FRANCE. 



257 



of minerals was 39,884,702 tons, valued at 460,- 

 366,671 francs. The production of coal and lignite 

 was 32,862,712 tons; of iron ore, 4,985,702 tons; 

 of pig iron, 2,578,000 tons; of manufactured iron, 

 834,000 tons; of steel, 1,240,000 tons; of steel rails, 

 1,253,700 tons; of gold, 270 kilograms; of silver, 

 82,105 kilograms; of lead, 15,981 tons; of zinc, 39,- 

 274 tons; of antimony and regulus, 1,499 tons; of 

 salt, 1,193,532 tons; of building-stone, slate, cement, 

 phosphates, and other quarry products, the value 

 of 243,428,986 francs. There were 334 sugar fac- 

 tories in 1901, employing 48,097 persons regularly 

 and 8,370 occasionally. The production in 1901 

 was 1,040,294 tons of refined sugar. The value of 

 codfish landed in 1898 was 15,075,368 francs; of 

 the catch of the home fisheries, 87,116,546 francs. 

 The catch of herring in 1900 was 376,316 quintals; 

 of cod, 639,010 quintals; exports of dried codfish, 

 225,774 quintals. The Government gave 5,538,929 

 francs in premiums for the catch and exportation 

 of fish. 



The foreign commerce of France has been 

 gradually increasing for several years. The total 

 value of the special commerce was 7,893,000,000 

 francs in 1898, 8,671,000,000 francs in 1899, 8,807,- 

 000,000 francs in 1900, and 8,880,000,000 francs in 

 1901. The increase in imports in this period has 

 "been 242,000,000 francs; in exports, 756,000,000 

 francs. The total value of the general imports 

 in 1900 was 5,988,600,000 francs, and of the gen- 

 eral exports 5,521,600,000 francs; that of the 

 special imports was 4,697,800,000 francs, and of the 

 special exports 4,108,700,000 francs. In 1901 the 

 special imports amounted to 4,714,500,000 francs 

 and the special exports to 4,166,200,000 francs. 

 The imports of food substances in 1901 were 802,- 

 000,000 francs in value, and the exports 778,000,- 

 000 francs; the imports of raw materials were 

 3,124,000,000 francs, and the exports 1,091,000,000 

 francs; the imports of manufactured goods were 

 789,000,000 francs, and the exports 2,297,000,000 

 francs. The special imports of wool in 1900 were 

 426,400,000 francs in value; of coal and coke; 

 406,900,000 francs; of raw silk, 248,000,000 francs; 

 of raw cotton, 248,000,000 francs; of oil-seed, 188,- 

 600,000 francs; of lumber and wood, 177,000,000 

 francs; of hides and furs, 161,000,000 francs; of 

 wine, 155,300,000 francs; of cereals, 127,300,000 

 francs; of coffee, 91,800,000 francs; of flax, 82,600,- 

 000 francs ; of ores 80,500,000 francs ; of silk manu- 

 factures, 62,000,000 francs; of cotton manufac- 

 tures, 48,400,000 francs; of woolen manufactures, 

 42,000,000 francs; of colonial sugar, 28,000,000 

 francs; of cattle, 26,400,000 francs. The exports 

 of silk manufactures were 258,100,000 francs in 

 value ; of wine, 227,900,000 francs ; of woolen man- 

 ufactures, 227,200,000 francs; of \voolen yarn and 

 raw wool, 201,700,000 francs; of articles of Paris, 

 185,000,000 francs; of cotton manufactures, 174,- 

 400,000 francs; of linen goods and garments, 136,- 

 100,000 francs; of raw silk and silk yarn, 135,- 

 700,000 francs; of skins and furs, 109,700,000 

 francs ; of chemical products. 88,300,000 francs ; of 

 hardware and tools, 87,200,000 francs; of cheese 

 and butter, 73,800,000 francs; of leather goods, 

 70,800,000 francs; of refined sugar, 57,700,000 

 francs; of spirits, 52,800,000 francs. Of the total 

 imports 4,078,000,000 francs came by sea, 1,673,- 

 000,000 francs of this value in French and 2,405,- 

 000,000 francs in foreign vessels, and by land 

 the value of 1.911,000.000 francs was imported. 

 Of the exports 3,631,000,000 francs in value were 

 shipped by sea, 1,822.000.000 francs of this value 

 in French and 1,809,000.000 in foreign ships, 

 and 1,890,000,000 francs went in land vehicles. 

 The transit trade in 1900 amounted to 958,000,- 

 000 francs. The imports of gold coin and bullion 

 VOL. XLII. 17 A 



in 1900 amounted to 459,110,799 francs, and ex- 

 ports to 125,567,614 francs; imports of silver coin 

 and bullion were 145,839,396 francs; and. exports 

 206,785,529 francs; imports of bronze coins were 

 62,460 francs in amount, and exports 334,780 

 francs; total imports of specie, 605,012,655 francs; 

 total exports of specie, 332,687,923 francs. The 

 values in francs of merchandise imported from 

 and exported to the principal countries in the 

 special commerce of 1900 are given in the follow- 

 ing table: 



The value of 231,000,000 francs was imported 

 from Russia and 154,000,000 francs from British 

 India ; and of the exports of domestic produce and 

 manufacture 211,000,000 francs went to Switzer- 

 land and 38,000,000 francs to Brazil. The value 

 of merchandise imports and exports that passed 

 through Marseilles in the general commerce of 

 1900 was 2,072,000,000 francs; while Havre had 

 a trade of 1,978,000,000 francs; Paris, 876,000,000 

 francs; Dunkirk, 773,000,000 francs; Bordeaux, 

 672,000,000 francs; Boulogne, 430,000.000 francs; 

 Dieppe, 371,000,000 francs; Rousen, 261,000,000 

 francs; Calais, 247,000,000 francs; Belfort, 221,- 

 000,0000 francs; Jeumont, 219,000,000 francs; 

 Tourcoing, 204,000,000 francs. 



Railroads, Posts, and Telegraphs. The 

 railroads in 1900 had a total length of 23,760 

 miles, exclusive of 2,970 miles of local railroads. 

 The Government owned 1,700 miles and has the re- 

 version of the main lines operated by the 6 

 guaranteed companies. The guarantees of 4 of 

 these expire in 1914, and those of the others in 

 1934 and 1935. The cost of construction of 23,- 

 453 miles completed in 1899 was 16,214,000,000 

 francs. The gross earnings in 1899 were 14,213,- 

 750 francs, and in 1900 they were 15,025,500 

 francs. The length of street-railroads on Jan. 1, 

 1901, was 2,319 miles. 



The number of letters that passed through the 

 post-office in France and Algeria in 1899 was 846,- 

 561,000 in the internal and 167,190,000 in inter- 

 national and transit traffic; registered letters, 

 48,518,000 internal and 2,806,000 international 

 and transit; postal cards, 55,149,000 internal and 

 7,545,000 international and transit; newspapers, 

 circulars, samples, etc., 1,218,893,000 internal and 

 183,213,000 international; receipts in 1899 were 

 256,943,270 francs in France and 4,988,426 francs 

 in Algeria. 



The length of telegraph-lines on Jan. 1, 1900, 

 was 90,170 miles, with 330,100 miles of wire. The 

 number of despatches in 1899 was 48,144,151, of 

 which 39,071,518 were internal, 6,379.182 inter- 

 national, 1,122,180 in transit, and 1,571,271 of- 

 ficial. There were 959 telephone systems in 1899, 

 with 10,410 miles of. line and 150,510 miles of 

 wire. The number of conversations in 1899 was 

 164,912,842, and on long-distance lines, having a 

 length of 15,384 miles, with 44,034 miles of wire, 

 the number was 4,774,824 in 1899 and 5,953,543 in 

 1900. 



Last Session before Elections. The minis- 

 try that triumphed over the Nationalist sedition 

 in 1899, obliterated the Dreyfus scandal, sup- 

 pressed political intrigues in the army, and re- 

 stored confidence in the republic, was strong 



