PRANCE. 



237 



ments. The cavalry is composed of 13 regiments 

 of cuirassiers, 31 regiments of dragoons, 21 regi- 

 ments of mounted rifles, 14 regiments of hussars, 

 (i regiments of African chasseurs, and 4 regiments 

 of spahis, comprising altogether 447 squadrons of 

 5 oilicers and 140 men, to be raised to 155 men in 

 time of war. The dragoons, hussars, and chas- 

 seurs are armed with carbines of the model of 1886, 

 the cuirassiers with revolvers. A squadron of Sa- 

 haran and one of Soudanese spahis belong also to 

 the cavalry. The field artillery consists of 19 bri- 

 gades and 3 commands, comprising 40 regiments 

 with 430 mounted batteries of 4 or 6 pieces, 52 

 batteries of horse artillery, 14 mountain batteries, 

 and 12 batteries in Algeria and Tunis. The field 

 guns are rapid firing, having a caliber of 75 milli- 

 metres. There are 18 battalions of fortress artil- 

 lery, with 105 batteries, besides 7 batteries in 

 Algeria and Tunis. The guns have 95, 200, and 

 270 millimetres caliber, the mortars a caliber of 

 15 centimetres, and rapid-firing guns have been 

 introduced with a caliber of 12 centimetres. The 

 engineers comprise 1 regiment of sappers and min- 

 ers of 4 battalions and 1 company of sapper con- 

 ductors, 5 regiments of sappers and miners of 3 

 battalions and 1 company of sapper conductors, 

 1 regiment of railroad sappers, and 7 companies 

 of sapper conductors. There are 20 squadrons of 

 train, 16 having 3 and 4 having 6 companies, 12 

 of the companies being in Algeria. 



There are 145 regiments of infantry reserves of 

 3 battalions in time of peace formed of the comple- 

 mentary cadres of the regiments of the line, and 

 besides these there are 30 battalions of reserve 

 chasseurs ; 40 regiments of reserve cavalry are, like 

 the infantry reserves, linked to the active regiments 

 of the line, and the 41 regiments of the independent 

 cavalry divisions have each its adjunct reserve 

 regiment, and for each brigade of artillery there 

 are 12 batteries of reserves. 



The Navy. By the law of 1898 the authority 

 of the chief of staff, a vice-admiral who assists 

 the Minister of Marine in directing the affairs of 

 the navy, was enlarged so as to give him, subject 

 to the approval of the minister, full charge of the 

 construction, maintenance, putting into commis- 

 sion, and mobilization of the ships. The expendi- 

 ture on the navy has increased, with fluctuations, 

 from 201,000,000 francs in 1890 to 304,000,000 

 rancs in 1899. The personnel of the navy in 1898 

 comprised 15 vice-admirals, 30 rear-admirals, 125 

 captains, 215 commanders, 758 lieutenants, 420 

 sub-lieutenants, and 170 midshipmen, making a 

 total of 1,733 commissioned officers and 40,589 

 men, including warrant officers. The navy is 

 manned partly by conscription among the seafar- 

 ing population and partly by voluntary enlistment. 

 The sailors inscribed in the naval reserve number 

 114,000. The armor-clad fleet in 1899 comprised 34 

 battle ships averaging over 10,000 tons (Amiral 

 Baudin, Amiral Duperre, Colbert, Devastation, 

 Formidable, Courbet, Friedland, Hoche, Magenta, 

 Marceau, Neptune, Eedoutable, Richelieu, Suf- 

 fren, Trident, Brennus, Caiman, Indomptable, Re- 

 quin, Terrible, Bouvines, Jemmapes, Amiral Tre- 

 houart, Valmy, Carnot, Charles Martel, Jauregui- 

 berry, Massena, Bouvet, Charlemagno, Saint-Louis, 

 Henri IV, Gaulois, and Jena), 5 heavily armored 

 cruisers with guns mounted in barbette (Bayard, 

 Duguesclin, Turenne, Vauban, Victorieuse), 7 

 coast-guard turret and barbette ships built before 

 1883 (Fulminant, Furieux, Onondaga, Tempfite, 

 Tonnerre, Tonnant, Vengeur), 7 armored cruisers, 

 averaging 5,250 tons, built since 1890 (Dupuy de 

 L6me, Amiral Charner, Chanzy, Latouche-Treville, 

 Bruix, Pothuau, D'Entrecasteaux), 2 new deck- 

 protected cruisers of over 8,000 tons, having a 



powerful rapid-fire armament and capable of mak- 

 ing 23 knots (Guichen, Chateaurenault), 2 power- 

 ful armored cruisers, the latest type, exceedingly 

 rapid and armed with a pair of 7.6-inch guns and 

 a strong quick-firing equipment (Jeanne d'Arc, 

 Montcalm), 8 first-class cruisers built between 

 ls7<i and 1889 (Duquesne, Tourville, Sfax, Tage, 

 Cecille, Jean Bart, Alger, Isly), 16 second-class 

 cruisers built between 1877 and 1897 (Arethuse, 

 Iphigenie, Naiade, Dubourdieu, Davout, Suchet, 

 Bugeaud, Chasseloup-Laubat, Friant, Pascal, Des- 

 cartes, D'Assas, Du Chayla, Cassard, Catinat, Du- 

 guay-Trouin), 18 third-class cruisers built between 

 1878 and 1898 (D'Estaing, Primauget, Nielly, Fa- 

 bert, La Clocheterie, Eclaireur, Amiral Rigault de 

 Genouilly, Milan, Surcouf, Forbin, Lalande/l'roude, 

 Cosmao, Coetlogon, Linois, Galilee, Lavoisier, 

 D'Estrees), 1 torpedo depot ship (Foudre), 8 ar- 

 mored gunboats built between 1884 and 1892, 11 

 gunboats built between 1878 and 1896, 7 first- 

 class and 5 second-class avisos, 24 transports, 8 

 sloop screw gunboats, 2 side-wheel gunboats, 10 

 side-wheeel steamers, 10 destroyers built between 

 1885 and 1898, 10 torpedo dispatch boats, 33 sea- 

 going torpedo boats, 108 first-class, 84 second-class, 

 and 30 third-class torpedo boats, 6 torpedo vedettes, 

 and 3 submarine torpedo boats. There were under 

 construction in the beginning of 1900 2 armored 

 cruisers (Dupetit-Thouars, Gueydon), sister ships 

 to the Montcalm, having a displacement of 9,517 

 tons, engines of 20,000 horse power, giving a speed 

 of 21 knots, and an armament of 2 7.6-inch, 8 

 6.4-inch quick-firing, 4 4-inch, and 24 smaller 

 guns; 3 of the same type, with the same speed 

 and the same armament (Gloire, Conde, Sully), 

 having a length of 453 feet, 64 feet beam, and 23 

 feet mean draught, protected by 6 inches of armor 

 at the water line, thinner side armor above, and 

 armored and splinter-proof decks, the heavy guns 

 mounted in turrets, the rest in casemates ; 2 made 

 slightly larger to carry 2 additional 4-inch quick 

 firers (Marseilleise, Amiral Aube) ; 3 of a smaller 

 type, 7,700 tons, with engines of 17,100 horse power, 

 capable of making 21 knots, armed with 10 6.4- 

 inch and 16 small quick firers (Kleber, Desaix, 

 Dupleix) ; and 1 deck-protected cruiser, of 5,500 

 tons, with engines of 17,000 horse pow r er, designed 

 to give a speed of 23 knots, carrying a battery of 

 8 6.4-inch quick firers and 12 of 1.8-inch bore 

 (Jurien de la Graviere). 



The Minister of Marine proposed the construc- 

 tion of 6 new battle ships, of 14,865 tons, with 

 12 inches of armor over vital parts, to have a 

 speed of 18 knots and carry 4 12-inch and 18 6.4- 

 inch guns; 5 armored cruisers, of 12,600 tons, able 

 to steam 22 knots, and equal in armament and 

 protection to the new Drake class in England; 

 also 28 destroyers, 112 new torpedo boats, and 38 

 submarine craft. If this programme were carried 

 out the navy in 1907 would consist of 28 battle 

 ships, 24 armored cruisers, 52 destroyers, 263 tor- 

 pedo boats, and 38 submarine torpedo craft. The 

 cost of the new constructions was put at 800',- 

 000,000 francs, which was believed by the oppo- 

 nents of the new programme, who objected espe- 

 cially to the building of more large battle ships, 

 to be too low an estimate. The Government de- 

 cided to build the cruisers, 3 to be completed in 

 1901 and the other 3 before 1905, and to postpone 

 the construction of battle ships, except one that 

 was to be ready in three years. 



Commerce and Production. The area culti- 

 vated as farm and garden land and pasture in 

 France is 36,977,098 hectares out of a total area 

 of 52,921,578 hectares, of which 8,397,131 hectares 

 are covered with forest. The production of wheat 

 on 6,963,711 hectares in 1898 was 128,096,149 hec- 



