Shipping and Navigation. The following table shows the navigation at French ports in French : Coasting trade. 52,626 4,693,111 14,421 951,894 8,147 4,674,209 549 96,649 Foreign trade' Total French 60,776 9,367,320 14,970 1,048,543 Total 1888 67,050 5,645,005 8,696 4,770,858 75,746 10,415,863| 22,385 8,712,736 80,962 17.659,229 17,169 1,469,370 98,131 19,128,599 French : Coasting trade. 55,682 5,126,132 13,469 975,139 8,302 4,788,039 484 92,456 Foreign trade' 69,152 6,101,271 8,786 4,880,495 | 77,938 10,981,766| 22,000 7,152,072 83,859 18,663,866 16,079 1,469,972 99,938 20,133,838 Coasting trade. 55,683 5,126,132 13,469 975,139 69,152 6,101,271 Foreign trade 1 7,578 4,495,223 1,856 660,942 Total French Total 1 9,434 5,156,165. 63,261 9.621,355 15,325 1,636,081 78,586 11,257,436, 13,741 4,859,002 8,734 4,443,931 22,475 9,302,933 77,002 14,480,357 24,059 6,080,012 101,061 20,560,369 Inclusive of colonies and maritime fishing. In January 1889 the French mercantile navy consisted of 14,263 sailing vessels of 451,272 tons, and with crews 70,318; 1,015 steamers of 509,801 tons, and crews numbering 13,181. Of the sailing vessels 328 of 39,891 tons were engaged in the European seas, and 428 of 158,280 tons in ocean navigation; of the steamers 232 of 166,699 tons were engaged in European seas, and 189 of 309,123 tons in ocean navigation. The rest were employed in the coasting trade, in port service, or in the fisheries. Of the sailing vessels and steamers 12,803 were under 50 tons. Internal Communications. I. RIVERS, RAILWAYS, ETC. The public roads comprised, in 1888: National roads, 37,706 kilomètres; departmental roads, 29,900 kilomètres; local roads, 602,500 kilomètres. Tramways (1889) 723 kilomètres, ditto in construction 773 kilomètres. Navigable rivers (1888), 8,877 kilomètres; actually navigated, 6,900 kilomètres; canals, 4,790 kilomètres. The navigation on the rivers and canals is on a steady increase, as seen from the following figures of yearly traffic (in millions of metric tons): By a law passed June 11, 1842, the work of constructing railways was left mainly to private companies, superintended, and if necessary assisted in their operations, by the State; which, moreover, also constructs, and partly works, railways on its own account. The French railways grew from 9,086 kilomètres in 1860 to 32,944 kilomètres in July 1889, of which 2,468 kilomètres belonged to the State, besides 2,637 of local interest. The gross receipts, expenditure, and net revenue of the French railways are given in the following table in millions of francs : The number of passengers was 218,400,000 in 1887; the transport of goods, which reached 89,100,000 tons in 1883, was but 78,100,000 tons in 1887. II. POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS. On January 1, 1889, France had 6,932 post-offices (one for each 5,500 inhabitants), besides 88 movable offices, and 58,464 letter-boxes. The number of letters &c. carried appeared as follows in 1887 : Out of the 22,341,000 telegrams transmitted, 3,177,500 were telegram cards or letters transmitted through pneumatic tubes. The total length of the telegraphic lines on January 1, 1889, was 88,047 kilomètres, with 276,527 kilomètres of wires, and 237 kilomètres of pneumatic tubes at Paris. Money and Credit. The total amount of coin put into circulation by France from 1795 till January 1, 1889, has been 8,700,362,770 francs gold, and 5,313,000,000 francs silver. From 11 per cent. (1885) to 16 per cent. (1888) of the gold coin, and about 29 per cent. of the silver coin, which circulate in the country, are of foreign origin. It is estimated that about 6,000,000,000 francs worth of coin, of which one-third is silver, are in actual circulation in the country. The statistics of private banking are too unsatisfactory to be given. The private savings-banks numbered 544 (with 987 branch offices) at the end of 1888, and the number of depositors was 5,364,300, to the value of 2,493,100,000 francs, thus giving an average of 464 francs for each account. The postal savings-banks, introduced in 1881, have 1,127,700 accounts, to the value of 266,800,000 francs (301,000,000 in July 1889), thus showing an average of 237 francs per account. The Bank of France, founded in 1806, has the monopoly of emitting bank notes, and in January 1889 it had in circulation bank notes to the nominal value of 2,829,394,100 francs. The capital of the Bank is esti mated at 182,500,000 francs, but its yearly operations varied of late from 11,600 million francs (1887) to 14,900 millions in 1882 (12,000 million francs in 1888). The cash accounts show cash balances to the amount of from 73,700 million francs in 1888 to 93,500 millions in 1881. The state of the accounts of the Bank for the last ten years is seen from the subjoined table, in millions of francs: The republic of Andorra, which is under the joint suzerainty of France and the Spanish Bishop of Urgel, has an area of 175 square miles and a population of about 6,000. It is governed by a council of twenty-four members elected for four years by four heads of families in each parish. The council elect a first and second syndic to preside; the executive power is vested in the first syndic, while the judicial power is exercised by a civil judge and two vicars or priests. France and the Bishop of Urgel appoint each a vicar and the civil judge alternately. A permanent delegate, moreover, has charge of the interests of France in the republic. Money, Weights, and Measures. The money, weights, and measures of France, and the British equiva• lents, are Diplomatic Representatives. 1. OF FRANCE IN GREAT BRITAIN. Ambassador.-M. William Henry Waddington; accredited Ambassador to Great Britain July 30, 1883. Councillor of Embassy.-J. J. Jusserand. Secretary.-Comte de Florian. Military Attaché.-Count de Pontarice de Nussey. There are French Consular representatives at 2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN FRANCE. Ambassador.-Rt. Hon. the Earl of Lytton, G.C.B., G.C.S.I., Envoy to Portugal 1874-76; Governor-General of India 1876–80. Appointed Ambassador to France November 1, 1887. Secretary.-Edwin H. Egerton, C.B. Military Attaché.-Colonel the Hon. Reginald A. J. Talbot, C.B. Commercial Attaché for Europe (except Russia).—Joseph A. Crowe, C.B. Almanach national. Annuaire officiel de la république française. Paris, 1889. Annuaire de la marine et des colonies. 1889. 8. Paris, 1889. Annuaire statistique de la France. 1889. 8. Paris, 1889. Budget général de l'exercice, 1890. Paris, 1889. Bulletin de statistique du Ministère des Finances. 1889. Bulletin des lois de la république française. 8. Paris, 1889. 1889. Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'Intérieur. Paris, 1889. Compte général de l'administration de la justice civile et commerciale en France pendant l'année 1887. 4. Paris, 1889. Compte général de l'administration de la justice criminelle en France, par le Garde des Sceaux, Ministre de la Justice. 4. Paris, 1889. Correspondence respecting the West African Agreement between Great Britain and France of August 10, 1889. London, 1890. Dénombrement de la population, 1886. Paris, 1887. Documents statistiques réunis par l'administration des douanes sur le commerce de la France. 4. Paris, 1889. Enquête sur la marine marchande. 4. Paris, 1878. La situation financière des communes de France et d'Algérie, précédée d'un tableau indiquant la situation financière des départements. 9me publication. Paris, 1886. Les colonies françaises. Notices illustrées, publiées par ordre du Sous-Sécrétaire d'Etat des Colonies, sous la direction de M. Louis Henrique. Paris, 1889. Ministère des Finances: Comptes généraux de l'administration des finances. Paris, 1889. Ministère de l'Agriculture: Bulletin. Paris, 1889. New Hebrides. Agreement between British and French Governments. London, 1888. |