Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/328

304 ALGERIA 1851 the number of deaths (60,678) exceeded the births (44,900) by 16,000. Among the children of the Europeans the mortality is even greater than among the adults. The Moorish population in the cities is likewise decreas- ing; only the Jews show a steady increase. The general result of the efforts for coloniza- tion is trifling. From 1831 to 1866 the gov- ernment had ceded to European settlers no more than 222,269 hectares. For several years the -number of Europeans leaving the country was almost as large as the number of new ar- rivals. Thus in 1856, 30,460 returned to Eu- rope, and only 39,239 arrived. The republican government hoped for an improvement of this state of affairs from a limitation of the military and an enlargement of the civil authority of the country ; and in order to induce the mal- content inhabitants of the districts ceded in 1871 to Germany to emigrate to Algeria, it placed by a decree of June 21, 1871, 100,000 hectares of the best government lands at their disposal. The Berbers or Kabyles, who call themselves Mazidh (noble), are believed to have been the aboriginal inhabitants, the Numidians and Gsetulians of antiquity. Arabs, the descen- dants of the Mussulman invaders, Moors, Turks, Kulughs, Jews, and negroes, and lastly the French and other European Christians, form the rest of the population. The Ka- byles are an industrious race, living in regu- lar villages, excellent cultivators, and work- ing in mines, in metals, and in coarse woollen and cotton factories. They make gunpowder and soap, gather honey and wax, and supply the towns with poultry, fruit, and other pro- visions. The Arabs follow a nomadic life, shifting their camps from place to place. The Moors are probably the least respectable of the inhabitants. Living in the towns, and more luxurious than either the Arabs or Kabyles, they are, from the constant oppression of their Turkish rulers, a timid race, reserving never- theless their cruelty and vindictiveness, while in moral character they stand very low. The nomads live in tents ; other tribes inhabit dwellings of somewhat greater stability called gourbis; only a few have houses. The pro- portion of the three classes in 1857 is shown by the following table : PROVINCES. Mountain Kbyle. Kbyl<* of the Plain. Armb*. Tenti. GourbU. House*. Algiers Onui 280,474 22,819 277,185 580,428 27,800 45,462 305,691 447.752 481,485 506,195 55.529 77.-;. 111,181 65.&S7 6,986 68,405 89,881 8,772 81,827 ConBtantine. Total.... vnjm l.::-.Vl:;-' JU.IW 186,228 79,480 The census of 1866 returned 211,195 Catho- lics, 5,002 Protestants, 33,952 native Jews, 1,785 European Jews, 17,232 members of other Chris- tian sects or persons of unknown religion, and 2,652,072 Mohammedans. For the Catholics a bishopric was erected at Algiers in 1838, which in 1867 was raised to an archbishopric ; in the same year the new dioceses of Oran and Constantino were created. For the Protestants a decree of 1857 created consistories at Al- giers, Oran, and Constantino, under which both the Lutheran and the Reformed churches are placed. The religious, affairs of the Moham- medan population are placed under the muftis of the two principal mosques at Algiers. The number of free public schools in 1866 was 426, with 45,375 pupils. For secondary instruction there were lyceums at Algiers, Bona, Con- stantine, Philippeville, and Oran, the second- ary institutions at Tlemcen, and the free school of Oran. The system of public instruction for the Mohammedans comprised the douar schools, the law schools (zalouas), the schools of law and literature (medresas), the French-Arabic schools, and the French-Arabic colleges. The French troops in Algeria consisted in 1866 of 67,774 men. Besides the garrison troops, which after a certain number of years return to France, there are the so-called native troops, which do not leave the colony except in time of war, and consist of three regiments of Turcos, three of zouaves, three of chasseurs d'Afrique, and three of spahis ; altogether 15,000 infantry and 3,000 horse. The admin- istration of Algeria was in 1859 placed under a special ministry, which was abolished by decree of Dec. 11, 1860. It was then placed in the hands of a military governor general, to whom all civil as well as military authorities were subordinate. The republic, established in 1870, placed at the head of the administra- tion a civil governor, who convokes annually for the establishment of the budget a council, consisting of the three prefects, the archbishop, the military commander, and other notables. Algeria also received the right to send six dep- uties to the national assembly. At the head of each of the three provinces is a prefect. The revenue of Algeria in 1866 amounted to 42,223,000 francs, and the expenditure to 47,- 470,000. The French budget provides in ad- dition for the maintenance of the army, for public works, and for many other expenditures. In the budget of ordinary and extraordinary expenditures of 1871, the expenditure for Al- geria is set down at 22,691,925 francs. Ac- cording to a statement made by Picard in the legislative body in 1854, Algeria at that time had cost France about three milliards of francs and the lives of 150,000 soldiers. In 1868 the government made an agreement with the societe generate algerienne for a loan of 100,- 000,000 francs, which is gradually to be used for the general improvement of the country. The imports in 1868 were valued at 192,664,- 360 francs, and the exports at 103,069,304. The chief articles of import in that year were cotton cloth, woollens, leather and leather goods, wine, brandy, and spirits, fresh fruit, sawed timber, and materials for building. The exports included sheep, wool, tallow, hides, coral, iron, fibre, reeds, cork, olive oil, tobacco, fruit, vegetables, rags, and cotton. In 1870