290 



FRANCE. 



grammes. The live stock in 1889 consisted of 

 329,783 horses and mules, 271,547 camels, 1.217,- 

 143 cattle, 9,475,287 sheep, and 4,213,922 goats. 

 The product of iron ore in 1889 was 351,800 tons, 

 valued at 2,457,190 francs. The value of blende, 

 galena, silver, and copper mined was 1,426,457 

 francs. 



The special commerce with France in 1890 

 amounted to 209,165,021 francs for imports and 

 209,995,965 francs for exports. The total special 

 imports were 237,268,012 francs, and the exports 

 261,622,241 francs. The chief imports to France 

 were cotton fabrics, leather manufactures, metal 

 manufactures, and haberdashery. The chief ex- 

 ports to France were cereals valued at 58.067,- 

 440 francs, wines valued at 58,895,130 francs, 

 animals valued at 44,012,935 francs, and wool 

 valued at 12,084,973 francs. The imports from 

 Morocco were 11,558,938 francs: from Tunis, 

 10,395,735 francs in value ; from Great Britain, 

 10,367,946 francs; from Spain, 7,442,871 francs; 

 the exports to Great Britain. 18,126,494 francs. 

 From the United States, goods valued at 1,003,- 

 795 francs were imported, and the exports to the 

 United States amounted to 1,444.164 francs. 



The railroads of Algeria have a length of 

 1,910 miles, including a junction line of 140 

 miles running into Tunis. The telegraphs, with 

 the Tunis connections, have a length of 4,310 

 miles, with 10,000 miles of wire. They are oper- 

 ated by a private company, which receives a 

 subvention from the French Government. Forti- 

 fied posts with permanent garrisons have been 

 established in the southwest of Algeria, and 

 roads have been constructed between them, along 

 which wells have been sunk. In the southeast a 

 line for a railroad along the frontier of Mo- 

 rocco has been traced. The Sultan of Morocco has 

 shown a disposition to contest the extension of 

 French influence over the nomads of the Sahara, 

 but he is not so situated as to be able to unfold the 

 military power that France is willing to apply to 

 the subjugation of the southern tribes. A mili- 

 tary expedition was sent out by the Sultan in 

 the spring of 1892 to punish the people of the 

 That oases that have declared their independ- 

 ence and their sympathy for the French and to 

 collect the religious tribute that the Tuaregs 

 had neglected to pay for five years. The Sultan's 

 cousin Abd-es-Selam, the head of the Wazzan 

 sect, had entered into close relations with the 

 Governor of Algeria and had influenced the pop- 

 ulations of Tuat to accept French protection, 

 and the mission of the Emperor failed, as the 

 military force that he sent was insignificant. 



Tunis. The regency of Tunis, though nomi- 

 nally only a protectorate, is practically gov- 

 erned by the French Ministry of Foreign Af- 

 fairs through a minister resident and a staff of 

 officials in Tunis and a bureau of Tunisian af- 

 fairs in Paris. The French resident is M. Mas- 

 sicault. The Bey is Sidi AH, born Oct. 5, 1817, 

 who succeeded his brother, Sidi Mohammet-es- 

 Sadok, Oct. 28, 1882. The cost of the military 

 occupation by about 10.000 troops, as in the case 

 of the military force in Algeria, is borne by the 

 French Government. 



The population is estimated at 1,500,000. 

 The number of French people residing in Tunis 

 was 10,030 in 1891, compared with 3,500 in 

 1886; of these, 2,000 are children of settlers 



born in the country. The capital city, Tunis, 

 has a mixed population of Arabs, Moors, Jews, 

 and negroes, numbering about 145.000, includ- 

 ing 20,000 Europeans. The revenue for the year 

 ending Oct. 12, 1890, was 33,887,986 piasters, and 

 the expenditure 32,495.179 piasters (1 piaster = 

 12| cents). For the next twelve months the rev- 

 enue was estimated at 33,721,500 piasters, and 

 the expenditure at 36,942,433 piasters, and for 

 the remainder of the calendar year, which has 

 been made the financial year, the estimates are 

 13,906,000 piasters for receipts and 10,684,766 

 piasters for expenditures. The debt, as con- 

 verted in 1888, amounts to the nominal sum of 

 17,440,750 francs, paying 3 per cent., and extin- 

 guishable in ninety-nine years. Wheat and barley 

 cover about 1,000,000 hectares. The total value 

 of the imports for 1890 was 29,134.600 francs, of 

 which 15,607,080 francs came from France, 6,296,- 

 930 francs from Malta, and 2,693,050 francs from 

 Italy. The total exports were 30,599,200 francs, 

 of which 11,230,368 francs were exports to 

 France, 8,576,064 francs to Algeria, 4,807,530 

 francs to Great Britain, and 3,105,690 francs to 

 Italy. The principal imports were cotton and 

 linen goods, flour, colonial goods, wine and spir- 

 its, and raw cotton and silk and yarns. The 

 values of the chief exports were as follow : 

 Wheat. 9,416,640 francs ; barley, 5,030.680 francs ; 

 olive oil, 4,273,300 francs ; alfa, 2,064,880 francs. 

 Other export articles are tanning materials, 

 sponges, dried vegetables, woolen goods, and 

 wine. The length of railroads is 260 miles, and 

 of telegraphs 2,000 miles. The main part of the 

 foreign commerce passes through the port of 

 Goletta, which will be connected with the city of 

 Tunis by a canal 7 miles long, 44 metres wide, 

 and 8 metres deep, is expected to be opened be- 

 fore July, 1894. The export of wine has in- 

 creased from 1,900 to 11,000 hectolitres in two 

 years. A large proportion of the French colo- 

 nists are wine-growers. The product of olive oil 

 in 1891 was 30,000,000 litres. The wine harvest 

 increased from 15.000 hectolitres in 1888 to 32,- 

 600 in 1889, 52,977 in 1890, and 105,142 in 1891. 

 The soil is favorable for grape culture, and the 

 wine is very strong. 



The construction of the harbor of Biserta is 

 an important work of engineering, which is ad- 

 vancing rapidly. The main harbor will be the 

 Lake of Biserta. Harbors are to be made also at 

 Sfax and Snsa. The construction of the great 

 harbor at Biserta, under the direction of the 

 Ministry of the Marine, at a cost of not less than 

 15,000,000 francs, is regarded with suspicion by 

 all the Mediterranean powers, especially by Italy, 

 because the intention must be to make it a naval 

 fortress, although the French Government has 

 not been willing to acknowledge that fortifica- 

 tions of importance were being erected there. 

 The Italian Government was impelled, by the 

 action of the French in beginning the fortifica- 

 tion of Biserta soon after taking possession of 

 the country, to construct extensive works in 

 Sicily and Sardinia. English and Italian remon- 

 strances against the construction of a war har- 

 bor in Tunis as an infraction of the Bardo treaty 

 were seconded by Germany, and the French 

 Cabinet denied at first that it had military pur- 

 poses in view, but afterward asserted that it was 

 even bound to take any measures that were 



