Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

almost inaccessible. It can be entered only by the Me-kong, which is barred at Khone by rapids. A railway, four miles in length, has been constructed across that island, and by means of it several steam launches have been transported to the upper waters, where they now ply. A telegraph line connects Hué in Annam with the towns on the Me-Kong, and these with Saigon. The cost of the Laos administration is borne by Cochin-China (to the extent of six-thirteenths), Tonkin and Annam (fivethirteenths), and Cambodia (two-thirteenths). The Laos local revenue and expenditure for 1904 were estimated at 883,700 dollars.

Books of Reference on French Asia.

Indo-Chine Française. Rapport Général sur les Statistiques des Douanes Annual. Hanoi. Notice sur le Laos français [official]. Hanoï, 1900.

Aymonier (E.), Le Cambodge. 3 vols. Paris, 1900-04.

Barral (Joleaud), La Colo.isation française au Tonkin et en Annam. Paris, 1899.
Barthélemy (Comte de), En Indo-Chine. Paris, 1899.

Bernard (F.), Indo-Chine. Paris, 1901.

Billet (A.), Deux Ans dans le Haut Tonkin. Paris, 1898.

Boell (P.), L'Inde et le Problème Indien. Paris, 1901.

Boisset (Th.), A travers le Tonkin pendant la Guerre. 12. Paris, 1892.

Bonhoure (E.), l'Indo-Chine. Paris, 1900.

Chailley-Bert (J.), La Colonisation de l'Indo-Chine. 12. Paris, 1892. [English Translation. London, 1894.]

Coussoet (A.) and Ruel (E.), Douze Mois chez les Sauvages du Laos. Paris, 1898.
Cunningham (A.), The French in Tonkin and South China. London, 1902.

Denjoy (P.), Indo-Chine française. 8. Paris, 1894.

Destelan (Picard), Annain et Tonkin: Notes de Voyage. 8. Paris, 1892.

Doumer (Paul), L'Indo-Chine Française (Souvenir). Paris, 1904.

Dupuis (J.), Le Tong-kin et l'Intervention française. Paris, 1897.

Fosses (Castonnet des), L'Inde Française au XVIII Siècle. Paris.

Gallois (E), A travers les Indes. Paris, 1899.-La France d'Asie. Paris, 1900.
Gioi (M.), Deux Années de Lutte. 12. Paris, 1892.

Gosselin (Capt.), Le Laos et le Protectorat français. Paris, 1900.- L'Empire d'Annam. Paris, 1904.

Haurigot (G.), Les Etablissements français dans l'Inde et en Océanie. 8. Paris, 1891. Hocquard (C. E.), Une Campagne au Tonquin. 8. Paris, 1892.

Jammes (H. L.), Au Pays Annamite. Paris, 1898.-Souvenirs du Pays d'Annam. Paris, 1899.

Lagrillière-Beauclerc (Eug.), A travers l'Indo-Chine, Cochinchine, Camboge, Annam, Tonkin, Laos. Paris, 1900.

Leclère (A.), Recherches sur la législation cambodienne: droit privé. Paris, 1890; droit public, Paris, 1894; législation criminelle, Paris, 1894.-Cambodge, Contes et légendes. Paris, 1895.

Lefèvre (E.), Un Voyage au Laos. Paris, 1898.

Liraye (M. le G. de la), L'Empire d'Annam et le Peuple Annamite. S. Paris, 1889. Madrolle (C.), Indo-Chine, Indes, Siam (Guide-books). Paris, 1902.

Mesny (Gen. W.), Tungking. 8. London, 1884.

Mission Pavie Indo-Chine, 1879-95. Etude Diverse. Paris, 1899.

Mouhot (A. H.), Voyage dans les Royaumes de Siam, de Cambodge, du Laos, &c. Paris, 1868. Travels in the central parts of Indo-China, Cambodia, and Laos during 1858-60. 2 vols.

8. London, 1864.

Neton (A.), L'Indo-Chine et son Avenir Economique. Paris, 1903.

Nicolas (P.), Le Vie française Cochinchine. Paris, 1900.

Norman (C. B.), Tonkin, or France in the Far East. 8. London, 1884. Peoples and Politics of the Far East. London, 1895.

Orléans (Prince H. d'), Autour du Tonkin. Paris, 1896.--Du Tonkin aux Indes, Paris. 1897. [Eng. Trans. by H. Bent]. London, 1897.

Pavie (A.), Mission Pavie Indo-Chine, 1879-95. Géographie et Voyages. Paris, 1901. Picanon (E.), Le Laos Français. Paris, 1900.

Reclus (E.), Nouvelle Géographie Universelle. Vol. VIII, Paris, 1883.

Reinach (L. de), Le Laos. 2 vols. Paris, 1901.

Verschuur (G.), Aux Colonies d'Asie et dans l'Ocean Indien. Paris, 1900.

AFRICA.

ALGERIA.

(L'ALGÉRIE.)

Government.

The government and administration of Algeria are centralised at Algiers under the authority of the Governor-General who represents the Government of the Republic throughout Algerian territory. With the exception of the non-Mussulman services of Justice, Public Instruction, Worship, and the Treasury, which are under competent ministers, all the services are under his direction. Since the enactment of the law of December 19, 1900, he has to prepare a special budget for Algeria; he grants concessions for works, and he contracts loans in the name of the Colony.

The budget of Algeria which, since 1901, has been entirely distinct from that of France, comprises under revenue the imposts of every sort which are collected within the Colony and under expenditure the whole of the civil disbursements. The expenditure on War and Marine is still at the cost of the mother country, as is also the burden of guarantees of interest on railways up to 1926. The budget, prepared by the Governor under the control of the Minister of the Interior, is discussed and voted by the Financial Delegations and the Superior Council. These Delegations were instituted in 1878 to enable the body of tax-payers to state their views on questions of imposts by means of elected delegates. There are three Delegations representing respectively the French colonists, the French tax-payers other than colonists, and the Mussulman natives. The Superior Council is composed of elected members and of high officials. Lastly, the Governor is assisted in the exercise of his functions by a purely consultative council of government.

The French Chambers have alone the right of legislating for Algeria, while such matters as do not come within the legislative power are regulated by decree of the President of the Republic. Each department sends one senator and two deputies to the National Assembly.

Under a law of December 24, 1902, the Algerian Territories of the South' are being constituted under a separate administration. The GovernorGeneral will represent the Territories in civil affairs; the budget will be distinct from that of Algeria; an annual subvention will be provided in the French budget; but administrative and financial details are not yet published. Governor-General.-M. Jonnart, appointed in 1903.

Area and Population.

The colony is divided officially into three departments, consisting as a whole of the 'Territoire civil,' and a 'Territoire de commandement.' There are 17 arrondissements and 352 communes. Within the civil territory there are communes with full rights (like communes in France) and also mixed communes; within the military territories, mixed and native communes. Both mixed and native communes are vast circumscriptions with a dominant native population, administered, in civil territory, by a civil administrator, and in military territory, by a superior commandant. The following table gives the area of each of the three departments of Algeria, according to the census of March 24, 1901 :

[blocks in formation]

The total population in 1891 was 4, 124,732, in 1896, 4,429,421. In 1901, the native population numbered 4,072,080; French, 292,464; naturalised foreigners, 71,793; naturalised Jews and their offspring, 57,132; Tunisians, 2,394; Moroccans, 23,872; Spaniards, 155,265; Italians, 38,791; other foreigners, 25,531. Of the census population present in 1901, 2,323,968 were males, and 2,070,051 were females.

The following statistics of movement of population are given for 1902, but, as regards the Mussulman population of the territoire de commandement,' the numbers are only approximate :

[blocks in formation]

The still births (included in the births and deaths) numbered 1,726, of which 569 were European, 81 Jewish, and 1,076 Mussulman.

The area of the Algerian Sahara effectively occupied is estimated at about 193,000 sq. miles, including the zones in the south-west occupied in 1900, with a population of about 62,000.

The population of the city of Algiers in 1901 was 96,542 (with suburbs, 138,708); Oran, 87 801; Constantine, 41,138; Bône, 32,288; Tlemçen, 22,273; Mostaganem, 17,485; Mascara, 18,405; Philippeville, 14.843; Sibi-bel-Abbès, 24, 265; Blida, 16,198.

Religion and Instruction.

The native population is entirely Mussulman, the Jews being now regarded as French citizens. The Roman Catholic Church has an archbishop and 2 bishops, with 386 officiating clergymen. There are 21 Protestant pastors and 7 Jewish rabbis sharing in Government grants. The grants for religious purposes provided for in the budget of 1903 were: to Catholics 829,700 francs, Protestants 97,600 francs, Jews 28,970 francs, Mussulmans 421,175 francs ; total 1,377,445 francs.

At Algiers (city) there is an institution for higher instruction attended in 1902 by 890 students (352 for Law, 139 Medicine and Pharmacy, 64 Science, 335 Letters). There are higher Mussulman schools (medersas) at Algiers,

Tlemçen, and Constantine, where 146 pupils are prepared for native employments. In Algeria there are 22 establishments for secondary instruction with (1902) 4,826 pupils (3,981 boys and 845 girls). Primary schools are either French, French-Arab, or Arab. In 1902 the total number, public and private, was 1,414 with 3,141 teachers and 142,121 pupils (61,024 French, 15,229 Jewish, 40,239 foreign, and 25,629 Mussulman). For 1904 the estimates for public instruction amount to 5,691,603 francs.

Crime.

There is an Appeal Court at Algiers, and in the arrondissements are 16 courts of first instance. There are also commercial courts and justices of the peace with extensive powers. Criminal justice is organised as in France for Europeans. Since 1902 there have been criminal courts and special repressive tribunals for trying natives accused of crime. In 1901 there were 8,402 offences against the person, of which 1,422 were committed by natives against Europeans, and 12,178 offences against property, of which 4,292 were committed by natives against Europeans.

Mussulman justice is administered to natives by the Cadis in the first instance with an appeal to French courts. For the year 1904 the expenditure on Mussulman justice was estimated at 98,387 francs, the native magistrates receive premiums for knowledge of French. For the maintenance of order there are 1,271 gendarmes, 74 police commissaires, 814 police agents, 329 maires, 2,603 police officials of various kinds, and 1,061 custom-house officers.

Finance.

The receipts of the Government are derived chiefly from direct taxes, customs, and monopolies. The natives pay only direct taxes. The departments of War and Marine are excluded from the estimates, but the proceeds of the military tax, the Government monopolies, and some other revenues are paid to France. The estimated revenue and expenditure for 1904 were, respectively, 65,097,532 and 65,053,066 francs, including 10,000,000 francs received from a loan, and extraordinary expenditure to the same amount. The total expenditure (including military and extraordinary disbursements), however, exceeds the Algerian revenue by about 75,000,000 francs. ordinary revenue and expenditure are given as follows:

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

The

Francs. 8,436,062

5,753,086

Worship, instruction

[ocr errors][merged small]

Monopolies.

5,840,585

Tax-collecting, &c.

6,564,787

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

Receipts d'ordre

3,176,750

Agriculture, forests

3,699,364

Loan.

10,000,000

Posts and Telegraphs.

6,649,704

[blocks in formation]

For the Southern Territories in 1904 the revenue was put at 2,362,074

franes, and the expenditure at 3,326,476 franes.

In 1902 a loan of 50,000,000 francs for railways and other public works was authorised.

The revenues of the departments in 1902 amounted to 24,213,684 francs, and their expenditure to 20,349,865 francs. Their debt on January 1, 1902, amounted to 43,260,500 francs, besides 76,890,872 francs, the capitalised value of annuities. Of the 352 communes of Algeria the revenue for 1902 was 40,674,018 francs, and the expenditure, 39,609,669 francs; at the end of 1902 the communal debt amounted to 66,933,408 francs, besides 118,703,809 in annuities.

Defence.

The military force in Algeria constitutes the 19th Army Corps. It consists of the following troops :-3 regiments of zouaves, 3 regiments of tirailleurs, 2 foreign legions, 3 battalions of light infantry, 3 discipline companies, 5 regiments of chasseurs d'Afrique, 3 regiments of Spahis, 3 companies of remount cavalry, 12 batteries of artillery, 3 companies of engineers, 9 companies of train, and 1 staff and recruiting section. There is also a territorial army reserve, consisting of 10 battalions of zouaves, 3 squadrons of cavalry, and 10 batteries of artillery. Another body of troops is being formed for the defence of the extreme south. The budget estimates for 1905 provide that the Algerian military force consist of 56,003 men (including 2,134 officers) and 12,609 horses. [See under FRANCE.]

Agriculture and Industry.

Part of the land of Algeria is held undivided by Arab tribes by the tenure called 'arch' or 'sabega.' Freehold property, 'melk,' is more common. Most of the State lands have, under various systems, been appropriated to colonists. The population engaged in agriculture in 1902 was 3,419,811; 189,164 being Europeans. About 3,170,572 hectares are cultivated, of which 2,840,704 hectares are under cereals (soft and hard wheat, barley, maize, beans, and dari).

In 1902, 160,792 hectares of vines yielded 3,666,111 hectolitres of wine. There are 27,887 vine-planters, of whom about 17,854 are European. Tobacco is grown on 6,606 hectares, yielding 75,553 quintals. There are 6 millions of grafted olive trees, and 4 millions susceptible of being grafted. Marketgardening (potatoes, haricots, pease, artichokes, tomatoes, table-grapes) is increasing in importance, as is the cultivation of fruit trees, notably the fig (4 million trees), the orange, mandarine, lemon (1 million trees). In the oases of the Algerian Sahara there are 2,600,000 date palms. Forests cover 2,816,000 hectares, of which 2,145,000 hectares belong to the State, and 671,000 hestares to communes and private owners. The greater part is mere brushwood, but on 426,000 hectares are cork-oak trees, from which (1901) 58,000 quintals of cork (value 1,950,000 francs) were obtained. The dwarf-palm and alfa are worked on the steppes.

In 1902 there were in Algeria 324,700 horses, 440,100 mules, and asses, 189,200 camels, 1,073,800 cattle, 8,724,700 sheep, 4,256,800 goats, and 78,200 pigs. Of the animal stock about 93 per cent. belong to

natives.

In 1903, 35 mines (out of 75 concessions) were worked for iron, zinc, silver, lead, mercury, copper, antimony, and coal. The quantity of iron ore extracted (1903) was 204,526 metric tons, valued at 1,771,161 francs; of lead and silver ore 499 tons, valued at 29,995 francs; of zinc ore, 43,313 tons, valued at 3,030,609 francs; of copper ore, 100 tons, valued at

« ForrigeFortsæt »