286 



FRANCE. 



39,000,000 francs. The values of the principal 

 domestic exports were as follow : Woolen goods, 

 329,000,000 francs ; silk goods, 249,000,000 francs ; 

 wine, 214,000,000 francs : small wares, 157,000,- 

 00 francs; raw silk and silk yarn, 132,000.000 

 francs; linen and linen manufactures, 130,000,- 

 000 francs ; wool and woolen manufactures, 120,- 

 000.000 francs; leather, 114,000,000 francs; 

 leather goods, 112,000,000 francs; cotton goods, 

 96,000,000 francs ; cheese and butter, 88,000,000 

 francs ; metal wares and tools. 82,000,000 francs ; 

 skins and furs, 74,000,000 francs ; spirits, 66,000,- 

 000 francs ; chemical products, 59,000,000 francs ; 

 refined sugar, 55,000.000 francs. The special 

 commerce with the leading countries in 1892 is 

 shown in the following table, which gives the 

 values in francs: 



Navigation. The number of vessels entered 

 at French ports during 1892 was 93,001, of 20,- 

 172,108 tons, including 63,665, of 6,342,378 tons, 

 engaged in the coasting trade. Of the vessels 

 engaged in foreign commerce, 20,443, of 9.372,- 

 85Q tons, were foreign, and 8,893, of 4,456,874 

 tons, were French. Of the total mimber entered, 

 76,055, of 18,581,936 tons, were with cargoes, and 

 16,946, of 1,590,172 tons, in ballast. The total 

 number cleared during the year was 94,112, of 

 20,633,172 tons, of which 71.531, of 14.541,890 

 tons, sailed with cargoes, and 22,581, of 6,091,282 

 tons, in ballast. Excluding 63,665 French ves- 

 sels, of 6,342,378 tons, engaged in the coasting 

 trade, there were 9,371 French vessels, of 4,665,- 

 005 tons, and 21,076, of 9,625,789 tons, flying 

 foreign flags. 



The merchant marine in the beginning of 1893 

 consisted of 14,117 sailing vessels, of 407,044 

 tons, and 1,161 steamers, of 498,562 tons. The 

 crews on the sailing vessels numbered 68,570 

 men, and on the steamers 14,460. Of the sailing 

 vessels, 218, of 25,571 tons, were engaged in 

 European commerce, and 306, of 142,321 tons, in 

 ocean navigation. The steamers engaged in 

 European seas numbered 240, of 168,608 tons, 

 those making long voyages 173, of 283.174 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in operation in 1893 was 34,- 

 791 kilometres, of which the state owned 2,728 

 kilometres. There were, moreover, 3.150 kilo- 

 metres of local lines belonging to the state. 

 The receipts of all the railroads for 1893 was 

 1.159,600,000 francs, an increase of 21,300,000 

 francs over those of the preceding year. When 

 the French trunk lines were originally con- 

 structed the Government guaranteed the interest 

 and capital of the money invested by financiers 

 and furnished part of the capital itself on con- 

 dition that, if they proved successful, both the 

 debenture and the share capital should be grad- 

 ually paid off, so that the railroads would be- 



come the absolute property of the state at the 

 end of ninety-nine years. The whole railroad 

 system gradually became vested in 6 great com- 

 panies, having in 1892 30,845 kilometres, rep- 

 resenting a capital of 12,358,000,000 francs. 

 After the war. of 1870 these companies refused to 

 build branch lines, and most of the smaller com- 

 panies, which constructed them, being liberally 

 subsidized but not guaranteed by the Govern- 

 ment, failed. Some of the roads were bought by 

 the Government, and others were taken at t hen- 

 own prices by the six companies. The Govern- 

 ment still continued to urge the companies to 

 extend their lines as the people demanded, and in 

 1883 Freycinet made an arrangement in accord- 

 ance with which the Government guaranteed to 

 the railroad companies permanently the average 

 dividends that they had been lately earning, 

 while they agreed to expend 7,000,000^000 francs 

 on the new lines that were wanted, the interest 

 on the new outlay being guaranteed by the Gov- 

 ernment, which further advanced money to help 

 build the new lines, and extended the conces- 

 sions from two to nineteen years, during which 

 additional periods the companies will have to 

 pay neither interest nor dividends out of their 

 earnings. Owing to the falling off in receipts, 

 the payments out of the public treasury for 

 guarantees have increased from 51,493,824 francs 

 in 1889 to 116,278,496 francs in 1894, and are 

 expected to reach 135,189,496 francs in 1895, and 

 still increase in the succeeding years. There are, 

 moreover, annual subventions due to the railroads 

 of over 100,000,000 francs. The Minister of 

 Finance stated that the engagements called for 

 233,739,000 francs in 1884, and that a part of the 

 payments would have to be deferred, and he 

 predicted that in a few years the figures would 

 reach 370,000,000 francs a year. Yet the guar- 

 anteed dividends make the stock worth 200 or 

 300 above par. 



The post office in 1891 forwarded 608,804,000 

 internal and 130.387,000 international ordinary 

 letters, 20,445,000 internal and 3,327,000 inter- 

 national registered letters, 41,310,000 internal 

 and 3,935,000 international postal cards, and 

 878,558.000 internal and 115,033.000 international 

 journals, circulars, and samples. The receipts 

 from posts and telegraphs for 1891 were 197,- 

 837,606 francs, and the expenses 143,045,846 

 francs. The length of telegraph lines in 1893 

 was 59,693 miles, with 197,622 miles of wire. 

 The number of dispatches in 1892 was 45,:}^.- 

 888, of which 33,439,947 were internal paid mes- 

 sages, 5,306,337 international, 1,571,168 in tran- 

 sit, and 5,011,436 official. 



Ministry of Casimir-Perier. Casimir- 

 Perier took office in December, 1893, with the 

 declaration that France was equally averse to re- 

 action and socialism. The ministerial majority 

 of Moderates or Opportunists was more solid and 

 homogeneous than in the previous Chamber. 

 The Radical party, on the other hand, acting in 

 closer alliance with the socialists and anarchists 

 in the Chamber, was more aggressive than when 

 led by Clemenceau. Business depression and 

 frequent strikes furnished material for incessant 

 interpellations. The Socialists, led by Jules 

 Guesde and Jaures, were the dominant element 

 in the Opposition, and took a leading part in the 

 tactics that blocked the Government policy of 



