FRANCE. 



235 



" We condemn the policy of the Democratic 

 party, as declared in its platform of principles, 

 relative to the question of capital removal, con- 

 fining its settlement exclusively to white Demo- 

 cratic voters and Democratic primary alone, thus 

 ignoring contemptuously the rights of all electors 

 of other political parties and property owners to 

 participate in a general election, which should be 

 provided for by general law relating to the same." 



The People's party and the Social Democrats 

 of the State nominated presidential electors, but 

 put no State tickets in the field. 



The State being overwhelmingly Democratic, all 

 interest in the campaign centered on the question 

 of the removal of the capital and on the four pro- 

 posed amendments to the Constitution. Jackson- 

 ville, Ocala, St. Augustine, and Gainesville were 

 candidates for the capital, in opposition to Talla- 

 hassee. Gainesville withdrew before the close of 

 the campaign. 



The official returns of the election in November 

 gave: For President Bryan (Democrat), 28,007; 

 McKinley (Republican), 7,499; Populist, 1,090; 

 Prohibitionist, 2,239; Social Democrat, 603. For 

 Governor Jennings (Democrat), 29,251; Macfar- 

 lane (Republican), 6,438; Morton (Populist), 631. 



The vote on the constitutional amendments was 

 as follows: To provide for representation of new 

 counties in the Legislature for, 6,495; against, 

 4,511. To prohibit special legislation in favor of 

 corporations for, 6,159 ; against, 4,458. To provide 

 for election of county commissioners for, 8,891 ; 

 against, 3,706. To provide for new State seal and 

 a State flag for, 5,601; against, 4,121. The vote 

 on location of the State capital was: Tallahassee, 

 10.328; Jacksonville, 5,946; Ocala, 3,373; St. Au- 

 gustine, 1,800. 



Seventeen Senators and 68 members of the 

 House of Representatives were elected to the Leg- 

 islature of 1901, all Democrats. The State govern- 

 ment is solidly Democratic. 



FRANCE, a republic in western Europe, pro- 

 claimed Sept. 4, 1870, when the Emperor Napoleon 

 III was deposed. The Constitution of Feb. 24, 1875, 

 vests the legislative power in the Chamber of 

 Deputies and the Senate, forming together the Na- 

 tional Assembly, and the executive power in the 

 President of the republic and the Council of Min- 

 isters. Tne National Assembly, united in Con- 

 gress, elects the President for the term of seven 

 years, and has authority to revise the Constitu- 

 tion when convened for that purpose by the resolve 

 of both houses. The Constitution has been modi- 

 fied by the additional laws of Aug. 2 and Nov. 30, 

 1875, Dec. 9, 1884, June 16, 1885, and July 1, 1899. 

 The Senate is composed of 300 members, elected 

 in the departments for the term of nine years, 

 one third retiring every third year. The electoral 

 body consists of the Senators and Deputies of the 

 department, the departmental and district coun- 

 cils, and delegates of the communal councils. Un- 

 der the former law 75 of the Senators were elected 

 originally by the National Assembly, afterward 

 the Senate, for life, and now at the death of one 

 of these life Senators his place is filled by a Sen- 

 ator elected for the usual term by one of the de- 

 partments, determined by lot. There were 16 life 

 Senators still surviving in September, 1899. The 

 Chamber of Deputies is composed of 584 members, 

 one to each arrondissement having less than 

 100,000 inhabitants, two when the population is 

 greater, the arrondissement being then divided 

 into two electoral districts. Every male citizen 

 twenty-one years of age can vote for the Deputy 

 in his arrondissement if he has resided six months 

 in one town or commune and is not serving in the 

 army or otherwise disqualified. In 1898 there were 



10,231,532 registered electors, of whom 7,657,429 

 voted. Officers and soldiers of the active army 

 and the majority of public functionaries are not 

 eligible to the Chamber. The ministers are re- 

 sponsible to the Chamber. In case of defeat on a 

 Cabinet question the President selects a new Pre- 

 mier Minister representing the victorious party 

 or combination, who in consultation with the 

 President selects his colleagues. The President can 

 dissolve the Chamber with the consent of the 

 Senate. He has authority to conclude treaties by 

 the advice of his ministers, but can not declare 

 war without the assent of both Chambers. Every 

 act of the President must be countersigned by 

 the minister in whose department it falls. 



The President of the republic is Emile Loubet, 

 elected Feb. 18, 1899. The ministry formed June 

 22, 1899, was composed as follows: President of 

 the Council and Minister of the Interior and of 

 Public Worship, M. Waldeck- Rousseau; Minister 

 of Foreign Affairs, M. Delcasse; Minister of Fi- 

 nance, M. Caillaux; Minister of War, Major-Gen, 

 de Gallifet; Minister of Marine, M. Lanessan; 

 Minister of Public Instruction, Georges Leygues; 

 Minister of Public Works, P. Baudin; Minister of 

 Agriculture, Jean Dupuy; Minister of Commerce, 

 Industry, and Posts and Telegraphs, M. Millerand ; 

 Minister of the Colonies, M. Decrais: Minister of 

 Justice, M. Monis. 



Area and Population. The area of France is 

 204,092 square miles. The population on March 

 29, 1896, was 38,517,975, nearly 189 to the square 

 mile. The foreigners numbered 1,027,491, or 2.66 

 of the total population. The number of public 

 officials and employees, including those in Algeria, 

 was 384,038, exclusive of the army and navy, but 

 including 44,863 clergymen, 121,712 teachers, and 

 6,560 judges and magistrates, and their total an- 

 nual pay amounted to 585,363,000 francs. The 

 number of unpaid officials, such as mayors of com- 

 munes and members of councils, was 462,500. The 

 number of marriages in 1898 was 287,179; of births, 

 843,933; of deaths, 810,073; excess of births, 33,860. 

 The number of divorces was 7,238. Paris, in 1896, 

 had 2,536,834 inhabitants; Lyons, 466,028; Mar- 

 seilles, 442,239; Bordeaux, 256,906; Lille, 216,276; 

 Toulouse, 149,963. There were 89,915 primary 

 schools in 1898, with 153,505 teachers and 5,535,125 

 enrolled pupils; 30,368 evening schools for adults, 

 with 483,000 pupils; 109 lyceums, with 52,372 pu- 

 pils; 229 communal colleges, with 33,949 pupils; 

 202 lay private schools, with 9,727 pupils ; and 438 

 clerical schools, with 67,643 pupils; 40 lyceums for 

 girls, with 8,431 pupils; 28 colleges for girls, with 

 3,563 pupils; 51 secondary courses for girls, with 

 4,239 pupils; and in the universities there were 

 142 students of theology, 8,939 studying law, 3,435 

 students of science, 2,804 in the faculties of letters, 

 3,026 studying pharmacy, and 8,153 medical stu- 

 dents in January, 1899, besides 969 students in 

 outside medical schools and 786 university stu- 

 dents in Algeria. Of the total number of 28,254 

 students 1,399 were foreigners and 817 were 

 women, including 258 foreigners. 



Finances. The budget estimate of revenue for 

 1899 was 3,477,575,535 francs, of which 3,423,- 

 609,469 francs constituted the general budget of 

 France and 54,152,371 francs the Algerian budget. 

 Of the revenue collected in France 472,181,557 

 francs were direct contributions and 36,363,527 

 francs taxes assimilated to direct contributions; 

 2,035,726,450 francs were indirect taxes, including 

 526,904,000 francs from registration, 179,219,400 

 francs from stamps, 5,526,000 francs from the tax 

 on bourse transactions, 72,078,100 francs from the 

 tax on income from personal property, 441,492,050 

 francs from customs duties, 624,012,000 francs 



