France

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

a country of southwestern Europe. It may be said to occupy the shoulder and neck of Europe, the extension of which into a head forms the peninsula of Spain and Portugal. France has an area of 207,054 square miles, being one-eighteenth of all Europe. It has a coast line of about 1,300 miles on the Atlantic and 456 miles on the Mediterranean. Its Spanish frontier is 419 miles in length. The Belgian, German, Swiss, and Italian frontier is 1,156 miles long. These land frontiers are composed almost entirely of mountain chains traversed by natural passes through which commerce may flow. With the exception of the Rhone, which flows southward into the Mediterranean, the longer rivers of France flow northwestward into the Atlantic. The longest line that can be drawn on French territory runs from the southeast to the northwest, a distance of 670 miles. CHARACTERISTICS. France's surface is greatly diversified. The mountains are low and rolling. Streams are numerous. Over two hundred rivers are navigable. Unlike Switzerland the country is devoid of lakes. There are three well defined climatic regions--regions of wheat, wine, and oils. The northwestern region, including Brittany, has fogs, mist, and a cold summer like that of England. The Mediterranean region has hot, dry summers, suitable to the growth of the fig, the olive, and the citron. The intervening country is a land of vineyards and wheat fields, with abundant rainfall and clear, sunny skies. Nearly half of the people are engaged in agriculture. Nearly half of France is plow land; four-fifths of the remainder is in orchard, vineyard, or meadow; less than one-tenth of the entire area is unproductive. At the death of a landholder his property is divided equally among his children. For this reason there are many small farms under a high state of cultivation. The climate and soil are so varied that the productions of France are the same as those of Europe at large. All the desirable vegetables, fruits, and cereals known are raised. The poultry, horses, cattle, and swine of France are noted for their excellence. For general purposes Norman horses are the most desirable known. They have speed, endurance, and strength. INDUSTRY AND THRIFT. One passing through France is impressed by the apparent contentment and thrift of the inhabitants. Pauperism is not prevalent. There is little emigration. There are many indications of economy. The working people dress within their means. Their holiday garb is more often a clean working suit than an expensive one worn in imitation of the rich. By means of soups seasoned with vegetables, the housewife understands the art of making a piece of meat go as far as possible. France is one of the richest countries in the world but there are few millionaires. The French are a race of small savers. At the close of the Franco-Prussian War , an immense war indemnity of $1,000,000,000 was borrowed from the working people without difficulty. The chief coin is the franc. The twenty franc gold piece is worth somewhat less than five dollars. PRODUCTIONS. As mentioned above, all the cereals, including Indian corn, thrive. Beet sugar is produced in immense quantities. The cultivation and manufacture of tobacco are carried on by the government. Manufactured tobacco is sold in every postoffice. No other dealers are permitted. The business brings in an annual revenue of approximately $80,000,000, about one-half of which may be considered profit. The provinces of Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux are celebrated for their wines. The annual production is almost beyond belief. It amounts to nearly 2,000,000,000 gallons a year. Wine is the national beverage. Normandy is celebrated for its cider. In southern France the leaves of the mulberry tree serve as food for the silkworm. The silk industry of France centers in the city of Lyons. The annual production of silk is valued at $100,000,000. MINERALS. For so rich a country, France is singularly deficient in minerals. There are small coal fields in various parts of the country, but the only coal measures of great importance are situated near the Belgian frontier. Iron is mined chiefly in the same region. Lead is abundant. A little gold has been found in the river beds. Small quantities of zinc, copper, arsenic, and nickel are produced. Alum and common salt are produced in abundance from the lagoons and salt marshes of the coast. France is celebrated for its pottery clays. The porcelains of Sevres, Limoges, and Bayeux are noted. GOVERNMENT. During the first decade of the twentieth century the poulation of France may be placed roughly at 40,000,000. It is increasing slowly. Since the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. France has been a republic. National affairs are intrusted to a national assembly consisting of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The deputies are elected for four years; the senators for nine years. The president of the republic is elected for seven years by a majority vote of the members of the two chambers sitting as a single body. There are eighty-seven departments, corresponding to our counties. The departments are divided into communes, corresponding to our towns or townships. The commune has its own local government elected by universal suffrage. EDUCATION. Elementary instruction is obligatory. Each commune is obliged to maintain public schools. Children are required by law to attend. All religions are equal in the eye of the law. Any sect which numbers 100,000 adherents is entitled to state aid. In 1904 the Roman Catholics were granted 40,000,000 francs; the various Protestant sects, something less than 2,000,000; the Jews, 160,000 francs. COMMERCE. While not primarily a commercial nation, the commerce of France is still very great. There are about 27,000 miles of railroad and about 3,000 miles of canals. There are about 11,000 postoffices with 90,000 miles of telegraph wires. Telephone systems have been built in every direction. About 15,000 sailing vessels and over 1,000 steamers are engaged in coastwise commerce, or in plying between the coasts of France and foreign countries, or between the home country and its colonies. The chief ports named in order of importance are Marseilles, Havre, Dunkirk, Bordeaux, Boulogne, Dieppe, and Calais. DEFENSE. The frontiers of France are defended by over one hundred fortresses, seventeen of which are fortifications of great strength. In addition, Paris, the capital, is surrounded by a ring of over fifty batteries. Young men are required to serve three years in the army, and are subject to be called upon for military service at any time between the ages of twenty and forty-five. The number of men liable to military service is put at 4,350,000. The number under discipline in a time of peace is about half a million. France is regarded as one of the five great powers of Europe. COLONIES. Algeria is an integral part of the French republic. There are important colonial possessions in Farther India. The most important possessions are Cambodia, Cochin China, Tunis, Congo, Madagascar, and Guiana. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area, square miles 207,054 Population (1906) 39,252,245 Paris 2,763,393 Marseilles 517,498 Lyons 472,114 Bordeaux 251,917 Lille 205,602 Toulouse 149,438 St. Etienne 146,788 Nice 134,232 Nantes 133,247 Le Havre 132,430 Rouen 118,459 Nancy 110,570 Rheims 109,859 Toulon 103,549 Amiens 90,920 Limoges 88,597 Brest 85,294 Nimes 80,184 Dijon 74,113 Grenoble 73,022 Orleans 68,614 Tours 67,601 Calais 66,627 Versailles 54,820 Avignon 48,312 Caen 44,442 Number departments (counties) 86 Members of senate 300 Representatives 584 Salary of president $120,000 Number voters (1908) 10,231,000 Annual national expenditure $800,000,000 Valuation of property $45,000,000,000 National indebtedness $6,000,000,000 Acres under plow 75,000,000 Corn, bushels 15,000,000 Wheat, bushels (1906) 219,000,000 Oats, bushels 207,000,000 Buckwheat, bushels 13,000,000 Rye, bushels 48,000,000 Tobacco, pounds 54,000,000 Wine, gallons (1908) 1,320,000,000 Horses 3,165,000 Mules 195,000 Asses 361,000 Cattle 14,000,000 Sheep 17,000,000 Swine 7,000,000 Goats 1,450,000 Potatoes, acres 3,700,000 Value of fisheries $22,000,000 Value of orchard products $40,000,000 Miles of railway 29,000 Number of passengers 460,000,000 Export of silk and silks $110,000,000 Mineral output $127,000,000 Coal mined, tons 36,000,000 Iron ore, tons 9,000,000 Output of pig iron, tons 3,500,000 Quarry products $50,000,000 Deposits in savings banks $1,000,000,000 Depositors 12,700,000 Teachers in public schools 115,000 Pupils enrolled 4,500,000 Number of postoffices 12,600 Letters and postcards 1,443,000,000 See Brittany ; Napoleon; Paris ; Seine ; Silk ; Wine ; Bordeaux ; Boulogne ; Champagne ; Burgundy ; Rouen ; Bourbon ; Huguenot; Normandy; Valois The condition of agriculture brought about by our subdivision of land, and the distance from each other of the morsels belonging to one owner, condemn a man to work such as animals and machines ought to execute, and not only reduce him to the level of a beast, but curse the soil with sterility.--Lafargue. Altho the French laborer is frequently proprietor of the land, and thus adds a little profit to his wages, he does not live as well as the English farm-laborer. He is not so well fed, not so well clothed, and is less comfortably lodged. He eats more bread, but it is generally made of rye with the addition of maize, buckwheat, and even chestnuts. . . . He rarely eats meat. I am acquainted with parts of France where people live on seventy centimes (fourteen cents) a day.--Lavergne. Nor have the results of peasant proprietorship in France been more satisfactory from a financial standpoint. "Proprietors" they may be in name, but few of the peasants hold their land free of mortgage and many of them are heavily indebted besides. They not only cultivate the soil under the most laborious conditions, but they must meet, as best they can, the demands of the State, the usury of the money-lender, and also the fees of the lawyer who fattens alike on the land transfers and on the quarrels and lawsuits.--Pratt. Of the 8,000,000 proprietors in France, 3,000,000 are on the pauper roll, exempt, that is, from personal taxation; while of the remainder, 600,000 proprietors paid contributions to the State amounting to only five centimes each. Getting rid of one order of landlords and their rents, they have subjected themselves to another, tho invisible, order--the mortgagees, and to their heavier and more rigid rents.--Lecouteux.