FRANCE. 



Mfl 



April, 1891. There are 8 departments, each of 



which elects 1 Senator and '2 I )eput ies. To each 

 is attached a military depart im-ni, administered 

 under the direct imi of tlie commandant of the 

 Nineteenth Army Corps. The combined area of 

 the departments of Algiers, Oran, and Constan- 

 tino is 184,474 square miles, and the population 

 in 1891 was 8,688,067 in the civil and 487,705 in 

 the military deportment*. While the military 

 jurisdict ion is continually being extended farther 

 into the desert, portions of the military territory 

 are from time to time brought under civil juris- 

 diction and added to the civil departments. 

 The total population in 1891 comprised 272,602 

 horn or n;iturali/ed French people, 47,667 nat- 

 nrali/ed Algerian Jews, 13,507,223 indigenous 

 I'Yeneh subjects, and small colonies of Tunis- 

 ians. Moors, Spaniards. Italians, Maltese, and 

 Germans. The public revenue is derived from di- 

 rect taxes levied on the natives and from customs 

 and regie. The French Government pays the 

 cost of the army and a part of the expenses of 

 public works. In the budget for 1892 the reve- 

 nue was estimated at 40,380,898 francs, and ex- 

 penditure at 44,928,731 francs. In that for 1893 

 the revenue is placed at 48,318,020 francs, of 

 which 12,3 18,000 francs proceed from direct taxes, 

 11,143,000 francs from customs, 12,127,250 

 francs from indirect taxes of various kinds, 

 5,235,700 francs from monopolies, and 8,231,270 

 francs from domains, etc. 



The expenditures for 1893 are estimated at 

 64,948,129 francs, of which 26,520,000 francs are 

 for public works, 13,793,167 francs for collection 

 of revenue and regie, 11,906,637 francs for the 

 interior. 5,397,539 francs for public instruction, 

 3.988,646 francs for justice and worship, 1,799,- 

 190 francs for agriculture, 622,250 francs for 

 other departments, and 920,700 francs for repay- 

 ments, etc. 



The principal products are wheat, barley, mut- 

 ton, wool, alfa grass, wine, tobacco, olives, flax, 

 colza, cotton, ramie fiber, and silk. There was a 

 population of 3,262,478 engaged in agriculture 

 in 1891, of whom 187,000 were Europeans. The 

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

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

 general imports in 1891 was 277,770,289 francs, 

 nearly three fourths of which came from France. 

 The exports, four fifths of which went to France, 

 were valued at 235,72.5. i:>0 francs. The special 

 imports were valued at 269,021,767, and exports 

 at 222,844,445 francs. There were 1.910 miles of 

 railway in operation in 1891, and 4,310 miles of 

 telegraphs, with 10,000 miles of wire. The 

 Trans-Saharan Railroad, which is to be extended 

 to Timbuctoo, has been built to within 80 miles 

 of the oasis of Figuig. 



A remodeling of the system of administration, 

 suggested by the strictures of Jules Ferry, has 

 been approved by the French Government. The 

 Arabs suffer injustice under the laws passed in 

 France without a true understanding of the 

 habits and customs of the people. The official 

 staff is too large, and the officials occupy them- 

 selves with unnecessary forms and troublesome 

 proceedings which the natives think are invented 

 for their annoyance. The fines collected for 

 infractions of the forest laws, for instance, are 

 nearly four times in amount the actual value of 

 the forest products. In the civil territory the 



French colonists and officials discourage anr at- 

 tempt to elevate the natives. The proposition 

 to establish schools for them han been met with 

 perMstent opposition. The re.-ult of their being 

 kept disfranchised and degraded is that they 

 cherish the hope of regaining the mastery, and 

 the effect of the heavy taxation and trouble- 

 some fines imposed on the native population is 

 to impoverish many and drive them to robbery. 

 Jules Ferry's recommendation to extend the 

 powers of the Governor-General so as to make 

 Algeria resemble a colony instead of a French 

 department was approved by the Senate, and a 

 bill was framed embodying thia principle. 



Tunis. The regency of Tunis is nominally 

 still a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire and a 

 hereditary monarchy ruled by the Bey, Sidi AH, 

 who was born Oct. 5, 1817, and succeeded his 

 brother, Sidi Mohammed es Sadok, Oct. 28, 1882. 

 Since its occupation in 1881 it has been tech- 

 nically called a French protectorate, but has 

 been really governed by the French Minister 

 Resident under the direction of the Ministry of 

 Foreign Affairs, which has a special bureau for 

 Tunisian affairs. The Frencn Resident since 



1890 has been M. Massicault. There is an 

 army of occupation of about 10,000 men main- 

 tained bv the French Government at its own ex- 

 pense. The area is about 45,000 square miles, 

 and the population, consisting mostly of Bedouin 

 Arabs and Kabyles, is about 1,500,000. The 

 revenue for 1892 was estimated at 21,443.900 

 francs, of which 7,728,900 francs were derived 

 from direct and 10,132,200 francs from indirect 

 taxes, 713.000 francs from posts, telegraphs, and 

 navigation dues, and 2,869,200 francs from vari- 

 ous sources. The expenditures were estimated 

 at 21,434,768 francs, of which 6,327,920 francs 

 were required for interest and amortization of 

 the debt, 4,950,888 francs for financial adminis- 

 tration, the civil list, etc., 4,739,000 francs for 

 public works, 2.629,861 francs for the general 

 administration, 595,370 francs for war, 776,000 

 francs for the post-office, and 1,415,728 francs for 

 other purposes. The debt was consolidated in 

 1884 into a perpetual 4-per-cent. rente of 6,307,- 

 520 francs, and this in 1888 into a SJ-per-cent. 

 loan to be extinguished in ninety-nine'years. 



The value of the imports in 1891 was 38.115,- 

 090 francs, and of the exports 44.465,689 francs. 

 The principal imports are silk and silk manu- 

 factures, mixed silk, cotton, and wool goods and 

 woolens, flour, iron manufactures, and wine and 

 spirits. The chief exports and their values in 



1891 were: Wheat, 15,261,120 francs; barley, 

 9,808,600 francs; olive oil, 6,430,080 francs; 

 dry vegetables, 1,990,390 francs; esparto grass, 

 1,734,016 francs; tan bark, 1,658,400 francs. 

 There are 260 miles of railway and over 2.000 

 miles of telegraphs belonging to the Govern- 

 ment. A railroad from Tunis to Sfax has been 

 authorized. A joint commission for the delim- 

 itation of the frontier between Tunis and Tripoli 

 was unable to agree, and the negotiations with 

 the Turkish Government were suspended in 

 April, 18M. 



IVest Africa. By the agreement with Great 

 Britain arranged on Aug. 5, 1890, the French 

 sphere of influence includes the entire region 

 north of a line drawn from Say. on the middle 

 Niger, to Barrawa, on Lake Chad. By an 



