FKANVK. 



313 



nterosts by independent action, giving rise 



"f an Anglo-Chines alliance, against 



i and I'Yance in Asia. As a result of the 



nal drawing together of the French and 



Unsown*, tlie Russian loan that Huron 

 .hild had refused to negotiate wa easily 

 raised on goud terms in Franco by a popular 

 subscription. A >peech that the (ii-rnian Km- 

 piTor made at a gathering of Gorman ofllcers, in 

 which lif iviVrred to the first Napoleon as a 



~'.i-;ni IHirrt'Hii." was the signal for an out- 



<>f Chauvinism in France. The presenta- 



t i> -n of Wagner's " Lohengrin " by the musicians 



of the opera afforded occasion for an anti- 



(ierman d.-inonst ration, which the Government 



^ed by vigorous measures. Soon afterward 

 tin- inconvenience of the passport regulations, 

 which have done much to keep alive the French 

 sympathies of the people of the lost provinces, 

 was in a large measure removed by a decree of 

 the German Government. This act abated pri- 

 vate suffering and annoyance, and tended to 

 remove a source of danger to the peace of Eu- 

 rope, which seemed to be confirmed by the new 

 grouping of the powers. M. Ribot said : " It is 

 not at a moment when we are in a position to 

 cultivate peace with the greatest dignity that 

 we shall expose ourselves to the danger of com- 

 promising it." 



Algeria. Each of the three departments 

 into which Algeria is divided sends a Senator 

 and two Deputies to the French National As- 

 semblv. These are Algiers, Oran, and Constan- 

 tine, having collectively the area of 477,913 

 square miles, including the districts administered 

 by the military authorities, and a population of 

 8,324,316, according to the enumeration of 1886, 

 in the territory under the Governor-General and 

 492,990 in the military territory. The Governor- 

 General is responsible directly to the President 

 of the republic. The post has been filled by 

 Louis Tirman since Nov. 26, 1881. He retired 

 in 1891. The general commerce in 1889 con- 

 sisted of 191,885,000 francs of imports from 

 France and 68,050,000 francs from other coun- 

 tries, and 201.917,000 francs of exports to France 

 and 38,158,000 francs to other countries. The 

 special imposts amounted to 237,417,000 francs 

 of imports and 229,789,000 francs of exports. 

 Of the special imports, 178,663,000 francs came 

 from France, 10.778,000 francs from Great 

 Britain, 8,225,000 francs from Spain, 8,108,000 

 from Morocco, 7,018,000 francs from Tunis, under 

 2,000,000 francs from Russia, Austria, Turkey, 

 and Italy, and from the United States 981,000 

 francs. Of the special exports, France received 

 200,500,000 francs, Great Britain 12,118,000 

 francs, and, Spain the next largest amount, which 

 was 3,715,000 francs, while the share of the United 

 States was 1,219,000 francs. The chief exports to 

 France are wine, sheep, cereals, and wool ; and the 

 exports to Great Britain consist mainly of esparto 

 and other fibers for paper stock and iron ore. 

 In 1889 there were 8,650 vessels, of 2,117,658 

 tons, entered from French and foreign ports, and 

 8,727, of 2,196,583 tons, cleared. The length of 

 railroads open in 1890 was 1,910 miles, including 

 140 miles on Tunisian territory. The receipts in 



1888 were 21,908,225 francs.' The telegraphs in 



1889 had a length of 7,000 miles, with 12,000 

 miles of wire, including extensions into Tunis. 



The Trans-Sahara Railroad, starting from El 

 Guerrah, in the northern part of tin- Algerian 

 . 23 miles south of t 'n-iuntine, has been 

 carried across the mountains and up to the edge 

 of the Tuareg country, proceeding in a south- 

 westerly direction from OHM- to oasis to Uiwara, 

 a total distance of 239 kilometres. The total 

 length of the projected line across the desert to 

 the shore of Lake Chad is 8,000 kilometres. 

 Since the first section was opened in 188H the 

 inhabitants of the northern oases have been pro- 

 tected from Tuareg inroads, and trade has in- 

 creased wonderfully. The next extension will be 

 to Tuggart and across the Tisili plateau, where 

 places for stations can be prepared by planting 

 eucalyptus trees and sinking artesian wells. A 

 further continuation southward can onlv be 

 accomplished after the Tuaregs have been effect- 

 ually beaten in war, and Ghadames and Ain 

 Salah occupied. The oasis of Touat, which con- 

 tains with the neighboring oases a population of 

 200,000, has been a place of refuge for enemies of 

 France, and after the massacre of a number 

 of Frenchmen, the natives, fearing reprisals, 

 appealed for the protection of the Sultan of Mo- 

 rocco, offering to accept his sovereignty. The 

 Sultan, against the protests of France, prepared 

 formally to annex the district ; but the French 

 advanced to El Golea, and the Sultan, who had 

 begun to collect tribute, was told, through the 

 envoys that he sent to consummate the annexa- 

 tion in the autumn of 1891, that the Touatans 

 had changed their minds and preferred a con- 

 nection with Algeria. 



The revenues of the Government are obtained 

 from a direct tax imposed on the natives and from 

 customs, licenses, etc. The cost of the army and 

 a part of the expenses of the public works is 

 borne by the French Government, which spends 

 21,000,000 francs a year on Algeria, exclusive of 

 military expenditure. The budget for 1891 makes 

 the revenue 43,943,833 francs and the expendi- 

 ture 43,450,155 francs. The native Jews, who 

 numbered 43,182 in 1886, were admitted to 

 French citizenship in 1870. The policy of con- 

 ferring the franchise on the Arabs was never seri- 

 ously considered till 1891, when a project for the 

 gradual naturalization of the Mussulman popu- 

 lation was discussed in the Chamber. After en- 

 couraging the settlement of French colonists, 

 who have made the soil productive and added 

 greatly to the resources of Algeria, the Govern- 

 ment can not afford to enfranchise the mass of 

 the indigenous population rapidly. In 1888 

 there was 219,627 French people and 205,212 

 foreigners residing in the country. The Govern- 

 ment , spends 2,750,000 francs a year to extend 

 French colonization, and has distributed 1,500,- 

 000 acres gratis since 1871. The policy of edu- 

 cating and conciliating the natives, and of tax- 

 ing the consumption of alcoholic beverages and 

 the growth and sale of tobacco, as in France, is 

 recommended in M. Boulanger's report to the 

 budget committee as a means of relieving the 

 French budget. The net cost of Algeria since 

 the conquest in 1830 has been at least 4,000.000,- 

 000 francs, and during the whole period the rev- 

 enue collected has been no more than 1.250.000,- 

 000 francs, nor do the deficits decrease, for in 1891, 

 counting guarantees to railroads, and military, 

 civil, and other expenditure, the French tax pay- 



