FRANCE. 



295 



tion estimated at 1,500,000, including 250,000 

 Chinese and Annamites and 40,000 Malays. The 

 budget for 1898 was $2,523,000. The products, 

 besides rice, are cotton, betel, tobacco, indigo, 

 pepper, maize, cinnamon, and coffee. Salted fish 

 is also exported. 



Annam has a king, Thanh Thai, and the of- 

 ficials are Annamites, but they are under the 

 control of the French Government, which keeps 

 a garrison in the citadel of Hue, the capital. 

 The area of the protectorate is 81,042 square 

 miles, with a population variously estimated be- 

 tween 2,000,000 and 6,000,000. The chief products 

 are sugar, cinnamon, rice, maize, areca nuts, silk, 

 tobacco, sugar, betel, manioc, bamboo, caout- 

 chouc, drugs, and dyes. The natives weave silken 

 stuffs and "make pottery, and they work the iron, 

 copper, zinc, and gold mines of the country. 



Tonquin was formerly governed through a 

 viceroy of the King of Annam, but has been ad- 

 ministered directly by a French resident since 

 July, 1897. The area is 34,740 square miles, with 

 a population of about 9,000,000, not including the 

 Laos territory formerly claimed by Siam," but 

 annexed by France in 1893, which has an esti- 

 mated area of 110,000 square miles and 270,000 

 inhabitants. Tonquin produces large quantities 

 of rice for export to China. Other products are 

 sugar, silk, cotton, pepper, and tobacco. Copper 

 and iron are mined by the natives and coal by 

 a French company. There are factories for ex- 

 pressing oil from seeds. In the Laos country 

 are tin, lead, gold, and precious stones, and large 

 forests of teak. The soil is rich, producing, rice, 

 cotton, and tobacco, but transportation to the 

 seaboard is difficult, as the island of Khone 

 blocks the Mekong. A railroad, 4 miles long, 

 has been built across the island, and steamboats 

 have been placed in the upper river. The num- 

 ber of vessels entered in 1896 was 1,407, of 461,- 

 454 tons. There is some trade with the Chinese 

 province of Yunnan, to which European goods 

 of the value of 5,000,000 francs were forwarded 

 in 1896, and 3,200,000 francs' worth of native 

 goods were brought back. The railroad from 

 Phulang to Langson, 64 miles, is -being built 

 through to the Chinese frontier at Nacham. The 

 French forces holding Tonquin and Annam num- 

 ber 23,370 men, of whom 14,500 are native 

 soldiers. 



The French colonies in America are Guade- 

 loupe and Martinique (see WEST INDIES), French 

 Guiana, or Cayenne, and St. Pierre and Miquelon. 

 Guiana has an area of 46,850 square miles and a 

 population estimated at 22,714, not including the 

 wild tribes of the mountains. It is a penal col- 

 ony, and the population includes about 4,500 

 convicts and convict settlers. The colony is ad- 

 ministered by a governor, assisted by a council 

 general, and is represented by a Deputy in the 

 French Chamber. The local revenue in 1898 was 

 2,453,261 francs. The expenditure of France in 

 1899 was 6,368,139 francs, of which 4,915,000 

 francs were for the penal establishment. The 

 products are few. The most important one is 

 gold, of which 101,938 ounces were exported in 

 1896. More than half came from the tract about 

 which there has been a dispute between France 

 and Brazil that under a convention signed in 

 April, 1897, at Rio de Janeiro was to be sub- 

 mitted to arbitration. 



St. Pierre and Miquelon are islands off the 

 south coast of Newfoundland, serving as sta- 

 tions for provisioning and refitting the fleet of 

 French cod fishers who visit the banks. St. 

 Pierre, with the smaller islands of the group, has 

 an area of 10 square miles, with about 5,700 



population. The group of which Miquelon is the 

 chief island has an area of 93 square miles and 

 6,250 inhabitants. The imports of both groups 

 in 1895 amounted to 8,165,792 francs; exports, 

 11,188,087 francs, There were entered at St. 

 1'ierre 1,544 vessels, of 47,868 tons, besides French 

 and colonial vessels numbering 1,986, of 116,774 

 tons. The local budget for 1898 was 500,710 

 francs; the expenditure of France for 1899 was 

 290,791 francs. 



In Australasia France possesses the island of 

 New Caledonia and in Oceanica the Society 

 Islands, with Raiatea, Huahine, Bora Bora, and 

 other islands northwest of that group, and in 

 other parts of the ocean the Marquesas, Tuamotu, 

 Garnbier, and Tubuai groups and Rapa. The 

 area of New Caledonia is 6,000 square miles. The 

 population in 1896 was 51,033, of whom 8,364 

 were European civilians, 1,506 military, 10,757 

 French convicts, 3,041 Asiatics, and 27,345 na- 

 tives. The local budget in 1898 was 2,807,955 

 francs; the expenditure of France in 1899 was 

 7,392,361 francs, including 4,425,323 francs for 

 the penal establishment. The Governor is as- 

 sisted by a council general. There are mines of 

 nickel, cobalt, chrome, and coal. In 1897 ores 

 and minerals were exported to the amount of 

 3,900,000 francs. The number of vessels entered 

 at the port of Noumea during 1897 was 127, of 

 134,656 tons; cleared, 157, of 183,091 tons. De- 

 pendencies of New Caledonia are the neighbor- 

 ing Isle of Pines, having an area of 58 square 

 miles; the Loyalty Islands, which have an area 

 of 756 square miles; the Huon Islands; and the 

 more distant Chesterfield and Wallis groups. 



The islands in Oceanica are under the admin- 

 istration of a single governor. Tahiti, the largest 

 island of the Society group, has an area of 412 

 square miles, with a population of 10,287. 

 Moorea, the next in extent, has an area of 50 

 square miles and a population of 1,596. The local 

 budget in 1898 was 1,229,625 francs; the expendi- 

 ture of France in 1899 was 856,080 francs. The 

 exports in 1897 were valued at 3,150,668 francs; 

 imports, 3,800,639 francs. The chief exports are 

 copra, pearl shells, cotton, vanilla, and oranges. 

 The port of Papeete was visited in 1897 by 286 

 vessels, of 29,585 tons. 



The colonial budget for 1898 was 91,000,000 

 francs for 1898 and 86,000,000 francs for 1899, 

 but these figures were largely exceeded. The 

 annual cost of the colonies to the French Gov- 

 ernment has grown to between 110,000,000 and 

 120,000,000 francs on the average. Of the 86,- 

 000,000 francs voted in the regular budget for 

 1899 the military occupation absorbs 66,000,000 

 francs, of which 21,000,000 francs are for Indo- 

 China, 18,500,000 francs for Madagascar, and 

 6,000,000 francs for the French Soudan. The 

 remaining 20,000,000 francs appropriated for civil 

 administration is double what England contrib- 

 utes to the expenses of colonial government. The 

 French officials in the colonies greatly outnum- 

 ber the French colonists in Tonquin and Annam 

 1,396 to 447, in Cochin China 1,966 to 272, in 

 Senegal 521 to 367, in the Ivory Coast colony 

 111 to 52, in the French Congo territories 254 to 

 20. The expense of the colonies has grown from 

 5,000,000 francs in 1820. It was only 32,000,000 

 in 1880, on the eve of the great expeditions in 

 Asia and Africa. In 1890 it exceeded 59,000,000 

 francs, and the acquisition of the Soudan, Da- 

 homey, and Madagascar has nearly doubled this 

 figure. The money cost of the colonies to France 

 since the beginning of the period of expansion 

 in 1881 has been disproportionate to the com- 

 mercial returns. The conquest of Cochin China 



