following year to put the finances of the island on an independent footing. Meanwhile a grant was made from the National Treasury, varying from 710,847 in 1897 to 71,699 in 1906, when the subven- tion was withdrawn owing to the satisfactory financial condition of the island. The 1920-1 budget balanced with an estimated revenue and expenditure of 94,451,263 yen.
Government Monopolies. The Government monopoly under- takings of the island arejopium, salt, camphor and tobacco, the im- portation of opium and the manufacture and smoking of the drug being strictly prohibited since 1896, except by licence in the case of confirmed smokers. The efforts made by the Goyernment to educate the people with regard to the evil effects of opium-smoking were so successful that the number of licensed smokers had decreased from 117,000 in 1900 to 52,000 in 1919.
In May 1899 the Government took steps to improve the quality and increase the quantity of salt produced, which had hitherto suf- fered from the fluctuations due to irregular and sporadic private enterprise. There are now some 4,000 ac. of salt fields and sufficient salt is produced to satisfy local requirements and also for export to Japan, Chosen, Karafuto, etc. In 1899 the production of camphor was also controlled and in 1905 the monopoly system was extended to Taiwan-cut tobacco, in both cases with beneficial results.
Trade. The chief commodities exported from Taiwan are tea, rice, sugar, camphor, turmeric, flax, hemp, jute and coal. In 1897 the volume of trade with Japan and overseas trade was 31,230,000 yen; in 1907 it was 58,340,000 yen; in 1910 108,880,000 yen (largely owing to the development of the sugar industry) and in 1912 125,- 520,000 yen. The World War seriously affected the results in the next few years, but in 1919 the figure of 332,520,000 yen was achieved. Exports to Japan and Korea were 142,200,000 yen and to other countries 35,620,000 yen, the total imports being valued at 154,700,- ooo yen. The balance of trade in favour of exports was thus 23,120,- ooo yen, chiefly due to the increased output and higher value of coal and to the good condition of the sugar market.
Agriculture and Industry. Almost the whole of Taiwan is a rice- growing country, yielding two crops a year. In 1919 the rice crops amounted to 24,419,275 bus., an increase of 18 % on the crop of 1909.
The oolong and souchong teas, produced in the north of the island, are important exports to foreign countries; the value of the oolong exported abroad in 1919 was 5,346,327 yen, a falling-off against 1918, probably owing to heavy stocks in the American market.
The sugar industry enjoyed great prosperity in 1916 and 1917, the value of the exports being 11,317,643 yen and 15,775,205 yen re- spectively. There are some 37 modern sugar refineries in the island with a capacity of 29,200 tons, about 25 less well equipped with 2,550 tons' capacity, as well as about 250 out-of-date establishments.
With regard to mineral products, the northern part of the island is again the more productive, as gold, alluvial gold, silver, copper, coal, petroleum and sulphur are all found there. The total value of mineral products in 1919 was 1 1 ,167,426 yen ; the gold produced being 20,740 oz. (or 22,374 oz - including alluvial gold), valued altogether at 910,311 yen. The coal production was 1,086,907 metric tons (value 8,825,002 yen), the copper 877 metric tons (value 713,221 yen), silver, 20,185 oz - (value 41,459 yen), and sulphur 1,441 metric tons (value 85,791 yen). The value of petroleum was small; and though the oil fields are widely distributed over the island, most of them remain practically unexploited.
The fishing industry of Taiwan owes much of its present prosperity to Government encouragement, although owing to the favourable ocean currents, fishing can be carried out all round the island. Arti- ficial rearing of oysters, prawns, carp, etc., is carried out both in salt and brackish waters, and it is a characteristic of the Formosan fisheries that whilst the natural produce is valued at about 4,000,000 yen, the value of the products of fish culture is 2,000,000 yen.
Communications. The first postal service was opened in April 1895, when, prior to the restoration of peace between Japan and China, the Japanese army occupied Hokoto and established a field post-office. In 1896 postal service for the general public was com- menced under the control of the Minister of Communications. In Oct. 1900 the Postal and Telegraph Laws, which had been put into force in Japan proper, were brought into operation in Taiwan by Imperial Ordinances and in the same year the telephone service was first opened between Taihoku and Tainan.
A great increase in the business of the post-office savings bank took place during 1910-20, the number of depositors having risen from 90,893 in 1909-10 to 358,204 in 1918-9, the deposits increasing from 1,900,700 yen to 5,518,178 yen in the same period.
In 1899 the Government commenced planning out a trunk line from north to south of the island, connecting the ports of Keelung and Taku and passing through Taihoku, Taichu and Tainan. Branch lines, further opening up the rice, sugar, tea and mining districts, were gradually completed, so that at the end of the financial year 1918-9 there were 346 m. of railway open to traffic.
In the same year over 9,000,000 passengers and more than 2,000,- ooo tons of goods were carried, the receipts being 8,013,559 yen.
In addition to the state railways, there were at the end of 1918 over 1,000 m. of railway belonging principally to sugar factories and about 600 m. of track for hand-propelled cars, an important means of local transport peculiar to the island. (H. SA.)
FORREST, JOHN FORREST, IST BARON (1847-1918), Aus- tralian statesman (see 10.672), was acting Premier of Australia in 1907 during the absence of Mr. Deakin in London, took office again as Treasurer in Mr. Hughes's " National " Cabinet of 1917 but resigned owing to ill-health early in 1918, when he was raised to the peerage, the first Australian to be so honoured. He died, however, at sea on his way to England to take his seat in the House of Lords, Aug. 3 1918.
FORSYTH, PETER TAYLOR (1848-1921), British Noncon- formist divine (see 10.677), died in London Nov. n 1921. Among his recent works were The Person and Place of Christ (Congregational lecture, 1909); The Principle of Authority (1913) and This Life and the Next (1918).
FORTIFICATION: see SIEGE WARFARE.
FORTIS, ALESSANDRO (1841-1909), Italian statesman, was born in 1841. He joined Garibaldi in 1866 as a volunteer and fought under him in the Trentino, in 1867 at Mentana and in 1870 in France. Under the influence of Aurelio Saffi he became a Republican, and was arrested as a Mazzinian conspirator in 1874. In 1876 he abandoned the Republican party, although still ad- hering to Democratic ideals. Elected deputy for his native town of Forli in 1880, he helped the royal visit to Romagna, hitherto regarded as a hot-bed of anti-monarchical views. He made a reputation as a parliamentary debater, but lost favour with his constituents who were largely Republican, and only held his seat with the help of Livio Quartaroli, mayor of Forli, and Saffi; when they died his position became untenable and he was not reelected. He then won a seat at Poggio Mirteto, which he con- tinued to represent until his death. He became Minister of Agriculture in the Pelloux Cabinet (1898-9), and in 1905, on the fall of the Giolitti Cabinet, became premier. But his ad- ministration fell after seven months over the commercial treaty with Spain, which aroused the violent opposition of the Italian vine-growers. He reconstructed the Ministry, but was beaten at once and had to resign, Jan. 30 1906. He died Dec. 4 1909.
FOSTER, SIR GEORGE EULAS (1847- ), Canadian states- man, was born in Carleton co., New Brunswick, Sept. 3 1847. After a brilliant career in the university of New Brunswick, and also at Edinburgh and Heidelberg, he returned to Canada and taught in various local schools, eventually becoming professor of classics and ancient literature in a local university. In 1882 he became Conservative member for King's co., New Brunswick, in the Canadian Parliament; in 1885 entered the Cabinet of Sir John Macdonald as Minister of Marine and Fisheries; and in 1888 became Minister of Finance, which position he held until the defeat of his party in 1896. He represented York, New Brunswick, 1896-1900, and from 1904 sat in the Dominion House of Commons as representative for North Toronto. He was appointed Minister of Trade and Commerce in the Borden administration, 1911, and upon the formation of the Union Government in 1917 retained the portfolio. A brilliant debater, a thorough believer in tariff protection for Canadian industries and preferential trade within the -British Empire, he made a series of speeches in Great Britain in 1903, on the invitation of Mr. Chamberlain, in support of Imperial trade preference. He was one of the Canadian representatives to the coronation of King George and Queen Mary, June 1911, and was Canadian representative on the Dominions Royal Commission appointed by King George, 1912. He was sworn of the Imperial Privy Council in 1916, and the same year was appointed one of the four representatives of Great Britain to the Economic Conference of the Allies at Paris. In 1918 he was created K.C.M.G., and in 1920 was head of the Canadian delegation to the first assembly of the League of Nations at Geneva, being subsequently elected vice-president of the assembly.
FOUILLEE, ALFRED JULES EMILE (1838-1912), French philosopher (see 10.737 and 18.250), died at Lyons July 16 1912.
FOWLER, WILLIAM WARDE (1847-1911), British classical scholar and ornithologist, was born at Langford Budville, Som., May 16 1847, the second son of John Coke Fowler, stipendiary magistrate of Swansea. He was educated at Marlborough and at Lincoln College, Oxford, graduating first class in literae humani-
