Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/902

 850 FRANCE

francs, there is, in each arrondissemcnt, a tribunal of first instance ; above these are the Appeal Courts and the Court of Cassation. For commercial cases there are, in 226 towns, Tribunals of Commerce and Councils of experts (prud'hommes). In the towns are police courts.

All Judges are nominated by the President of the Republic. They can be removed only by a decision of the Court of Cassation constituted as the Conseil Supericur of the magistracy.

The French penal institutions consist, first, of Houses of Arrest (3,375 chambres de sureti and dep6ts de sHrcM in 1911). Next come Departmental Prisons, also styled maisons d'arrit, de justice and de correction, where botli persons awaiting trial and those condemned to less than one year's imprison- ment are kept, as also a number of boys and girls transferred from, or going to be transferred to, reformatories. The reformatories are 14 for boys and 7 for

firls, 10 for boys and 3 for girls being public, and 4 for boys and 4 for girls eing private. The Central Prisons (maisons deforce et de correction), where all prisoners condemned to more than one year's imprisonment are kept, provided with large industrial establishments for the work of prisoners, are 9 for men and 2 for women.

All persons condemned to hard labour and many condemned to 'reclusion ' are sent to New Caledonia or Guiana (military and ricidivistes) ; the d£p6t de forcats of St. Martin-de-Re is a deptt for transferred hard-labour convicts.

Pauperism and Relief of Old Age.

In France the poor are assisted partly through public 'bureaux de bien- faisance' and partly by private and ecclesiastical charity. They are partly under the care of the communes and partly of the departments, both of which contribute, and ultimately under the supervision of Government. The funds of the ' bureaux de bienlaisance ' are partly derived from endowments, partly from communal contributions, and partly from public and private charity. In 1913, the bureaux expended 33,648,000 francs and assisted 903,917 persons. Public assistance is rendered to poor or destitute children. At the end of 1913 the institutions for this purpose contained 212,186 children ; the expenditure during the year amounted to 43,432,649 francs. In 1913 the hospitals for the sick, infirm, aged, or infants, numbered 1,722 ; and at the end of the year had 741,705 patients, besides 100,239 aged and infirm inmates ; their expenditure for 1913 amounted to 198,548,406 francs. In the same year 945,043 persons received gratuitous medical assistance at home and 145,500 in hospitals, the expenditure for such purposes amounting to 28,097,418 francs. At the end of 1913 the asylums for imbeciles, national, departmental, and private, had 77,013 patients.

An Act was passed in 1905 for the relief of the aged poor, the infirm, and the permanently incurable, age limit, 70 ; but by the amendment of the Act, April 5, 1910, this was reduced to 65. The same amendment provided for limited help being given to those between the ages of 65 and 70. On December 31, 1913, there were 100,529 such persons in receipt oi the limited assistance, the total expenditure for 1913 having been 8,007,595 francs. The Act of 1910 provided that the cost of the scheme should be borne by the communes, the departments, and the State. The number of persons registered for relief has risen from 511,446 on December 31, 1908, to 599,061 on December 31, 1911, and to 592,530 on December 31, 1913. The cost to the State alone for 1910 was 48,000,000 francs ; for 1911, 49,600,000 francs ; and for 1913, 41,651,057 francs. In addition, contributions ot the depart- ments and communes totalled 46,500,000 francs in 1911, and 50,793,000 francs in 1912 ; but it has to be remembered that the increased expen-