On January 1, 1895, France and Algeria had 8,504 post-offices and about 60,000 letter-boxes. The postal receipts for France alone in 1894 amounted to 214,311,331 francs, and expenditures (including telegraphs) to 167,808,136 francs. The number of letters, etc., carried in France and Algeria in 1894 was: Letters, 814,600,000; registered letters, etc., 40,147,000; postal cards, 50,118,000; printed matter, samples, etc., 1,009,543,000; total, 1,914,408,000. The total length of telegraph lines on January 1, 1895, was 57,574 miles, with 193,184 miles of wire. There were 11,338 offices, and in 1894 there were dispatched 41,434,727 telegrams, of which 33,785,162 were internal, 4,902,534 international, 1,345,426 in transit, and 1,401,405 official. There are 237 miles of pneumatic tubes in Paris. BANKING. THE BANK OF FRANCE. Though not a State institution, the Bank of France has the exclusive right to issue circulating notes. The following statements, from "A History of Banking in All Nations," published recently by The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin, show the course of the Bank's circulation and its stock of coin from 1810 to 1896 inclusive. Statistics of coin on hand and the Bank's circulation, in millions and hundred thousands of francs, 1810 to 1896: Classification of the coin on hand in the Bank of France at the end of each year, in millions and hundred thousands of francs, 1870 to 1896: The capital of the Bank of France is estimated at 182,500,000 francs. The commercial discounts of the Bank of France,* in millions and hundred thousands of francs, from 1810 to 1894, were as follows: *From "A History of Banking in All Nations," Volume III, page 81; published by The Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin. The condition of the Bank of France is shown below for the weeks ending September 2 and 9 and the corresponding period of 1896, in thousands of pounds sterling : The following statement, from "A History of Banking in All Nations," Volume III, page 131, shows the amount of paper discounted annually by all the banks of France from 1881 to 1894: The transactions of the Paris Clearing House were as follows for recent years, expressed in milliards of francs, 00,000's omitted: Paper Not Cleared but Paper Settled by Settled by Orders. Years. for Clearing. Cleared. Orders. 4,715,2 3,823,8 891,4 The Monetary Union between France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy was formed in 1885, and was joined by Greece in 1868. The convention was renewed in 1878, 1885, and 1890. These countries have their gold and silver coins of the same weight and fineness, and the same system is followed in Finland, Roumania, Servia, Spain, and, partially, in several of the South American republics. The franc of 100 centimes is of the value of 19.3 cents. The 20 franc gold piece weighs 6.4516 grammes .900 fine, and thus contains 5.80645 grammes of fine gold. Silver coins are 5, 2, 1, and half franc pieces. The 5 franc silver piece weighs 25 grammes .900 fine, and thus contains 22.5 grammes of fine silver. The franc piece weighs 5 grammes .835 fine, and contains 4.175 grammes of fine silver. Bronze coins are 10 and 5 centime pieces. There is a double standard of value, gold and silver, the ratio being theoretically 15% to 1. Of silver coins, however, only 5 franc pieces are legal tender, and of these the free coinage has been suspended since 1876. NOTE.-For further information see "Year Book," Volume I, pages 61 and 62. 1890. 1891 1892. 1893. 1894. 1895. 1896. COINAGE. The amount of money coined in France during recent years has been as follows: GERMANY. AREA AND POPULATION. The following statement shows the area and population of the twenty-five States of Germany, and of the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine, as returned at the three census periods of 1885, 1890, and 1895: Area Population sq. miles. Dec. 1, 1885. 28,318,470 31,855,123 236.9 5,594,982 Württemberg. FISCAL AFFAIRS. The following statement shows the revenue and expenditure (in thousands of marks) for the last six years, the figures for the last three years being taken from the budget estimates: 1893-94. 1,117,570 1894-95. 1,185,643 46,379 1,224,774 1,247,873 1,227,169 The amounts raised by customs and excise and stamps were as follows (in thousands of marks): On October 31, 1896, the public debt amounted to 2,126,827,300 marks. Of this amount 450,000,000 bears interest at 4 per cent., 790,000,000 at 3% per cent., and 886,827,300 at 3 per cent. There also exists an unfunded debt, represented by "Reichs-Kassenscheine" or imperial treasure bills, outstanding on March 31, 1895, to the amount of 120,000,000 marks. As a set-off against the debt there exists a variety of invested funds. The fund for invalids consisted of 447,708,900 marks in 1895. The war treasure fund of 120,000,000 marks is not invested, but preserved in gold at Spandau. AGRICULTURE. The total yield of farm products in the years indicated, in metric tons of 2,200 lbs., or hectolitres of 26.417 gallons, and in tons or hectolitres per hectare, was as follows: The number of farm animals in Germany on December 1, 1892, was: BEET-ROOT SUGAR. The following are the statistics of beet-root sugar production in the Zollgebiet: Number of Beet-root used, -Production in Metric Tons- No. of Kgs. Beet-root to produce 1 Molasses. Kg. of Sugar. The following table shows the quantity of beer brewed at various periods. The amounts are given in thousands of hectolitres (= 26.4 gallons); also the number of active breweries in the beer excise district: The average annual consumption per head of the population of the entire Zollgebiet for the twenty years, 1874-94, was 25.3 gallons. MINERALS AND METALS. The annual product of the principal minerals and metals in Germany and Luxemburg is shown in the following table, in thousands of metric tons, likewise the values, in thousands of dollars: The imports and exports of merchandise under the head of "special trade" (precious metals included), together with the movement of the precious metals, are shown as follows (in marks): |