FRANCE. 



tain batteries in Algeria and Tunis ; 16 battalions 

 of foot artillery, each of 6 batteries; 4 batteries of 

 foot artillery serving in Africa; 6 regiments of 

 sappers and miners, containing 3 or 4 battalions, 

 and 1 company of sapper conductors ; 1 regiment 

 of railroad sappers; and 20 squadrons of train, 12 

 of 4 and 8 of 8 companies. 



The peace strength of the army, as fixed in the 

 budget for 1898, was 546,044 men," including 26,402 

 officers, in France; in Algeria, 55,9 11 men, of whom 

 J.li7 are officers; in Tunis, 1-3,458 men, of whom 552 

 are officers. The total number of horses is 142,038. 

 Of tin- troops stationed in France 332,390, including 

 12005 officers, belong to the infantry; 66,611, in- 

 cluding 3,489 officers, to the cavalry; 80,482, inclu- 

 ding 3,880 officers, to the artillery ; 12,155, including 

 460 officers, to the engineers ; 8,668, including 361 

 officers, to the train; 11,846 to the administrative 

 service; 8.222, including 373 officers, to the military 

 schools; 1,959, of whom 1,709 were officers, were de- 

 tailed: and 3,418 officers and 707 men belonged to 

 tin- general staff, making the total strength of the 

 army corps 512,152 men, including 20,195 officers. 

 The total active army in France numbered 521,458 

 men, including 25.695 officers, besides which there 

 were the gendarmerie, numbering 21,536, including 

 624 officers, and the Garde Republicaine, numbering 

 8,050, including 83 officers. In Algeria there were 

 878 officers and men on the general staff, 757 de- 

 tailed among the troops, 36,865 infantry, 3,537 

 administrative troops, 7,643 cavalry, 2,584 artillery, 

 867 engineers, and 2.158 train ; the total active army 

 numbering 53,654, including 1,340 officers, and the 

 gendarmerie 1,122 officers and men. In Tunis there 

 were 91 on the general staff, 108 detailed, 8,842 in- 

 fantry, 1,853 cavalry, 854 artillery, 340 engineers, 

 and 696 train, the total active forces numbering 

 13,303, including 584 officers, and the gendarmerie 

 155. Deducting vacancies, sick, and furloughed, 

 the present effective in 1898 was returned as 541,- 

 O','*; active troops and 25,790 in the gendarmerie 

 and Garde Republicaine. The war effective of the 

 active army and reserves is estimated at 2,350,000, 

 I.e-jdes which there is the territorial army of 900,- 

 000 and 1,100,000 territorial reserves, making the 

 nominal military strength 4,350,000 men, of whom 

 not more than 2,500,000 would be available. 



The Navy. The naval force afloat on Jan. 1, 

 eomprised 18 first-class, 10 second-class, and 

 9 third-class battleships, 16 coast-defense vessels, 11 

 first-class, 14 second-class, and 2 third-class cruisers, 

 12 lookout vessels, 13 torpedo gunboats, and 119 

 first-class, 78 second-class, and 45 third-class tor- 

 pedo craft. Of these, 2 battle ships, 11 first-class 

 and 16 other cruisers, 2 lookouts, 6 torpedo gun- 

 boats, and 13 destroyers were unfinished. A new 

 programme of construction has been proposed, in- 

 volving the expenditure in eight years, beginning 

 with 1*!)H. of 721,816,000 francs, which will add to 

 t In- navy 8 battle ships, 10 armored cruisers, 10 other 

 cruisers, 10 destroyers, and 42 torpedo boats. The 

 type of the " Charlemagne," with the heavy guns 

 c'Hpl<-(l iii turrets, displacing about 12,006 tons, 

 with ISf-inch side armor, engines <>f 14,000 horse 

 power, deigned to make 18 knots, and having an 

 ariimmcnt i.f 4 12-inch breech loaders, 10 5.5-inch 

 quick Brers, 8 more of 4-inch caliber, and 34 

 small ones, is chosen for the latest battle ship laid 

 down at Brest. Of this class the "St. Louis." 

 " Gaulois," and " Jena " have been launched. The 

 new armored cruiser " Montcalm" and three sister 

 ships now in hand will have a displacement of 

 9.517 tons, and three screws, giving a speed of 21 

 knots. Like these, the smaller "Dupleix," " I)e- 

 and " Kleber" will have both deck protection 

 and sid<! armor. One of the latest torpedo boats, 

 the " Forbiin," shows a speed of over 31 Knots. 



The French navy was commanded in 1897 by 15 

 vice-admirals, 30 rear admirals, and 125 captains. 

 with 1,782 other officers, and manned by 39,846 

 petty officers, seamen, etc., to which number about 

 1,000 were added in 1898. 



Commerce and Production. The production 

 of wheat in 1896 was 110,742.316 hectolitres; of 

 barley, 16,241,431 ; of oats, 92,033,398 ; of rye, 24,- 

 464,730; of buckwheat, 8,604,669; of corn, 10,721,- 

 936; of mixed grain, 4,130,481; of potatoes, 12!).- 

 543,389 quintals ; of sugar beet, 84,846,336 ; of other 

 beets, 114,109,034; of colza, 595,441; of flax, 188.- 

 463; of flaxseed, 132,881; of hemp, 243,892; of 

 hemp seed, 97,077 ; of tobacco, 262,480. The vin- 

 tage was 44,044,279 hectolitres, but fell off in is!) 7 

 to 32,351,000 hectolitres. There were 2,84!M5s 

 horses, 569,312 mules and asses, 13,334,631 cattle. 

 21,190,603 sheep, 6,402,370 pigs, and 1,499,005 goals 

 on Jan. 1, 1897. The production of cocoons in is'.ni 

 was 9.318,765 kilogrammes. The value of the min- 

 ing products for 1896 was 345,289,311 francs. Then- 

 were 28,019,893 tons of coal and lignite raised, and 

 3,679,767 of iron, while there were 2.003,800 tons of 

 pig iron, 756,793 of manufactured iron, and 714.-32.') 

 of steel made. The production of sugar in 1896 

 was 593,647 tons. Of alcohol 2,022,000 hectolitres 

 were distilled. 



The total value of the general commerce of 189(> 

 was 4,929,000,000 francs for imports and 4,594,000.- 

 000 francs for exports. The value of the special im- 

 ports was 3,799,000,000 francs, and of the special 

 exports 3,401,000,000 francs. In 1897 the special 

 imports amounted to 4,000,126,000 francs, and ex- 

 ports to 3,401,000,000 francs. The imports of food 

 products in 1896 were 1,007,000,000 francs, and tha 

 exports 652,000,000 francs in value. The imports 

 of raw materials were 2,174,000,000 francs, and ex- 

 ports 836,000,000 francs. The imports of manu- 

 factured goods were 618,000,000 francs, and exports 

 1,913,000,000 francs. The values of the principal 

 imports in the special commerce of 1896 wei 

 follow: Wool, 365,000,000 francs; wine. 293,000,- 

 000 francs; raw silk, 180,000,000 francs; coffee, 

 175,000,000 francs; coal, 174,000,000 francs ; cotton, 

 167,000,000 francs; timber, 150,000,000 francs; oil 

 seeds, 148,000,000 francs ; cereals, 123,000.000 francs; 

 hides and furs, 111,000,000 francs; flax, 62,000,000 

 francs; cattle, 58,000,000 francs; ores, 51,000,000 

 francs; silk goods, 50,000,000 francs; woolen goods, 

 45,000.000 francs; sugar, 44,000,000 francs; cotton 

 goods, 38.000,000 francs. The values of the leading 

 exports were as follow : Woolen goods, 294,000."" HI 

 francs ; silk goods, 247,000,000 francs ; wine. 2 -J2.i ion . 

 000 francs; fancy articles, 161,000,000 francs; ra^ 

 wool and yarn, 145,000,000 francs; cotton goods, 

 131,000,000' francs; linen cloth and garments, !>!- 

 000,000 francs ; raw silk and yarn, 93,000,000 fraix- : 

 metal wares and tools, 85,000.000 francs: lea the- 

 83,000,000 francs; leather goods, 82,000,000 francs 

 cheese and butter, 82,000,000 francs; chemical i 

 nets, 63,000,000 francs: skins and furs, 62,001 1.01 1 

 francs ; spirits, 49,000.000 francs ; sugar, 40,000,000 

 francs. 



Of the general imports in 1896 the value of l..">Hi. 

 000.000 francs came by sea in French ships, am 

 1.965,000,000 francs in foreign ships, making a tola 

 of 3.481,000.000 francs imported by sea. while 1,-11\- 

 000.000 francs represent the trade over the lam 1 

 frontiers. Of the total value of the general e\ 

 3.137.000,000 francs went by sea, 1,694,000,000 fran< 

 being carried in French, and 1,443,000.000 francs in 

 foreign ships, while 1,457,000,000 francs went lj 

 land. 



The imports of precious metals in 1896 were 2<>K- 

 107,602 francs, of which 159,147,520 francs we:-e 

 gold and 106,960,082 francs were silver. The el- 

 ports of coin and bullion were 481,714,245 frui 



