FRANCE. 



291 



A memorial to Congress asking for additional 

 powers to be conferred on the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission was passed. 



FRANCE, a republic in western Europe, pro- 

 claimed on Sept. 4, 1870, when the Emperor Napo- 

 leon III was deposed. The Constitution of Feb. 

 24, 1875, vests the legislative power in the Cham- 

 ber of Deputies and the Senate, forming together 

 the National Assembly, and the executive power 

 in the President of the republic and the Council 

 of Ministers. The National Assembly, united in 

 Congress, elects the President for the term of 

 seven years, and has authority to revise the Con- 

 stitution, which has been modified by the addi- 

 tional laws of Aug. 2 and Nov. 30, 1875, Dec. 9, 

 1884, and June 16, 1885. The Senate is composed 

 of 300 members, elected in the departments for 

 nine years, one third retiring every three years, 

 by the Senators, Deputies, members of the de- 

 partmental and district councils, and delegates 

 of the communal councils. There were 75 Sena- 

 tors elected by the National Assembly or by the 

 Senate for life, but at the death of one of these 

 the vacancy is filled by the election of a Senator 

 for nine years by one of the departments deter- 

 mined by lot. Of the life Senators there were 

 26 survivors in October, 1897. The Chamber of 

 Deputies is composed of 584 members, one to each 

 arrondissement having less than 100,000 inhabit- 

 ants, or to each electoral district of the more 

 populous arrondissements. The ministers are re- 

 sponsible to the Chamber, and in case of their 

 defeat the President selects a new premier min- 

 ister representing the victorious party or com- 

 bination, who in consultation with the President 

 selects his colleagues. The President can dissolve 

 the Chamber with the consent of the Senate. 



The President of the republic at the beginning 

 of 1899 was Felix Faure, elected on Jan. 17, 1895, 

 as successor of Sadi-Carnot. The ministry formed 

 on Oct. 30, 1898, was composed of the following 

 members: President of the Council and Minister 

 of the Interior, Charles Dupuy; Minister of For- 

 eign Affairs, ThSophile Delcasse ; Minister of 

 War, Charles de Freycinet; Minister of Marine, 

 Fjdouard Simon Lockroy; Minister of Finance, 

 Paul Peytral; Minister of Public Instruction and 

 Worship, Georges Leygues; Minister of Justice, 

 M. Lebret; Minister of Commerce, Industry, and 

 Posts and Telegraphs, Paul Delombre; Minister 

 of Public Works, Camille Krantz; Minister of 

 Agriculture, Albert Viger; Minister of the Colo- 

 nies, Georges Guillain. 



Area and Population. The area of France is 

 204,092 square miles. The population present on 

 March 29, 1896, was 38,517,975, -comprising 37,- 

 490,484 French and 1,027,491 foreigners. The 

 enumeration compared with that of 1891 showed 

 a total increase of 175,027, which was confined 

 to 24 departments, while in 63 there was a de- 

 crease of population. The number of marriages 

 in 1897 was 291,462, compared with 290,171 in 

 1896; of births, 859,107, compared with 865,586; 

 of deaths, 751,019, compared with 771,886; excess 

 of births, 108,088, compared with 93,700. In 1895 

 deaths exceeded births by 17,813, as the birth 

 rate was abnormally low. In 1896 the birth rate 

 was 22.7 per mille and the death rate 20.2; in 

 1897 the birth rate was 22.4 and the death rate 

 19.9. The number of divorces in 1897 was 7,460, 

 compared with 7,051 in 1896 and 6,743 in 1894. 



Finances. The budget estimates for 1899 

 make the total revenue 3,474,837,000 francs, of 

 which 3,420,684,629 francs 'are the general budget 

 of France, including exceptional receipts of 14,- 

 000,000 francs and 62,617,931 francs receipts 

 d'ordre, and 54,152,371 francs are the revenue of 



Algeria. Of the revenue of France 472,181,557 

 francs come from direct taxes, 36,363,527 francs 

 from taxes assimilated to direct taxes, 2,025,176,- 

 450 francs from indirect taxes, (592,903,100 francs 

 from Government monopolies and manufactories, 

 60,865,370 francs from state domains and forests, 

 and 56,576,694 francs from various sources. Of 

 the indirect taxes registration yields 52(5,904,000 

 francs, the stamp duty 179,219,400 francs, the tax 

 on income from personal property 72,078,100 

 francs, the tax on stock-exchange operations 

 5,526,000 francs, import duties 433,272,050 francs, 

 the duty on sugar 186,494,000 francs, and other 

 indirect contributions 621,682,000 francs. The 

 revenue from Government monopolies and fac- 

 tories is made up of 401,563,000 francs from to- 

 bacco, 234,099,400 francs from the _post office, 

 telegraphs, and telephones, 41,305,000 francs from 

 gunpowder and matches, and 15,935,700 francs 

 from railroads, mint, and other establishments. 



The total expenditure for France was estimated 

 for 1899 at 3,400,724,730 francs and Algerian ex- 

 penditure at 73,370,449 francs, making the total 

 budget 3,474,095,179 francs. Of the expenditure 

 for France 1,248,264,165 francs are for the public 

 debt, 13,368,560 francs for the President, Senate, 

 and Chamber of Deputies, 20,149,410 francs for 

 the Ministry of Finance, 35,074,033 francs for the 

 Ministry of Justice, 16,066,800 francs for the 

 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 77,973,912 francs for 

 the Ministry of the Interior, 647,998,109 francs 

 for the Ministry of W T ar, 304,078,400 francs for 

 the Ministry of Marine, 217,405,043 francs for the 

 Ministry of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, 

 43,065,553 francs for the Ministry of Public Wor- 

 ship, 218,006,188 francs for the Ministry of Com- 

 merce, Industry, and Posts and Telegraphs, 85,- 

 957,600 francs for the Ministry of the Colonies, 

 44,512,348 francs for the Ministry of Agriculture, 

 191,438,894 francs for the Ministry of Public 

 Works, 204,921,715 francs for regie and collection 

 of taxes, and 32,444,000 francs for repayments. 

 The capital of the debt on Jan. 1, 1896, was 31,- 

 094,356^,744 francs. The interest charges and an- 

 nuities provided for in the budget for 1899 

 amounted to 1,255,748,884 francs, of which 693,- 

 680,314 francs were for the consolidated debt, 

 326,332,926 francs for interest and amortization 

 of the redeemable debt, and 235,735,644 francs for 

 the floating debt. 



The local revenues collected in all the depart- 

 ments in 1896 amounted to 280,499,000 francs; 

 expenditures, 280,499,908 francs. The debts of 

 the departments made the sum of 751,770,240 

 francs. The ordinary revenues of all the com- 

 munes amounted collectively to 751,770,240 

 francs; expenditures, 718,381,279 francs. The 

 sum of the communal debts reached 3,511,984,252 

 francs. The ordinary receipts for the city of 

 Paris were estimated for 1898 at 298,854,415 

 francs, and the extraordinary receipts at 54,874,- 

 705 francs; total, 353,729,120 francs, which bal- 

 anced the estimated expenditures. The debt of 

 Paris in 1896 was 1,769,000,000 francs. 



The Army. The law of July 27, 1872, made 

 personal military service obligatory on all 

 Frenchmen, who from the age of twenty- one are 

 bound to serve three years in the active army; 

 ten years in the active army reserve, which is 

 twice called out for four weeks of exercises; six 

 years in the territorial army, subject to one call 

 for two weeks; and six years in the territorial 

 reserve, called out once for a single day. A part 

 of the conscripts, chosen by lot, the number being 

 fixed each year by the Minister of War, pass into 

 the reserve after one year of service; also those 

 who are needed for the support of their parents 



