salt, 967,531 tons. In 1903 the output of quarries (for building stone, slate, cement, phosphates, &c.), amounted to the value of 233,832,383 francs.

III. MANUFACTURES.

The number of industrial establishments (grouped according to their various classes) using steam or hydraulic-power in 1898-99, and the horsepower used by each group are given as follows:

Textile Industries.-In 1896 the numbers of factories for silk, cotton, woollen, and other manufactures were: silk, for unwinding cocoons, 221 with 10,468 pans; carding and combing, 37 with 692 machines; throwing, 708 with 1,624,530 spindles, &c.; for spinning, 19 with 150,000 spindles; for weaving, 745 with 28,270 power looms and 39,165 hand-looms; cotton, for carding, &c., 46 with 186 machines; for spinning 275 with 4,024,811 spindles; wool, for carding 229 with 351 machines; for spinning, 837 with 3,173,274 spindles; for carpet weaving, 82 with 5,593 looms; for other woollen goods, 1,043 with 11,714 power looms and 16,604 hand looms; for various manufactures of cotton, flax or hemp, 2,112 factories, and for mixed tissues, 990 factories; for spinning hemp, flax, or jute, &c., 103 factories.

The values of the yearly imports and exports of woollens and silks in millions of francs are seen from the subjoined table :

Sugar.-In 1903-04 there were 292 sugar works, employing regularly 38,116 men, 2,516 women, and 1,955 children, with occasionally about 7,300 other workpeople. The yield of sugar during the last 12 years (expressed in thousands of kilogrammes of refined sugar) was :—

In 1901, 2,437,964 hectolitres of alcohol were produced; in 1902, 1,886,754 hectolitres; in 1903, 2,047,040 hectolitres.

IV. FISHERIES.

In 1900 the number of boats engaged in the French (including Algerian) home fishing was 25,385 of 122,571 tons; the number of men employed was 84,979 in boats and 61,979 on foot. In 1903 551 vessels of a total tonnage of 61,402 tons, with crews numbering 10,096, were engaged in the cod fisheries; they imported into France 43,500 metric tons of cod, wet and dry, besides 2,974 tons of other fishery products. In the herring fishery 142 vessels of 11,796 tons, with crews numbering 2,984, landed 26,066 metric tons of herring salted, and 521 boats of 14,548 tons, with crews numbering 4,916, landed 22,380 metric tons of fresh herring.

Commerce.

In French statistics General Trade includes all goods entering or leaving France, while Special Trade includes only imports for home use and exports of French origin.

The Commission Permanente des Valeurs annually determines the values (called actual values) which represent the average prices of the different articles in the Customs list during the year. The values fixed at the end of one year and applied to that year retrospectively, are applied also during the following year, at the end of which the provisional results thus obtained are revised according to new values definitely fixed by the Com-. mission. Thus each year there are published first the provisional and later the definitive commercial statistics. The customs entries show the country of origin of imports and that of ultimate destination of exports. For four years the actual values, and for 1904 the provisional values, were:-

The chief subdivisions of the special trade were :—

The chief articles of import and export (special trade) were in millions of francs

The chief imports for home use and exports of home goods are to and from the following countries, in millions of francs :

According to value of the general imports and exports, their distribution appears from the following, in millions of francs :

The share of the principal French ports in the general trade (1903) was as follows-imports and exports combined-in millions of francs :

The imports and exports (special trade) of gold and silver coin and bullion and of bronze coin were as follows in 1903 :

The value in transit in 1901 was 670 million francs; in 1902, 746; in 1903, 718.

The import duties levied in 1901 amounted to 383,317,136 francs; in 1902, to 381,136,169; in 1903, 458,901,414. Including shipping and other dues, the total payments into the custom houses in the three years were, respectively. 428,782,928, 425,409,310, and 597,390,455 francs.

The treaty of 1826 provides for the most favoured nation treatment' between the United Kingdom and France in matters of navigation, and that of 1882 (which includes Algeria), in matters of commerce, customs duties, &c. ; in 1897 the treaties in force between the United Kingdom and France were extended to include Tunis.

The French customs duties are nearly all specific, and the tariff is so elaborately detailed that no adequate summary can be given here. The articles admitted duty-free include books, maps, &c. ; scientific instruments; some chemicals (arsenic, nitrates direct from country of origin, crude sulphur, Epsom salts); rough wool and hair; tallow direct from country of origin; bitumen, coal-tar, common stones (including millstones), and a few other imports. The subjoined statement shows, according to the Board of Trade returns,

S S

the value of the imports into the United Kingdom from France, and of the do. mestic exports from the United Kingdom to France, in the years indicated :

Imports into U.K. from France

51,396,793 53,000,788 53,618,656 51,213,424 50,642,928 49,347,184 Exports of British produce to France 13,706,246 15,283,079 19,977,912 16,472,068 15,587,300 15,800,011

The total exports to France from the United Kingdom amounted to 22,277,0127. in 1899; 25,877,4537. in 1900; 23,700,8207. in 1901; 22,275,7217. in 1902; 23,146,7307. in 1903.

The following table gives the declared value, in pounds sterling, of the staple articles imported into the United Kingdom from France in each of the last four years :

The total quantity of wine imported into the United Kingdom from France in 1903 was 5,102,088 gallons, being 34 per cent. of the total quantity of wine imported into the United Kingdom, while the value was 56 per cent. of the value of the total imports of wine.

The following table exhibits the value of the principal articles of British produce exported from the United Kingdom to France in each of the last four years:-.