FRANCHISE 



2309 



FRANCIS 



FRANCHISE, /ran' chize, a particular privi- 

 lege of a public nature granted by the govern- 

 ment of a state or city to individuals, associa- 

 tions or corporations, which does not belong 

 to the citizens generally as a common right. 

 A franchise may grant the right to a special 

 use of public property, such as streets for 

 electric cars, or the right to take needed pri- 

 vate property, with compensation. All public 

 service companies which are granted franchises 

 must render service to all persons desiring it, 

 on equal terms, without discrimination and for 

 reasonable compensation. If this were not so, 

 companies existing by the grant of public 

 franchises, engaged in supplying the great con- 

 veniences of life, such as water, gas, electric 

 lights, street cars, etc., could impose hard- 

 ships upon the public. A franchise or corpora- 

 tion will not be allowed to allege as an excuse 

 for failure to perform any duty required of it 

 that it would be unprofitable. It cannot keep 

 its franchise and refuse to perform its duties. 



Each state or province decrees by statute 

 the general terms upon which franchises may 

 be granted, then local bodies, such as city 

 boards of aldermen or county commissioners, 

 issue the necessary permits. In years not long 

 past it was customary to grant franchises for 

 terms of fifty or seventy-five years, or even 

 in perpetuity. People of to-day have learned 

 that the best means of securing from public 

 service corporations acceptable service is to 

 grant privileges for no longer than twenty to 

 thirty years. When a company must seek 

 frequent renewal of its privileges it is quite 

 likely to render the best possible service. Fre- 

 quently in return for the privileges granted it, 

 the company is made to pay to the municipal- 

 ity a portion of its net earnings. 



FRAN 'CIS, the name borne by two of the 

 French kings near the beginning of the period 

 of modern history. 



Francis I (1494-1547) came to the throne in 

 1515 on the death of his father-in-law, Louis 

 XII. During the greater part of his reign 

 he was engaged in a bitter struggle with Em- 

 peror Charles V of Germany, whose election 

 to the imperial dignity (see HOLY ROMAN EM- 

 PIRE) had been a source of great disappoint- 

 ment to the French king. Before beginning 

 the war Francis invited Henry VIII of Eng- 

 land to a conference, hoping to secure the 

 latter as an ally, and the two kings, each at- 

 tended by a magnificent train of nobles, met 

 in 1520 on the famous Field of the Cloth of 

 Gold (which see). 



The conflict between Francis and Charles, 

 which began in 1521 and ended with the Treaty 

 of Crespy in 1544, resulted in no decisive 

 advantage to either side. Its most striking 

 features were the crushing defeat of Francis 

 at Pavia, Italy, in 1525, where he was taken 

 prisoner, the sack of Rome by an imperial 

 army in 1527, and the French king's alliance 

 with the sultan of Turkey. The most com- 

 mendable feature of his reign was his patron- 

 age of art and learning. 



Francis II (1544-1560), son of Henry II and 

 Catharine de' Medici (which see), came to 

 the throne in 1559. During his short reign of 

 one year the government was in the hands 

 of the uncles of his wife, who was Mary Queen 

 of Scots. He was succeeded by his brother, 

 Charles IX. 



FRANCIS, the name of two sovereigns who 

 have borne the title Holy Roman Emperor 

 (see HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE). 



Francis I (1708-1765) was crowned Holy 

 Roman Emperor in 1745, nine years after his 

 marriage to Maria Theresa of Austria, the 

 only daughter and heiress of Emperor Charles 

 VI (see MARIA THERESA). On the death of 

 Charles, in 1740, Maria named her husband 

 coregent with herself, but she kept in her 

 own hands the actual management of the king- 

 dom. To Maria also fell the burden of carry- 

 ing on the Seven Years' War (which see), 

 which broke out between Austria and Prussia 

 in 1756. Joseph, son of Francis and Maria, suc- 

 ceeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor in 

 1765. 



Francis II (1768-1835) was the last ruler to 

 bear the title Holy Roman Emperor. He suc- 

 ceeded to the hereditary dominions of Austria 

 in 1792, and later in the same year was elected 

 Holy Roman Emperor. At this time Prussia 

 and Austria were leagued together against the 

 new republic of France, born of the French 

 Revolution, and hostilities were continued until 

 1797, when, by the Treaty of Campo Formio, 

 Francis was forced to cede Belgium and Lom- 

 bardy to France. Two years later he entered 

 into an alliance with Russia and England, hop- 

 ing to check the ambitious designs of Napo- 

 leon, but the new war was most disastrous for 

 Austria. 



In 1804 Francis assumed the title "Emperor 

 of Austria," and the following year made 

 another alliance with Russia. The combined 

 Russian and Austrian armies were hopelessly 

 defeated by Napoleon at Austerlitz (1805), and 

 the Holy Roman Empire, after an existence 



