Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/942

 890 FRANCE : — MADAGASCAR

Protestant and Anglican missions bad 173 (54 female). The outlying tribes are still mostly heathen.

Education is compulsory from 8 to 14 years of age. On January 1, 1918, there were 745 official schools with 76,243 pupils (48,444 boys and 24,206 girls), and 432 private schools, with 43,994 pupils. Children are required to learn the French language. At Antananarivo there is a school of native medicine, an administrative and commercial school, a normal school, and a school of agriculture.

For the administration of French justice there are a Parquet consisting of a Procure,ur-Q6n6ral and other officials, a court of appeal, 4 courts of first instance in the principal towns, and justice of peace courts at 17 centres. For native justice there are tribunals in the districts and provinces, and the natives have the right of appeal from lower to higher tribunals.

Finance.

The local revenue of Madagascar is derived chiefly from direct taxation (including a poll tax and taxes on land, cattle, and houses), from customs and other indirect taxes, from colonial lands, from posts and telegraphs, markets, and miscellaneous sources. The chief branches of expenditure are general administration, public works, the post office, and the public debt. For 1920 the local budget balanced at 68,866,200 francs.

The colony has since 1897 contracted debt to the amount of 4,200,00OZ. at the average yearly rate of interest of 3*02 per cent. The loans were made for the purpose of public works or for the conversion of loans for that purpose.

Defence.

In peace time the troops in Madagascar (including the forces at Diego- Suarez) consist of 2,411 Europeans, and 6,376 natives. The police and militia are maintained on the local budget.

Production and Industry.

In 1896, on the completion of the French occupation of the Island, the Malagasy system of land tenure was modified ; foreigners were permitted to acquire land, and registration of land was begun. Government lands, urban or non-urban, are let or sold to private persons, or to companies for agri- culture, pasturage, or mining. On December 31, 1916, there were 2,634,410 acres of land under cultivation by natives and 257,343 acres by Europeans, Estimated yield of the chief vegetable products for 1918 was rice (701,005 tons), sugar (516 tons), coffee (1,116 tons), manioc (800,700 tons), cotton, cacao, vanilla, (422 tons), tobacco (986 tons) butter beans (19,375 tons), cloves, mulberry trees, and rubber trees. Sericulture is encouraged. The forests abound with many valuable woods, while caoutchouc, gum, resins, and plants for textile, tensing, dyeing, and medicinal purposes abound. The quantity of graphite and caoutchouc exported is at present considerable ; the production of graphite for 1917 was 35,000 metric tons.

Cattle breeding and agriculture are the chief occupations of the natives ; there were on December 31, 1919, 7,277,609 cattle in the island ; 3,086 horses ; 270,690 sheep ; 140,426 goats ; 662 ostriches, and 421,349 pigs.

Silk and cotton weaving are carried on, and the working of metal and the making of panama and other straw hat.s. The preparation of sugar, rice, soap, tapioca, &c. , is being undertaken by Europeans, as well as the canning of meat. There are large meal preserving factories at I'o-anamary (Majunga), Dicgo-Suarez, Tamatave, Antananarivo and Antsirabe.

Of minerals, gold (27,141 ozs. in 1918), iron, copper, lead, silver, zinc,