BANKS.] The foreign trade is for a great part carried on by sea. France, however, has a very limited number of trading vessels ; and foreign ships, chiefly English, convey about two-thirds of her goods, both imports and exports. Besides the two banking companies especially founded with a view to assist agriculture, of which notice has been taken under that heading (credit fonder, credit mobilier], there are other establishments of credit which partake of the nature of public institutions, and must not be passed over in silence when speaking of French trade. The first of them is the Banque de France, founded in the year VII. (1799), and definitely organized by the law of the 2Gth April 1806, which gives the management of the bank to a governor and two deputy governors appointed by the chief of the state, and assisted by a council of fifteen regents and three censeurs elected by the shareholders. The capital of the Bank of France is 182,500.000 francs. Besides issuing bank notes, which circulate as freely as gold, the bank has the power to discount bills and letters of exchange at three months, when endorsed by three signatures ; to collect bills payable given to it by private persons or com mercial houses for that purpose; to receive deposits and open current accounts; and to keep in trust the coupons, deeds, silver and gold bars, bullion, and jewels which may be entrusted to it, at the rate of one per cent, per annum. The Bank of France has now a branch in each depart ment. In the following towns, Bourg, Cahors, Tarbes, Aurillac, Mende, Tulle, Digne, Belfort, Foix, Gap, Mont- de-Marsan, La Roche-sur-Yon, and Meaux, these branches are not yet open; but the law has been passed, and their being opened is only a question of time. This establish ment is the great instrument of credit in the country. It has more than once supported the Government by loans in difficult circumstances. The Government, which holds a great number of its shares, is therefore interested in its preservation, and, when money is unusually scarce, gives to its notes the value and privileges of coin, by decreeing what is called the cours force. This measure was resorted to during the late war, and confidence in the bank remained unshaken. During the year 1876 the quotation of the shares of the Bank of France fluctuated between 3875 and 3470 francs. Of other banks the Comptoir tfEscompte, which dates from 1848 and was reorganized in 1854, the Societe generale de Credit industriel et commercial, founded in 1859 after the model of the London joint stock banks, the Societe generale pour favoriser le developpement du Commerce et de V Industrie en France, established in 1864, whose special feature is to endeavour to make the use of cheques popular in France, and the Caisse des Depots et Comptes-courants, are also worth mentioning. Among the local banks, the Credit Lyonnais, the Colonial Banks, and the Bank of Algeria may be named, as the most important. The coining of money is carried on by private contractors under the strict superintendence of the state. There are now in France six hotels des monnaies (mints), in Marseilles, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyons, Paris, and Rouen respectively. Paris is the chief centre, and the other mints hardly now issue anything except copper coins. From 1795 till the 1st January 1874 the quantity of gold and silver monies coined in France was as stated below : GOLD. * Value, francs. Coins of 100 francs 44,346,400 50 46,568,700 525 40 20 10 5 . 204,432,360 .6,273,174,360 . 965,051,690 . 210,947,190 7,744,520,700 1 It is to be remarked that no gold money was coined in 1872 or 1873. SILVER. 1795-1871. 1872. 187!1. Coins of 5 francs 2 ,! i " !!!!!! ,, 50 centimes 0-20 Value, francs. 4,685,641,250 70,512,344 86,998,118 40,480,856 2,504,728 Value, francs. 389,190 7,547,588 15,958,333 2,943,258 Value, francs. 154,649,045 1,056,152 19,101 545,862
4,886,137,296 Total, . 26,838,369 156,270,160 5,069,245,825 francs. This amount (with 307,232,889 francs value re-coined) is apportioned thus among the different governments which have ruled France during the period specified : Gold. Silver. Total. First Republic Bonaparte and | Napoleon I. ... Louis XVIII Charles X Value, francs. 528,024,440 389,333,060 52,918,920 215,912,800 427,282,860 6,151,961,600 50,169,880 Value, francs. 106,237,255 887,830,055 614,830,110 632,511,320 1,756,938,333 459,248,282 626,294,792 221,505,707 Value, francs. 106,237,255 1,415,854,495 1,004,163,170 685,430,240 1,972,851,133 886,531,142 6,778,256,392 271,675,587 Louis Philippe Second Republic .... Louis Bonaparte ) and Napoleon III. Third Republic 7,815,603,560 5,305,395,854 13,120,999,414 Measures, WeigMs, and Money. The basis of all French Measures measurements is the metre, the length of which is the ten- ant ^ millionth part of the arc from the pole to the equator. w Multiples of this, increasing by tens, are expressed by Greek prefixes (the decametre, hectometre, and kilometre being 10, 100, and 1000 metres respectively), while the subdivisions have Latin prefixes (the decimetre, centimetre, and millimetre being ^, ^-$, and y^tr of a metre). Similar decimal systems are formed from the other units of measure. The are is 100 square metres, and the litre the thousandth part of a cubic metre. The gramme is the weight of a cubic centimetre of distilled water at 4 C. (its maximum density). The measures in common use are here given, with their English equivalents : Lineal Measure Metre = 39 3707904 inches. Kilometre = 6213824 mile. Squ are Mcasu re Hectare = 2 471143 acres. Kilometre carre (100 hectares) = 386116 sq. mile. Capacity Litre = 1 7607734 imp. pints. Hectolitre =22-0096677 gallons. Weight Gramme = 15 43234 grains troy. Kilogramme (or kilo) = 2 20462 Ib avoird. In commerce 10 kilos = 22 Ib, but 1015 kilos = l ton. Money is reckoned by the franc of 100 centimes, in Money, value a little over 9|d. 1 sterling = 25 francs. XIV. Colonies. Algeria is the most important colonial possession of Algeria. France. Its extent, between the Mediterranean in the north, Tunis in the east, Morocco in the west, and the Sahara in the south, is about 47,000,000 hectares (181,474 square miles), 4,597,000 hectares of which are peopled by 1,132,414 inhabitants, ruled by the ordinary laws of the mother country. A part of the rest is divided into douars, dependent on regularly administered communes, 166 in number. This portion extends to 1,511,000 hectares (5834 square miles), with 555,807 inhabitants, 127,321 of whom are French, 32,660 Jews, 113,018, foreigners, and 282,808 Mussulmans. Another portion of the douars is administered by French functionaries either civil or military, assisted by native and European council lors; the territory under civil authorities measures 3,086,000 hectares (11,915 sq. miles), and contains 576,007 inhabi tants; 9,888 are French or naturalized Jews, 1683
