362 



FKANCE. 



kilometres of industrial lines; total length of 

 lines, 28,804 kilometres. 



By the law of June 11, 1842, the work of 

 building railroads was left to companies, su- 

 perintended, and when necessary assisted, by 

 the state. Two classes of lines were distin- 

 guished from each other the one, called the 

 old net-work, consisting of the principal ave- 

 nues of traffic; and the other, the new net- 

 work, of secondary routes of doubtful profita- 

 bleness, constructed for public utility. To the 

 latter 4 per cent, interest and O65 per cent, for 

 a sinking fund were guaranteed. The French 

 railroads are almost entirely in the hands of 

 six great companies the Paris-Mediterranean, 

 owning 4,483 kilometres of the old and 1,543 

 of the new net-work ; the Paris- Orleans, own- 

 ing 2,017 of the old and 2,342 of the new ; the 

 Northern, possessing 1,311 kilometres in the 

 first system and 668 of guaranteed ; the West- 

 ern, with 900 and 2,216 kilometres respect- 

 ively ; the Southern, with 796 and 1,518 ; the 

 Eastern, with 754 and 2,007. Of the 10,315 

 kilometres in the old net-work the remaining 

 54, and the remaining 3,245 out of the 13,539 

 kilometres which constitute the new net-work, 

 belong to other companies. 



Railroad Conventions. The most important 

 transaction of the session, which closed August 

 2d, was the conclusion of the long-deferred con- 

 ventions with the railroad companies. The ar- 

 rangements involve the virtual abandonment 

 of the Freycinet project for nationalization of 

 the whole system of French railroads and its 

 completion by the state. The reasons given for 

 departing from this cherished and already part- 

 ly executed scheme were, that the state of the 

 public finances in the present conditions of the 

 money market would not permit of the neces- 

 sary financial operations and the simultaneous 

 conversion of the public debt on favorable 

 terms. The transfer of the railroads to the 

 Government would require no capital outlay; 

 but the execution of the Freycinet scheme of 

 connecting and strategic roads at the sole cost 

 of the Government would necessitate the rais- 

 ing of new loans. The conventions require 

 the six great companies to construct about 

 9,000 kilometres of new railroads within ten 

 years, about 1,000,000,000 francs of the cost 

 to be borne by the companies, and the remain- 

 ing 750,000,000 or 800,000,000 francs by the 

 Government. The French railroad companies 

 are influential because their enormous capital 

 is in few hands, in those of the magnates of 

 finance, a circumstance which subjects them 

 to jealous popular animosity, and any Govern- 

 ment and Chamber which has dealings with 

 them to suspicion. Notwithstanding the strin- 

 gent control preserved by the Government, 

 they have succeeded in exacting dispropor- 

 tionate rates for the poorest service in Europe. 

 The conventions, while perpetuating the 7110- 

 nopoly, secure an abatement of the grievances. 

 The question of differential tariffs was much dis- 

 cussed, and the proposal of uniform rates finally 



condemned. ^Reductions in freight-rates for the 

 benefit of exporting manufacturers was secured, 

 and also general reductions in freight and pas- 

 senger tariffs, conditional on proportional re- 

 missions in the Government taxes on fast-traf- 

 fic rates. The share of the Government in the 

 profits was also considerably increased by alter- 

 ing the amount of the maximum dividend and 

 the percentage beyond it which accrues to the 

 state. The railroads are guaranteed against 

 concessions for rival parallel lines ; and on the 

 other hand the right of the ultimate acqui- 

 sition of the railroads was preserved for the 

 state. 



The Army. The reorganization of the French 

 army under the law of July 27, 1872, and the 

 supplementary acts of July 24, 1873, March 

 13, 1875, and March, 1882, is nearly com- 

 pleted. Every Frenchman capable of bear- 

 ing arms is required to train in the army, and 

 may be called into service between the age of 

 twenty and that of forty years. Exemption, 

 according to the original intention of the law, 

 was not to be allowed except for physical 

 unfitness. Every Frenchman, on reaching the 

 age of twenty, is enrolled in the active army, 

 in which the period of service is five years, 

 passing then for four years into the reserve of 

 the active army. For the next five years he 

 forms part of the territorial army, and for six 

 years more is enrolled in the reserve of the 

 territorial army. Besides those unfitted by 

 physical infirmity, the eldest sons or grandsons 

 of widows and aged fathers are exempt by law ; 

 pupils in the polytechnic and forestry schools, 

 teachers in the public schools, professors in 

 various institutions, artists who have gained 

 prizes, and ecclesiastics, are exempt under cer- 

 tain conditions ; and all who contribute to the 

 support of families, or are engaged in studies, 

 may be provisionally exempted by municipal 

 councils. One-year volunteers are admitted 

 upon passing an examination and paying 1,500 

 francs toward their clothing and maintenance. 

 At the end of one year's service with the col- 

 ors, all who have become proficient, and can 

 read and write, may receive indefinite leave of 

 absence. The active army and its reserve are 

 drawn from and distributed over all parts of 

 France, while the territorial army is divided 

 into bodies corresponding to the localities 

 from which its recruits are drawn, and the 

 country is divided and subdivided into dis- 

 tricts to which the greater and lesser bodies 

 are attached. 



The infantry are armed with the Gras rifle, 

 an improvement on the Chassepot, with metal 

 cartridges. The cavalry carry carbines. The 

 field-artillery have breech-loading guns in cast- 

 steel of eighty and ninety millimetres 1 caliber. 



The organization at present permits of plac- 

 ing in the field 24 army corps in the first line 

 and 8 in the second line. 



The troops in active service numbered 502,- 

 786 men, with 124,977 horses, in 1883, divided 

 as follows : 



