseurs, 6 of hussars, and 2 of 

 African chasseurs. Instead of the 6 regiments 

 of hussars a seventh division of independent cav- 

 alry was ordered to be organized by the law of 

 Feb. 19, 1890, consisting, like the others, of 2 reg- 

 iments of cuirassiers, 2 of dragoons, and 2 of 

 hussars. 



There are 19 regiments of artillery attached to 

 divisions, of 12 mounted batteries each, each bat- 

 tery having 4 officers, 153 men, and 132 horses, and 

 19 other regiments of corps artillery, each con- 

 sisting of 9 mounted and 3 horse batteries, besides 

 24 batteries of mountain artillery, making in all 

 480 batteries, each having 6 pieces of 90 milli- 

 metres bore for the mountain, and 80 milli- 

 metres for the horse artillery; The fortress artil- 

 lery comprises 16 battalions, each of 6 batteries 

 and numbering 4 officers and 152 men, besides 

 which there are 3 batteries in Algeria and in 

 Tunis, making 100 batteries armed with guns of 

 95. 220, and 270 millimetres and mortars of 15 

 centimetres caliber. 



The French army in 1891 had 2 marshals, 100 

 generals of division, 200 generals of brigade, 33 

 generals of cadres and reserves, 3,199 officei's in 

 the general staff, 574 in the military schools, 

 2,797 on special duty, 11,872 in the infantry of 

 the line, 3,922 in the cavalry, 3,719 in the artil- 

 lery, 439 in the engineers, and 412 in the train, 

 making 26,934, or in the army corps alone 20,- 

 364, or including 651 officers of gendarmerie 

 and 82 of the Garde Eepublicaine, 27,667 al- 

 together. 



