The distribution of the active population in 1911 according to occupation showed that, in spite of the townward movement, agriculture was the chief concern of the country. During and since the war it is suspected that industry has made heavier demands upon labour. Table 4 gives 1911 figures (in thousands)- TABLE 4. Occupation Statistics.
Occupation
Males
Females
Total
Agriculture .... Manufactures Trade Liberal Professions and Pub- lic Services .... Domestic Service . Soldiers, Sailors and Fisher- men
No Occupation .
5.279 4-951 1,218
888 158 718
3,238 2,535 835
337 771
3
8,517 7,486 2,053
1,225 929
721
13,212 6,042
7,719 12,219
20,931 18,261
The number of foreigners in France, which had decreased from 1,130,211 in 1891 to 1,038,871 in 1901 (the proportion per 10,000 inhabitants falling from 297 to 269), increased in the period 1901-11 to 1,159,835, or 296 per 10,000. The principal nationalities repre- sented were, in 1911: Italians, 419,234; Belgians, 287,126; Span- iards, 105,760; Germans, 102,271; Swiss, 73,422; British, 40,378; Russians, 35,106. The large number of Italians and Belgians in France was due to the labour requirements of the textile industries in the north and of the mineral fields in the east.
The only official vital statistics, of more recent date, available in 1921 are partial and approximate in character. They relate to 77 out of 87 departments (the other 10 having been invaded), and are based upon the bulletins d'etat civil, or ordinary registration statistics, and not upon the more satisfactory data of the general census re- turns. Subject to these reservations, the figures of the years 1911-9 are summarized in Table 5.
TABLE 5. Vital Statistics.
Population
(in thousands)
Mar- riages
Births
Deaths
1911
33,o85
255,036
602,978
647,284
1912
33,065
253,534
608,690
579,175
1913 .
33-095
247,880
604,811
587,445
1914 .
33,085
169,011
594,222
647,549
1915* .
34,290
75,327
387,806
655.146
1916
33,650
108,562
315,087
607,742
1917
32,980
158,508
343.310
613,148
1918
32,780
177,822
399,041
788,616
1919 .
32,315
447,207
403,502
620,688
1920
(first 6 months).
77 Departments .
33,079,103
269,454
336,642
300,406
90 Departments t
41,476,272
333,241
424,668
356,722
- Increase due to the influx of refugees from the invaded depart-
ments and from foreign countries.
t Including Moselle, Upper and Lower Rhine (Alsace-Lorraine).
Table 5 shows the great decline of the birth-rate due to the war, and its rapid recovery in 1918 and 1919. The high mortality in 1918 is to be attributed to the epidemic of influenza.
Divorces in the 77 departments numbered 12,344 ' n I 9 I 3, de- creased until 1915, but increased to 8,121 in 1918 and to 11,657 in 1919. During the first six months of 1920 the total was 9,614, more than double the figure for the corresponding period of 1919.
The number of recruits of the 1921 class who were passed as fit for army service was 272,000 (including Alsace and Lorraine), and their proportion to the total of young men liable for service with this class was 78 %, a higher figure than that of the 1913 class. The strictness of the medical examination is shown by the number of ajournes (recruits expected to come up to the physical standard at some future time), which was 61,943. The proportion between the corresponding number of births and the number of young men attaining the age for military service reached 75%, for the first time, in 1921. It had been rising slowly for the past 20 years but had not previously gone beyond 73 per cent. Reckoning the actual number of men passed by the doctors, and the average number of ajournes to be subsequently added, the IQ2I class constitutes a distinct improvement on its predecessors. The privations endured during the war do not appear to have had such bad results as were feared in regard to the physical development of the youth of the country. This is attributed by the military authorities to three causes: the decrease in the consumption of spirits, the influence of athletic sports, and, to a certain extent, a better knowledge of sanitary and dietary conditions among the peasantry.
An official report on crime statistics in France from 1914-9 shows that while the total number of crimes and offences was below the average, there was a distinct increase of criminality among women and minors under 18 years of age. Before the war, out of every 100 persons convicted 12 were women and 5 minors, but during the war period these proportions rose to 30 and 14 respectively. Abortion and infanticide more than doubled.
In regard to minor offences, only thefts show an increase (62,869 jn 1919 against 36,401 in 1913). There was a considerable decrease in the prosecutions for begging and being without visible means of subsistence. Common assaults decreased by more than 50%, and there was a similar diminution in all offences generally due to drink. The report attributes this result to legislation against drunkenness and the prohibition of absinthe. The figures, however, are not an exact reflection of the situation, the operations of justice having been greatly hampered by circumstances.
Constitution. The only constitutional change made in France between 1910 and 1921 was the adoption of a new system of voting at parliamentary general elections. Previously, the seats went to the candidates receiving the highest number of votes, as in England, with this difference, that if no candidate received an absolute majority that is to say, at least one more than half the total votes polled a secondary election, known as the scrutin de ballotage, became necessary, on which occasion an actual and not an absolute majority was sufficient.
There are two varieties of the majority system. One consists of dividing the constituency into sections, each of which elects one member. The other may consist of the election of a list of as many candidates as there are seats in the constituency (in France, the department). The first of these systems is known as the scrutin d'arrondissement and the second as the scrutin de liste. For many years there was an agitation in France against the prevailing system (scrutin d'arrondisscmenl) because it was regarded as unfavourable to the general principles by which politics should be guided. A deputy elected by a comparatively small body of voters often became the mere mouthpiece of local interests and was inclined to put those of the nation in the background. It eventually became evident that the scrutin d'arrondissement was definitely condemned. Parliament, how- ever, did not replace it by the scrulin de lisle pure and simple, because it was felt that this system was too absolute and too hard on minorities. In a department, for instance, returning 10 members and having 50,000 electors, a list which obtained one vote less than the other ran the risk of not being represented at all and losing all 10 seats to the opposition. The result would be something very much like oppression of the minority, and there might be a temptation for the minority to put forward its claims in illegal ways instead of through the constitutional parliamentary channel. Parliament, therefore, in 1919, abol- ished the majority system of voting and adopted a compromise between the proportional voting system and the other. The present system is a majority one, tempered by concessions to minorities, or it might be described as a proportional system giving a kind of bonus to majorities.
Two terms require definition before any explanation of the French electoral system can be given the " electoral quotient " and the " average. ' The former is the figure obtained by dividing the num- ber of votes cast by the number of seats to fill. The average of a list is, as the word implies, the number of votes cast for the list divided by the number of candidates. A list obtains as many seats as the number of times the electoral quotient is contained in the average of the list. As an example take the hypothetical case of a depart- ment returning five members. There are three lists of candidates Conservative, Radical and Socialist and the voting is as follows:
Conservatives (5 candidates)
Radicals (4 candidates)
Socialists (3 candidates)
A 15,000
B 14,50 C 14,000 D 13,500 E 13,000
F 12,000 G 11,500 H 11,000 J 10,500
L 9,500 M 9,000
N 8,500
Total 70,000 Average 14,000
Total 45,000 Average 11,250
Total 27,000 Average 9,000
The total votes cast being 34,250, the division of this number by 5 (the number of seats to fill) gives the electoral quotient, 6,850. The average of the Conservative list contains this quotient twice (13,700) with 300 over. The average of the Radical list contains the quotient once, with 4,500 over, and the Socialist list contains the quotient once, with 2,250 votes over. The first list thus gets two seats, the second one and the third one, and these seats go to the candidate having obtained the greatest number of votes. Consequently the candidates returned are A, B, F and L. The allotment of the fifth
