318 



GEORGIA. 



American Colonies. Besides the islands of 

 Martinique and Guadaloupe (see WEST INDIES), 

 France possesses in America the small islands of 

 St. Pierre and Miquelon, stations reserved for 

 the Newfoundland fisheries when the French 

 Canadian possessions were ceded to England, 

 and French Guiana in South America. The 

 population of St. Pierre and Miquelon in 1887 

 was 5,992. The value of the catch of cod in 

 1887 was 13,439,532 francs, and the number of 

 vessels that visited the islands was 2,362. The 

 local revenue in 1890 was 439,586 francs; the 

 expenditure of the French Government in 1891 

 was 348,332 francs. 



The population of the colony of Guiana or 

 Cayenne in 1888 was 25,796 ; the area is 46,850 

 square miles. There are about 4,400 convicts in 

 confinement or at large. The cost of the colony 

 to France in 1889 was 1,428,169 francs. Since 

 1817 France and Holland have had a dispute 

 about the limits of their establishments in Gui- 

 ana. The matter remained in abeyance till the 

 discovery of gold placers in the contested terri- 

 tory, and on Nov. 29, 1888, the two governments 

 agreed to submit it to the arbitration of the 

 Czar. By the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the 

 Maroni river was declared the boundary up to 

 its source. The French asserted that the Tapa- 

 nahony was the upper course of the Maroni, 

 while the Dutch held that the Aoua was. This 

 part of Guiana passed into the possession of 

 Portugal; and in 1815 was ceded back to France. 

 The Dutch had military posts on the Aoua in 

 the latter part of the last century, the French 

 authorities have often recognized the responsi- 

 bility of the Dutch for the behavior of the ne- 

 groes settled on the disputed territory, and in 

 1861 the evidence presented to a mixed commis- 

 sion was on favor of the claim that the Aoua 

 forms the upper course of the Maroni. On these 

 grounds the Emperor Alexander, in delivering 

 his decision on May 25, 1891, awarded the whole 

 territory between the two rivers to the Nether- 



lands. There is a dispute with Brazil concern- 

 ing an area much greater and more essential to 

 the development of the French colony. 



Possessions in Oceanica. In the Pacific 

 Ocean France has the penal colony of New Cale- 

 donia, with the Loyalty Islands and the Society 

 Islands, the Marquesas, Tuamotu, Gambier, and 

 Tubuai groups, and to the west of Samoa the 

 Wallis and Howe islands. New Caledonia, hav- 

 ing an area of 7,700 square miles, with a popula- 

 tion of 62,752, including 3,476 soldiers and civil 

 officials and 9,992 convicts, is under the ad- 

 ministration of a governor with large powers. 

 The expenditure of France in 1891 was 3.066,- 

 669 francs. The imports in 1888 were 9.200,- 

 000 francs, and the exports 3,000,000 francs. 

 Coffee, cocoa-nuts, cotton, vanilla, and manioc 

 are cultivated. Nickel, chromate of iron, and 

 cobalt are largely exported. The most im- 

 portant product is nickel, which is found in 

 over two fifths of the area of the island. The 

 most valuable mines can not now be worked for 

 want of means of transport to the sea. About 

 one tenth of the nickel-producing land has been 

 granted to companies or applied for, and of this 

 about one fourth is actually worked. The ore is 

 hydrated silicate of nickel and magnesia, contain- 

 ing from 8 to 16 per cent, of the metal. There 

 were 5,000 tons of this ore exported in 1890, 

 besides 1,500 tons of chrome and 700 tons of 

 cobalt. The export of the nickel ore is rapidly 

 increasing. The supply is believed to be inex- 

 haustible. Next to New Caledonia, the most 

 important islands subject to France are Tahiti, 

 area 412 square miles, and Moorea, area 50 

 square miles, in the Society Archipelago. Their 

 population is 12,800. The exports consist of 

 copra, cotton, sugar, coffee, and pearl shells. 

 The exports to the United States in 1889 were 

 $200,000 in value, about two fifths of the total 

 imports, and the imports from the United States 

 were valued at more $330,000, constituting two 

 thirds of the total. 



GEORGIA, a Southern State, one of the 

 original thirteen, ratified the Constitution Jan. 

 2, 1788 ; area, 59,475 square miles. The popula- 

 tion, according to each decennial census, was 82,- 

 548 in 1790; 162,686 in 1800; 252,433 in 1810; 

 340,985 in 1820; 516,823 in 1830; 691,392 in 

 1840; 906,185 in 1850; 1,057,286 in 1860; 

 1,184,109 in 1870 ; 1,542,180 in 1880 ; 1,837,353 

 in 1890. Capital, Atlanta. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, William J. 

 Northen, Democrat; Secretary of State, Philip 

 Cook ; Comptroller-General, William A. Wright ; 

 Treasurer, Robert U. Hardeman ; Attorney- 

 General, George N. Lester; Commissioner of 

 Agriculture, Robert T. Nesbitt; State School 

 Commissioner, S. D. Bradwell ; Railroad Com- 

 missioners, Allen Fort, L. N. Trammell, and 

 James W. Robertson ; Chief Justice of the Su- 

 preme Court, Logan E. Bleckley ; Associate Jus- 

 tices, Thomas J.Simmons and Samuel Lumpkin. 



Finances. The bonded State debt, which 

 amounted to $8,261,340 on Jan. 1, remained 



substantially unchanged during the year. In 

 consequence of the large appropriations made by 

 the Legislature, the rate of State taxation for 

 the year was raised to $5.08 on each $1,000, the 

 highest rate levied since the civil war. Of this 

 total, $3.50 on each $1.000 was levied for gen- 

 eral purposes, $1.33 for schools, and 24f cents 

 for the sinking fund. The total rate for 1890 

 was $3.96 on each $1,000. The assessed valua- 

 tion of property in the State for 1891 exceeds 

 $400,000,000. 



Education. The latest report of the State 

 School Commissioner contains the following pub- 

 lic-school statistics for the school year ending in 

 July, 1890: Number of white schools, 4,529; 

 number of colored schools, 2,286 ; schools under 

 local laws. 232 ; white pupils enrolled, 230,595 ; 

 colored pupils enrolled, 150,702; total enroll- 

 ment, white and colored, 381,297; average daily 

 attendance, white and colored, 240,790; total 

 expenditures for school purposes, $1,190,353.91 ; 

 teachers' wages, $998,575.04 ; average length of 

 school year, four months ; the total population 



