Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/385

 FRANCE 373 IMPOSTS. COUNTRIES. Value. COUNTRIES. Value. Great Britain 528-3 272-0 232-3 217-6 188-4 133-4 123-2 104-8 102-4 85-0 74-0 64-7 62-6 47-3 45-1 Spanish possessions in America Norway 45-0 41-8 41-1 38-2 87-0 83-0 82-7 29-1 27-0 25-4 24-9 21-7 21-6 20-5 Italy United States China Egypt Uruguay British India Argentine Republic Switzerland Zollvereia Netherlands Hayti Austria Japan Brazil Guadeloupe Peru Algeria Martinique Deep-sea fisheries. . Eng. poss. in Africa Sweden The total value of imports into France from the United States during the year ending June 30, 1873, was $34,212,556; and the exports from France to the United States during the same period amounted to $33,977,524. The ratio of increase of imports and exports since 1855 may be seen from the following figures, representing the average annual general and special commerce, including specie movements, in millions of francs : YEARS. GENERAL COM- MERCE. SPECIAL COM- MERCE. PBECIOTJ8 METALS. Imports. Exports. Imports. Exports. Imports. Exports. 185B-'59. 1860-'64. 1865-'69. 2,421-6 3,057-1 3,934-0 2,616-8 2,361-0 4,003-2 1,732-1 2,298-6 2,983-7 1,894-1 2,402-6 2,991-9 681 565 781 471 529 874 The movement of French shipping during the period from 1867 to 1870 was as follows: YEARS. ENTEBEI> AND CLEABED. Vessels. Tons. 1867 64,486 54,485 53,806 52,733 10,492,000 10,656,000 10,954,000 10,424,000 1868 1869 '. 1870 . Of the aggregate tonnage about 36 per cent, belonged in 1870 to French vessels, against 38 per cent, in 1869. Foremost among the coun- tries with which France had maritime rela- tions in 1870 were England (3,940,025 tons), Italy (922,718), Algeria (632,602), Russia (526,- 892), United States (524,538), Turkey (419,- 866), and Germany (315,364). The strength of the French mercantile navy, exclusive of small fishing vessels, was on Jan. 1, 1870, as follows : CLASSES. Vessels. Tons. Sailing vessels 15324 931714 Steamers 454 142942 Total 15778 1 074 656 In that year 3,681 vessels (including 240 steam- ers) of 269,283 tons belonged to ports of the Mediterranean, and 12,097vessels (214 steamers) of 805,373 tons to ports on the Atlantic. The merchant marine has increased since 1857 by 3,000 vessels, with a gain in capacity of about 180,000 tons. The coast fisheries in 1871 em- ployed 17,998 boats, with 60,635 men. About 30 per cent, of the foreign trade is carried on by land. The coasting trade of France is very large. There are 242 ports, the principal of which, in the order of their importance in this branch of commerce, are Marseilles, Havre, Bordeaux, Rouen, Aries, Honfleur, Rochefort, Dunkirk, Cette, and Libourne. France has an excellent and extended system of railways. Paris is the central starting point of these roads, which, running in every direction, place the metropolis in direct communication with nearly all parts of the country. They may be divided into the following great lines, each of them sending off numerous branches : 1, the Northern railway, leading to the N. E. frontier, where it connects with the Belgian roads ; 2, the Eastern or Strasburg, by Meaux, Chalons- sur-Marne, and Nancy, to the banks of the Rhine ; 3, the Southeastern or Mediterranean, passing through Fontainebleau, Dijon, Lyons, and Avignon, to Marseilles; 4, the Orleans, which branches at Orleans into the Central railway, which runs in a S. direction, and the Southwestern or Bordeaux, which first follows the Loire, then runs from Tours to Bordeaux, and terminates at Bayonne, connecting with the Spanish lines ; 5, the Western, connecting the metropolis with the seaport of Brest, through Versailles, Le Mans, and Rennes ; 6, the Northwestern or Havre, traversing the valley of the Seine. Two other lines of great importance start from Bordeaux: one, the Southern, connects this city with the Mediter- ranean at Cette; the other gives direct com- munication between Bordeaux and Lyons, un- der the name of the Great Central. The aggre- gate length of railways in operation in Septem- ber, 1872, was 10,612 m. The aggregate length of telegraph lines at the beginning of 1870 (in- clusive of Alsace and Lorraine) was 26,282 m. ; of wires, 71,930 m. France is well provided with highways, which are divided into na- tional, military, departmental, communal, and vicinal roads, the cost of each class being re- spectively defrayed by the government, the departments, or the communes to which they belong. The first class of these thoroughfares, about 200 in number with an aggregate extent of upward of 20,000 m., are wide highways, paved or macadamized, and bordered with fine trees ; the departmental roads are tolerably good, but the communal are indifferent, and too often out of repair, as they are not like the others under the charge of civil engineers appointed by the government. The canals, 79 in number, have an aggregate length of about 3,000 in. ; among the principal are : the Southern canal (canal du Midi), which runs from Cette to Toulouse, where it joins the Garonne, and thus connects the Mediterranean with the Atlantic ; the canal of Burgundy, between the Tonne