540
FRANCE
1896 amounted to 229,072,774 francs, and expenditure to 180,324,215 francs. The number of letters, &c., carried in France and Algeria in 1896 was : —
—
Internal
International and Transit
(1,000's)
150,833
2,376
6,741
142,479
Total
Letters .... Registered letters, &c. Post-cards .... Printed matter, samples, &c.
Total ....
(1,000's)
761,605
41,373
49,887
1,052,975
(1,000's)
912,438
43,749
56,628
1,195,454
1,905,840
302,429
2,208,269
The total length of the telegraphic lines on January 1, 1897, was 64,422 miles, with 208,828 miles of wire. There were 11,769 telegraph offices, and in 1896 there were despatched 45,708,298 telegrams, of which 36,968,805 were internal, 5,944,217 international, 1,410,297 in transit, and 1,384,979 were official. There are 237 miles of pneumatic tubes in Paris.
Money and Credit.
The total value of the coin minted in France from the commencement of the existing mints has been : Gold (1803-1897), 9,334,161,500 francs ; silver, 5-franc pieces (1795-1878), 5,060,606,240 francs ; fractional silver (1803-1897), 486,112,885 francs ; bronze (1852-1897), 68,278,522 francs. Total, 14,949,159,147 francs. No 5-franc pieces have been coined since 1878.
The nominal value of the money coined in France during five years has been : —
Year
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Total
1893 1894 1895 1896 1897
Francs
50,943,360
9,831,060
108,006,930
112,538,240
221,379,540
Francs
4,000,000 8,000,000
44,000
Francs 200,000 200,000 110,000 829,494 1,400,000
Francs
51,143,360
14,031,060
116,116,930
113,367,734
222,823,540
502,699,130
12,044,000
2,739,494
517,482,624
From the results of an inquiry carried out on Sei)teniber 15, 1897, it is estimated that the existing stock of money in France amounted to 6,375,000,000 francs, made up as follows : —
Coin
1 French 1 Foreign
Total
Gold coin .... 5-franc silver pieces Fractional silver coin .
Total
3,675
1,380
205
lillions of Francs
525 4,200 555 1,935 > 35 240 1
5,260
1,115 1 6,375
