294 



FRANCE. 



cattle, 41,100,000 francs; woolen manufactures, 

 40,000.000 francs; cotton manufactures, 36,300,- 

 000 francs: sugar, 32,100,000 francs. The leading 

 exports and their values in 1897 were: Silk goods, 

 270,900,000 francs; woolen goods, 265,900,000 

 francs; wine, 232,500,000 francs; woolen yarn and 

 raw wool. 172,200.000 francs; small wares, 160,- 

 300,000 francs; cotton goods, 119,300,000 francs; 

 raw silk and yarn. 117,700,000 francs; leather, 

 102.800,000 francs; linen cloth and clothing, 95,- 

 400,000 francs; cheese and butter, 86,000,000 

 francs: hardware and tools, 79,500,000 francs; 

 furs and skins, 77,100,000 francs; chemical prod- 

 ucts. 75,400,000 francs; leather goods, 69,400,000 

 francs: spirits, 51,900,000 francs; refined sugar, 

 45,400,000 francs. 



The special imports of coin and bullion in 1897 

 were 461.845,329 francs, comprising 290,715,386 

 francs of gold and 171,129,943 francs of silver; 

 special exports, 326,698,971 francs, comprising 

 131,862,865 francs of gold and 194,836,106 francs 

 of silver. 



The special trade of 1897 was distributed 

 among the different countries as shown in the 

 following table, giving values in francs: 



The total export and import trade of the 

 principal ports in 1897 was as follows: Mar- 

 seilles, 1,763,000,000 francs; Havre, 1,657,000,000 

 francs; Paris, 740,000,000 francs; Bordeaux, 

 627, 000,000 francs; Dunkerque, 559,000,000 francs; 

 Boulogne, 465,000,000 francs; Calais, 262,000,000 

 francs; Rouen, 217,000,000 francs; Dieppe, 182,- 

 000,000 francs; Tourcoing, 171,000,000 frarics; 

 Cette, 164,000,000 francs. 



Navigation. The total number of vessels en- 

 tered at the ports of France during 1897 was 

 100,277, of 22,499,031 tons, of which 80,005, of 

 11,512,233 tons, were French and 20,272, of 10,- 

 986,798 tons, were foreign. The total number of 

 vessels cleared was 100,897, of 22,807,548 tons, 

 of which 80,473, of 11,857,131 tons, were French 

 and 20,424, of 10,950,417 tons, foreign. The 

 French vessels entered comprised 8,592, of 4,603,- 

 320 tons, engaged in the foreign trade and 71,- 

 413, of 6,908,913 tons, in the coasting trade; of 

 those cleared 9,060, of 4,948,218 tons, were in 

 the foreign trade and 71,413, of 6,908,913 tons, 

 in the coasting trade. 



The French merchant marine on Jan. 1, 1898, 

 numbered 14,352 sailing vessels, of 421,462 tons, 

 and 1,212 steamers, of 499,409 tons. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 length of railroads in operation in 1897 was 23,- 

 167 miles, besides 2,610 miles for local traffic 

 only and 2,234 miles of tramways. 



The number of letters forwarded by the post 

 office in 1896 was 912,438,000, of which 761,605,- 

 0<K) were internal and 150,833,000 international; 

 of registered letters and packets, 43,749,000, of 

 which 41,373,000 were internal and 2,376,000 in- 

 ternational ; of postal cards, 56,628,000, of which 

 S7,000 were internal and 6,741,000 interna- 

 tional: of newspapers, books, and samples, 1,195,- 

 454,000, of which 1,052,975,000 were internal and 



142,479,000 international. The postal and tele- 

 graphic receipts amounted to 229,072,774 francs, 

 and expenses to 180,324,215 francs. The total 

 length of telegraph lines on Jan. 1, 1897, was 

 64,422 miles; length of wire, 208,828 miles. The 

 number of messages in 1896 was 45,708,298, of 

 which 36,968,805 were internal paid messages, 

 5,944,217 international, 1,410,297 in transit, and 

 1,384,979 official. The telegraph service is sup- 

 plemented in Paris by the pneumatic tubes, of 

 which there are 237 miles. 



Dependencies. The French colonies, protec- 

 torates, and spheres of influence, including Al- 

 geria and Tunis, but not the central Soudan 

 conceded to France in the latest Anglo-French 

 African delimitation treaty, have an aggregate 

 area estimated at 3,630,000 square miles, with 

 a population of 53,000,000. Mayotte, with an 

 area of 140 square miles and 11,640 inhabit- 

 ants, and the Comoros, with an area of 620 

 square miles and a population of 53,000 Mus- 

 sulmans, are islands off the east coast of Africa, 

 producing sugar and vanilla, and recently coffee 

 also. Reunion, having an area of 965 square 

 miles and a population of 171,713, has a ruling 

 class of Creole proprietors, represented in the 

 French Chambers by a Senator and 2 Deputies, 

 who cultivate plantations of sugar cane, vanilla, 

 coffee, cacao, and spices, with the aid of Indian 

 coolie and negro labor. There is a railroad 78 

 miles long. The imports were 18,650,000 francs 

 in 1895; exports, 21,734,520 francs. 



In Asia France possesses French India, Annam, 

 Cambodia, Cochin China, and Tonquin and Laos, 

 having an aggregate area of 285,147 square miles 

 and 21,821,910 inhabitants. The Indian posses- 

 sions are towns of Pondicherry, Karical, Shander- 

 nagar, Mahe, and Yanaon, with adjacent dis- 

 tricts, which were left to France by the treaties 

 with England after the Napoleonic wars. There 

 is a governor residing at Pondicherry, and the 

 colony is represented in the French Chambers by 

 a Senator and a Deputy. The total area is about 

 200 square miles and the population 286,913. The 

 budget in 1897 was 1,209,876 francs, exclusive of 

 the expenditure of the French Government, which 

 for 1899 was 296,619 francs. The chief article 

 of export is oil seeds. 



Cochin China, Tonquin, Annam, and Cam- 

 bodia are united under the general control of 

 the Superior Council of Indo-Chma, which fixes 

 the budget of Cochin China and advises as to 

 those of Annam, Tonquin, and Cambodia. The 

 French expenditure for Indo-China in 1899 was 

 20,360,000 francs. The four dependencies form 

 a customs union. The imports into France from 

 Indo-China in 1897 were 23,215,493 francs; ex- 

 ports from France to Indo-China, 38,557,399 

 francs. Cochin China is a French colony repre- 

 sented in the Chamber by a Deputy. It has 

 an area of about 23,000 square miles and a popu- 

 lation estimated in 1897 at 2,034,453. The French 

 population was 4,335. There is a French gar- 

 rison, numbering 1,217 in 1897 : also a native sol- 

 diery consisting of about 2,400 Annaniites. The 

 main crop is rice, of which 10,086,700 piculs were 

 exported in 1897 to China, Java, and Europe. 

 Other products are salt, cotton, hides, fish, isin- 

 glass, pepper,, cardamom seeds, and copra. The 

 total value of exports in 1897 was 3,900,050. 

 The port of Saigon was visited by 497 vessels, 

 of 660,920 tons. There are 51 miles of railroad 

 and 2,276 miles of telegraphs, with 3,840 miles 

 of wire. 



Cambodia is a kingdom, the titular ruler of 

 which, King Norodom, is under French tutelage. 

 The area is 46,000 square miles, with a popula- 



