Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/543

ADMINISTRATION.] FRANCE 509 merely to state from a geographical and statistical point of view how France is now governed and administered. The law of the 25th February 1875 confirmed in France the republican government which had existed from the fall of the empire ; but the institutions of the country still bear strong evidence of their monarchical origin and tendency. The sovereignty of the people, acknowledged and proclaimed since 1789, is now represented by three powers, the chamber of deputies, the senate, and the iber president of the republic. The deputies are elected by universal suffrage; each district or " arrondissement " ies< sends one deputy to the chamber, if its population does not exceed 100,000, and an additional deputy for every additional 100,000 inhabitants, or fraction of that number. te. The senate consists of 300 members, the fourth part of whom were at first elected by the national assembly, and hold office for life, each vacancy being filled up by a vote of the senate. The others are elected by special bodies formed, in each department and in the colonies, by the deputies, the general councillors, the councillors of arrondissement, and a delegate of each municipal council. They are in office for nine years, and every third year are partly renewed. The president of the republic is chosen for seven years by the senate and chamber of deputies voting together. He promulgates the laws passed by the parliament ; he has the command of the laud and sea forces, but cannot declare war without the advice of the chambers ; he makes treaties of peace, alliance, and commerce, nominates to all Govern ment offices, and has power to dissolve the chamber of deputies, with the sanction of the senate. He receives a yearly salary of 600,000 francs, with an allowance of 162,400 francs for household expenses. Senators and deputies have an allowance of 9000 francs each per annum. It may here be interesting to compare the salary now paid to the president of the republic with the civil list or revenue of the various dynasties which have successively ruled France since the beginning of the century. Louis XVIII. had 15,510,000 francs per annum, and 4,000,000 were allowed to the royal family. Charles X. got 25,000,000 for himself and 7,000,000 for the princes. Louis Philippe was satisfied with 12,000,000 francs a year, and adequate allowances to his children. And lastly, the second empire cost 25,000,000 francs a year, not including the pensions to the members of the imperial family, the revenues of the palaces, castles, and forests, and those mysterious resources which have become known by the name of virements. cil Next to these three great powers must be mentioned the lte - council of state, presided over by the minister of justice, and composed of a vice-president, 22 councillors in ordinary ser vice, 15 councillors in extraordinary service, representing the different ministers, 24 maltres des requetes, 20 auditors of first class, 10 auditors of second class, a general secretary hav ing the title and rank of a maltre des requetes, and a secretaire da contentieux. The auditors are appointed after a com petitive examination; the councillors in ordinary service are elected by the chamber, and the other members of the council of state are nominated by the president of the re public. The business of the council is to give its advice on the projects of law which the parliament or the Government wish to submit to it, and on administrative regulations and bye-laws. All disputes arising in matters of administration, and all claims or complaints against administrative officials, are brought before the council of state, whose decision is final. The vice-president receives a salary of 25,000 francs, the presidents of sections or committees 18,000 francs, the councillors 16,000, the maitresdes requetes 8000 francs, and the auditors of first class 4000 francs; auditors of second class have no remuneration. The executive department of the Government is adminis- tered by the president of the republic and his cabinet coun Ministers. cil, consisting of nine ministers, viz.: the minister of jus tice and keeper of the seals ; the minister of foreign affairs ; the minister of the interior ; the minister of finance ; the minister of war ; the minister of marine and colonies ; the minister of public instruction, ecclesiastical affairs, and the fine arts ; the minister of agriculture and commerce ; and the minister of public works. They are appointed by the president of the republic, and are responsible to the chamber. They receive a salary which has been reduced from 100,000 to 60,000 francs, and may live, if they choose, in the " hotels " where the duties of their ministry are discharged. Administratively, France is divided into 87 departments Adminis- cut rather arbitrarily out of the territory of the ancient provinces. These departments are subdivided into 362 " arrondissements," 2865 "cantons," and about 30,000 "communes." The table on page 510 contains a list of the departments, with their capital towns and arrondisse ments, and also a reference to the old division into pro vinces. Each department is administered by a prefect appointed Depart- by the president of the republic, and each arrondissement mental by a sub-prefect. The prefects are divided into three ^ .. 1 ! . classes, the salary being 35,000 francs for the first class, 24,000 for the second class, and 18,000 for the third class. The prefect of the Seine has 50,000 francs a-year. The authority of each prefect is great in his own department : he can issue local decrees ; he appoints and dismisses a number of agents who depend directly on him ; he is at the head of the police to maintain public order, ami for this purpose can summon the military forces ; he super intends the collection of taxes ; he is in correspondence with all the subordinate functionaries in his department, to whom he transmits the orders and instructions of the min isters ; in one word, he is the general agent of Government, and the principal instrument of centralization in the state. He is assisted in his work by two bodies, the general coun cil (conseil general), which is elected by universal suffrage, and the council of prefecture, which is nominated by the head of the executive power. The business of the council of prefecture is to decide all legal questions and to adviso the prefect, when asked to do so. The general councils assess the taxes, authorize the purchase, sale, or exchange of departmental property, superintend the management of the same, decide about new roads, railways, or canals, vote the budget for sanitary and charitable institutions belong ing to the department, and give advice on every matter of local interest, political questions being strictly excluded. The law of the 23d February 1872, however, has invested them with great political importance ; in case of the parliament being violently dissolved by a coup d etat, they must immediately assemble, and form a new parliament with their delegates, in order to oppose by all means the criminal attempt. r As ths prefect in the department, so the sub-prefect, with Arron- a more limited authority, is the representative of the central tliss< : power in the arrondissement. He is assisted, and to a certain extent controlled, in his work by the council of arrondisse ment an elective body tc which each canton of the arron dissement sends one member. Except in that case, the canton is not an administrative division. It will be noticed again in connexion with the judicial system of the country. The commune is the administrative unit in France. At Coin- its head is a mayor assisted by deputy-mayors (adjoints), the niuuc - number of whom varies according to the population ; com munes of 2500 inhabitants have one deputy-mayor; up to 10,000 inhabitants they have two, from 10,000 to 30,000 three, and one additional for every 20,000. The mayor has a double part to perform, as he represents both the